Mayflower Descendants

The living descendants of Benjamin Kingman Curtis and Sarah Lavantia Card have the option to apply for membership in the Mayflower Society. Fran Jensen, the author of this Blog applied and was submitted as a member in 2023 through this lineage:

1. John Billington, Mayflower passenger
2. Francis Billington, son of John Billington
3. Mary Billington, daughter of Francis Billington, and wife of Samuel Sabin.
4. Israel Sabin, son of Samuel Sabin and Mary Billington. Israel married Mary Ormsby.
5. Josiah Sabin, son of Israel Sabin and Mary Ormsby. Josiah married Mary Gay.
6. Israel Sabin, son of Josiah Sabin and Mary Gay. Israel married Avis Bennett.
7. Josiah Sabin, son of Israel Sabin and Avis Bennett. Josiah married Lydia Cady. Josiah is a proven Patriot in both the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). Several descendants of Benjamin Kingman Curtis, including Fran Jensen, the author of this Blog, have already joined DAR through this lineage. Fran can assist you in your application if you are interested.
8. Sarah Ann Sabin, daughter of Josiah Sabin and Lydia Cady. Sarah married William Fuller Card.
9. Sarah Lavantia Card, daughter of William Fuller Card and Sarah Ann Sabin. Sarah married Benjamin Kingman Curtis.
10. Benjamin Kingman Curtis and Sarah Lavantia Card had ten children. Nine lived to adulthood and married. The eight children who have possible living descendants that could apply for membership in the Mayflower Society include: 

• Cyrus Jerome Curtis
• Friend Charles Curtis
• Sarah Ellenor Curtis
• Oscar Benjamin Curtis
• George Leslie Curtis
• William Rushmer Curtis
• Mary Lavantia Curtis
• DeWilton Emory Curtis

Cyrus Jerome Curtis Land Patent

Cyrus J. Curtis received a land patent for a homestead. The information about this land patent, including the original certificate can be found on the BLM website. A transcription of the certificate is as follows:

Homestead Certificate No. 3032
Application 4396

Whereas, There as been deposited in the General Land Office of the United States a Certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Bozeman, Montana, whereby it appears that, pursuant to the Act of Congress approved 20th May 1862, "To secure Homesteads to Actual Settlers on the Public Domain," and the acts supplemental thereto, the claim of

Cyrus J. Curtis

has been established and duly consummated, in conformity to law, for the north half of the southeast quarter and the south half of the northeast quarter of Section thirty-one in Township one north of Range fifteen east of the Montana Meridian, Montana, containing one hundred sixty acres, according to the Official Plat of the Survey of the said Land, returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General:

Now Know Ye, That there is, therefore, granted by the United States unto the said

Cyrus J. Curtis

the tract of Land above described: To have and to hold the said tract of Land, with the appurtenances thereof, unto the said Cyrus J. Curtis and to his heirs and assigns forever; subject to any vested and accrued water rights for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other purposes, and rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights, as may be recognized and acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and decisions of courts, and also subject to the right of the proprietor of a vein or lode to extract and remove his ore therefrom, should the same be found to penetrate or intersect the premises hereby granted, as provided by law. And there is reserved from the lands thereby granted, a right of way thereon for ditches or canals constructed by the authority of the United States.

In testimony whereof, I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, have caused these letters to be made Patent, and the seal of the General Land Office to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, the twenty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seven, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and thirty-second. By the President: signature Theodore Roosevelt By F. M. M. Kean, Secretary.

Two other records are listed for Cyrus J. Curtis on the BLM index and are in the process of being digitized and added to the website: 30 March 1900, for 80 acres; and 21 Aug 1907 for 160 acres.

Cyrus Jerome Curtis

Antique Photograph Album, image #6. This is Cyrus Jerome Curtis, 1852-1922, son of Benjamin Kingman Curtis and Sarah Lavantia Card. There were two photographer's imprints on the back of this photograph: Cardon Art Gallery in Logan, Utah; and Portrait House in San Francisco, California. We assume that since the Curtis family was living in either Logan, Utah or Preston, Idaho during the time this photo was taken, that the original photographer was Cardon and that Portrait House reproduced the photograph.

