Matthew (Curtis) Curtiss Sr. (1712 - 1796)

Born 1 Dec 1712 in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Phebe (Judson) Curtiss — married 2 Jun 1737 in Newtown, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony

Husband of Abigail (Gould) Curtiss — married 5 Dec 1759 in Newtown, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony

Descendants

Died 29 Nov 1796 at age 83 in Newtown, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Mark Curtis [send private message] and Susan Flint [send private message]

Biography

• Wife #2: Abigail (Gold) Thompson, of Fairfield, CT, widow of Nathan Thompson.
• Excerpt from "The Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Conneticut": The Curtis family is well known in this county and Mrs Judson traces her descent from Matthew Curtis of Stratford who died in Newtown Conn in 1796 at the age of eighty four years. He married Phoebe Judson and had the following children: Phoebe (Mrs John Beach) born in 1737, David 1741, Niram (Hiram) 1744 ,Matthew 1746, Stiles 1748, Jonah 1750, Josiah 1752, Abner 1754, and Reuben 1757. The mother of this family died in 1758, and in the following year Matthew Curtis married Abigail Thompson by whom he had one son, Gould.

Sources

• Curtiss, Frederic Haines, 1903. A Genealogy of the Curtiss Family, being a Record of the Descendants of Widow Elizabeth Curtiss, who settled in Stratford, Conn., 1639-40. Rockwell & Churchill Press, Boston, pages 12, 27
• Find A Grave: Memorial #77797873
• The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records - White, Lorraine Cook, ed. (Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD, 1994-2002) Vol. 1-55.
• Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County (J.H. Beers & Co., 1899)
• Johnson, Ezra Levan. Newtown's History and Historian, Ezra Levan Johnson (Newtown, Conn., 1917) "Descendants of Some of Newtown's Earliest Settlers", Page 48.
• Newtown, CT: Vital Records, 1704-1850 (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, NEHGS, Boston, 2021) Vol. 1, Page 10.
• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 01 January 2018, 00:09), entry for Mathew Curtis(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LY37-ZQT); contributed by various users.

Matthew Curtis was born on December 1, 1712. He was the son of Captain Josiah Curtis and Mary Beach. He married Phoebe Judson on June 2, 1737 in Stratford, Fairfield County Connecticut. Phoebe was born February 9, 1717. They had the following children: Phebe born 1738, David born 1744, Matthew born 1746, Stiles born 1748, Jonah born 1750, Josiah born 1752, Abraham born in 1754 and Reuben born in 1757. Phoebe died September 18, 1758 and Matthew remarried Abigail Thompson by whom he fathered Gould Curtis. After the start of the Revolutionary War, on September 16, 1777, Matthew Curtis was one of 48 patriots who took the Freeman’s Oath of Fidelity in the Tory town of Newtown in the Independent State of Connecticut. By taking this oath, these men showed to the world and prosperity, that they were willing to sacrifice in defense of principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence. Later, Matthew was elected as a Selectman at the annual town meeting on December 7, 1777. One of his first duties was to serve on a committee to procure clothing for the soldiers for the year ensuing. The town also determined to provide for the families of the town of the soldiers who were serving in the Continental Army. Matthew Curtis died November 29, 1796 in Newtown Connecticut. He is buried in the Newtown village cemetery.