Louisa J. (Mack) Curtiss (1836 - 1871)

Born 6 May 1836 in Illinois

Ancestors

Died 9 Sep 1871 at age 35 in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, USA

Louisa was Ho-Chunk.

Biography

Birth

William M. Adams testified in 1839 that “Mr. Mack has five children, the names and ages of which according to a family Record kept in his family Bible, of which the following is an exact copy are as follows:

Rosa Mack b. Nov. 14th 1830

Mary Mack b. July 15th 1832

William Mack b. July 27th 1834

Louisa Mack b. May 6th 1836

Thomas Hartzell Mack born Feb. 9th 1838” (Waggoner, 26a)

Education

The 1850 census shows that at age 14 she was living in Rockton with her sister Mary in a dormitory with eleven other young women while attending the Rockton Female Seminary. “Concern over the education of his children forms one of the dominant themes of [Mack’s] letters. Two of his daughters eventually attended the Female Seminary once it was established in Rockford. Carr wrote that while at school Mack’s daughter Louisa ‘had an untamed nature, and often would just walk home whenever the notion took her fancy’.” (Bishop & Campbell, 35b)

Residence

Barge (11) said in 1913, "They now live at Glenn Flora. Chipawa Co., Wis."

Census Records

1850 United States Federal Census

Name: Louisa J. Mack

Age: 14

Birth Year: abt 1836

Birthplace: Illinois

Home in 1850: Rockford, Winnebago, Illinois

Gender: Female

Family Number: 357

Household Members: Name Age

Anna P Sill: 33

Hannah Richard: 30

Eliza A Richard: 21

Melinda Richard: 18

Clara Daniels: 17

Mary F Mack: 18

Louisa J Mack: 14

Helen Newell: 14

Maria Smalley: 20

Sarah Smalley: 16

Sarah Tuthill: 18

Harriet Wadsworth: 18

Catharine Woodard: 18

1860 United States Federal Census

Name: Louisa Curtis

Age: 24

Birth Year: abt 1836

Gender: Female

Birth Place: Illinois

Home in 1860: Waubeek, Pepin, Wisconsin

Post Office: Pepin

Family Number: 292

Household Members: Name Age

L L Curtis: 27

Louisa Curtis: 24

Stephen H Curtis: 6

Elizabeth Curtis: 4

Almon Curtis: 2

F H Mack: 22

Sarah E Legon: 16

1870 United States Federal Census

Name: Louisa Curtis

Age in 1870: 34

Birth Year: abt 1836

Birthplace: Illinois

Home in 1870: Eau Galle, St Croix, Wisconsin

Gender: Female

Post Office: Brookville

Household Members: Name Age

L L Curtis: 37

Louisa Curtis: 34

Stephan Curtis: 17

Elizabeth Curtis: 13

David Curtis: 12

Altabel Curtis: 10

Edward Curtis: 6

Everett Curtis: 3

Alona Curtis: 5/12

Sources

• Linda M. Waggoner (ed.), “Neither White Men Nor Indians: Affidavits from the Winnebago Mixed-blood Claim Commissions, Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, 1838-1839” (Roseville, Minnesota: Park Genealogical Books, 2002). Extracted from Territorial Papers of the United States, Wisconsin, 1836-1848. M236. “Special Files of the Office of Indian Affairs,” 1836-46. “Special File 161” (Roll 41). “Special File 190” (Roll 42). National Archives, Washington D.C., Documents on Microfilm, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Record Group 75).
• David Bishop and Craig G. Campbell, Broken Link: www.winnebagoforest.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/History-of-Preserves-No-white-spaces.pdf History of the Forest Preserves of Winneabo County, Illinois (Rockford, Illinois: Winnebago County Forest Preserve Commission, 1979).
• William D. Barge, Early Lee County, Being Some Chapters in the History of the Early Days in Lee County, Illinois (Chicago: Barnard & Miller, 1913).
• Edson Irving Carr, The History of Rockton, Winnebago County, Illinois, 1820 to 1898 (Rockton, Ill.: Herald Office Print, 1898).
• 1850 United States Federal Census for Rockford, Winnebago, Illinois; Roll: M432_134; Page: 440B; Image: 291. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1870 United States Federal Census for Eau Galle, St Croix, Wisconsin; Roll: M593_1737; Page: 9B; Family History Library Film: 553236. U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.
• Locke A. Sprague, The Progenitors and Descendants of Col. Stephen Mack and Temperence Bond Mack as Related to the David Cooper and Rollin Sprague Families (Milwaukee: the Author, 1975).
• Marguerite Olds, Biography of the Mack Families (the Author, 1968).