Cyrus Jerome Curtis

This is Cyrus Jerome Curtis, the oldest son of Benjamin Kingman Curtis and Sarah Lavantia Card. Cyrus and the owner of the antique photo album, Mary Lavantia Curtis were brother and sister. There are two photographer's imprints on the back of the photograph. One by the Cardon Art Gallery in Logan, Utah. The second one by the Portrait House in San Francisco, California. Since the family was living in the Logan area about the time this photograph was taken, we assume the duplicate work was later done by the Portrait House.

I found this on my hard drive tonight

I decided to add another copy of this photograph to the blog. Tonight I found this picture on my hard drive saved as a TIFF image, 10 MB in size. I don't have a scan of the back, and there's no writing on the front. So we still don't know for sure who this is. Although I had saved the file as "WmRushCurtis" and unfortunately I don't remember who had the original. And yes, you guessed it, I can't find any notes that would remind me. Since this copy is larger in size than the other one that's already posted, when you click on this one, the details are much easier to see. I'll keep looking through my notes to see if I can find anything about the location of the original. You can see the other post about this photograph, including the image scanned from another copy of this photo at: Definitely a Curtis

Definitely a Curtis

The photographer was J. Pasevitch, located at 274 25th St. in Ogden, Utah. When was Mr. Pasevitch open for business in Ogden? We can search the city directories to find the answer to this question. Knowing when the photographer was open for business in Ogden will help us date when this photograph was taken. We have three different names for this person. Does anyone know for sure who this Curtis family member is? We will have to do some serious photo dating to help us identify who this person is.

1.  Friend Charles Curtis is written on the back of the photo in very light ink or pencil. If this photo was taken in 1890, Friend would have been 37 years old.

2.  Cyrus Jerome Curtis is written on the back of the photo in darker, more recent ink. If this photo was taken in 1890, Cyrus would have been 38 years old.

3.  Benjamin Kingman Curtis -  if this photo was taken about 1890, Benjamin would have been 62 years old. How old do you think the man is in this photo? When the Curtis family moved from Michigan to Utah, they first ended up in Ogden. We don't have exact dates, but suspect they were in Ogden from about 1884 to about 1895. One of Benjamin's descendants, through his son William Rushmer, has three charcoal drawings of the Curtis family. They each measure about 18" x 20" and are done on heavyweight cardboard. On the back of one is written "Family Photographs. Curtis Ancestry. Sarah Lavantia Card Curtis; Benjamin K. Curtis; William R. Curtis; and Ella May Canfield Curtis." The charcoal drawings for Benjamin and Sarah are on separate pieces of cardboard. The one of Sarah has already been uploaded to this blog. The third drawing is a composite of both William and Ella May when they were children, about 3 and 4 years old respectively. So we have four names and three charcoal drawings, which leaves us with the identity of the last one being that of Benjamin Kingman Curtis, the subject in question. With the conflicting identities for this picture, the identified charcoal drawings may not be enough evidence. More detective work is needed, as outlined below. 

Dating this photo by carefully looking at several details:

1.  Style of photograph. I believe this is a Cabinet Card, although I haven't seen the original in person. I have only seen this scanned image. What are the exact measurements of the original photograph? If it's a Cabinet Card, then it should measure about 6 x 4. If the photograph is a Carte de Visite, then it would measure roughly 2 1/2 x 3 inches.

2. The hair style. When did men style their hair the way this person has done?

3.  Clothing. When did men wear clothing like that worn by the person in the photo?

4.  How old do you think this person is?

5.  The photographer. When was this person in business?

6.  The photographer's imprint. How many lines? How ornate is the imprint?

7.  The border, corners, and the card colors both front and back. 

See Estimating When a Cabinet Card Image was Produced for more details in dating old Cabinet Cards. After we have a better idea about when this photo was taken, we can compare it to the ages of the four men to see if we can determine exactly who this person is.

The Curtis Pump Company

The Curtis Pump Company in Preston, Idaho. Rene Curtis is on the left, Cyrus Jerome Curtis in the middle, and an unknown person on the right. Rene Cyrus Curtis, 1890-1956, was the son of Cyrus Jerome Curtis

Curtis Plumbing Company

This is the Curtis Plumbing Company in Preston, Idaho. On the right is Cyrus Jerome Curtis, son of Benjamin Kingman Curtis. The person on the left and the person standing in the doorway of the business are unknown.

Cyrus Jerome Curtis

Cyrus Jerome Curtis, son of Benjamin Kingman Curtis and Sarah Lavantia Card.