Friend Curtis newspaper articles

When searching for clues about Friend Curtis being the possible father of Benjamin Kingman Curtis, I discovered a few newspaper articles about Friend that were published in the 1850's. The Western Chronicle was the first newspaper printed in Saint Joseph County, Michigan and a name index to the paper for 1849-1864 is available on microfiche at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (fiche 6332812). The original newspapers are on microfilm at the Three Rivers Public Library, located in Three Rivers, Michigan. I hired a researcher in the area to make copies of the newspaper articles for all the Curtis names in the index:

David W. Curtis (6 Dec 1860 news item)

Friend Curtis (deceased) Mottville, had the following legal notices in the paper:

• 9 Nov 1850 through 1 March 1851
• 1 Jan 1857 through 15 Jan 1957

Melissa Curtis (all legal notices)

• 9 Nov 1850 through 4 Jan 1851
• 1 Jan 1857 through 15 Jan 1857

Northrop Curtis and Hellen Schellhous (marriage announcement 21 Dec 1850)

Norton S. Curtis (legal notices during all of July 1850)

Seth Curtis (news item 12 Jan 1850)

T. M. Curtis (news item 14 Oct 1858)

There were two other names in the newspaper index that I obtained copies of:

1. Rev. Herschel Foster was mentioned in a news article on 1 Jan 1857 and 29 Jan 1857. The reason I wanted copies of his news articles was because I was looking for church records that recorded the marriages performed by Rev. Foster. I discovered in Benjamin Kingman Curtis' Civil War pension papers that Benjamin filled out a form stating that he was married by "Rev. Hershel Foster." Several people have looked for Rev. Foster's church records but they have still not been located. We do not know what church Rev. Foster belonged to, so we are looking at all church records that are available in the area.
2. Benjamin married Sarah Lavantia Card. Both Benjamin, Sarah and some of her family were living in Park township during the 1850 census. Sarah's father, William Fuller Card, died in Park twp on 20 Aug 1846, five years prior to Benjamin and Sarah's marriage on 24 May 1851. Legal news for William F. Card was published in the newspaper from 9 Nov 1850 through 12 April 1851. The articles mentioned that Cyrus W. Card was the administrator of the estate. Cyrus was the son of William, and brother to Sarah.
   

Clues in a name

One research method that is often used when conducting family history research is evaluating the names of the children because they were often named after family members. Naming patterns have been documented for different periods of time and localities. One typical naming pattern is:

1st son - named after father's father
2nd son - named after mother's father
3rd son - named after father
4th son - named after father's oldest brother
5th son - named after mother's oldest brother
1st daughter - named after mother's mother
2nd daughter - named after father's mother
3rd daughter - named after mother
4th daughter - named after mother's oldest sister
5th daughter - named after father's oldest sister

(see http://www.allcensus.com/namesys.html for this naming tradition)

Maybe the names of Benjamin and Sarah's child hold clues to the names of Benjamin's parents and siblings. I will compare this naming pattern to the names of the Curtis children:

Cyrus Jerome was the first son. If he was named after his father's father, then we would expect that Benjamin's father was named either Cyrus or Jerome. What we know so far is that Sarah, the mother, had a brother named Cyrus William and he was the oldest son in his family.

Friend Charles was the second son. If he was named after his mother's father, his name would have been something along the line of William Fuller CARD. So the tradition or naming pattern doesn't hold true with this child. What we do know is that the mother Sarah had a brother named Charles who was the second son in the family and he died when he was 15 years old. We also know that there was another Curtis family living in the same locality where Benjamin and Sarah were married. The father of that family was Friend Curtis, who was born in 1797. We do not know if there is a relationship between Benjamin and this older man named Friend. (see the other blog post that discusses this possibility.

Sarah Ellenor was the first daughter. Both the mother and the grandmother were named Sarah, so the naming pattern holds true in this case. We do not know if Ellenor is a family name on Benjamin's side.

Oscar Benjamin was the third son. The naming pattern is partially affirmative because we would expect this child to be named after the father. In this case, the father's name is Benjamin Kingman, so the middle name for this child likely was the father's namesake. The name Oscar is not on Sarah's side of the family and we do not know if the name comes from Benjamin's side of the family.

Cora Belle was the second daughter. Based upon the naming customs, we would expect that she might be named after Benjamin's mother. Since Sarah doesn't have the name in her ancestry, we expect that someday we will find the name in Benjamin's genealogy. We also have records stating that Cora's name was Clara, so either of those names might appear in her father's ancestry.

George Leslie was the fourth son and would expect that he was named after Benjamin's oldest brother. Sarah does not have any family members that this name, so perhaps the naming customs will hold true and this name will be found among Benjamin's side of the family.

William Rushmer was the fifth son and the naming patterns state that this child is typically named after the mother's oldest brother. When looking at the genealogy we find that Sarah's oldest brother was named Cyrus William Card. So the naming pattern is true.

John J. was the sixth son in the family. The naming tradition for this child is that they are typically named after the father's second oldest brother. The name John does not appear in Sarah's family, so perhaps this will eventually be found to be true.

Mary Lavantia was the third daughter in the family. We would expect that she would be named after her mother. In this case, the naming custom holds true because Lavantia is the mother Sarah's middle name. It is also interesting to note that Sarah had a sister named Mary who was the third daughter in the CARD family.

DeWilton Emory was the seventh son in the family. Naming customs and patterns for this child are unknown. We do know that DeWilton is a family name on Sarah's side, because her third oldest brother was also named DeWilton.

In summary, when we find the names of Benjamin's parents and siblings, don't be too surprised if some of their names are: Jerome, George, Friend, Leslie, Rushmer, Oscar, John J., Emory, Ellenor, Cora, Clara, or Belle.

History of Grandfather Curtis

On March 3, 1979 Phyllis Hobbs Kendall wrote a history of her grandfather, Benjamin Kingman Curtis. The three page history was originally distributed to family members on legal size paper and is shared in this Blog as it was originally written:

History of Grandfather Benjamin Kingman Curtis

He was born at Genesee, Ontario County, New York, Jan. 12, 1828. We have not yet verified names, dates, etc. concerning his parents, so will not give those details now, but he was definitely of French descent, judging from names in the family and his very dark hair and black eyes and olive skin which has carried down thru the generations distinctively. His height was 5 ft. 8 inches. He lived Lamont P.O., Tallmadge Township, Ottawa County, near Grand Rapids, Michigan many years, but lived in many placed prior to settling down on his own farm near Grand Rapids, Mich. He was married to Sarah Lavantia Card May 24th, 1851, at Park, St. Joseph, Mich. by Rev. Hershel Foster. His first son, Cyrus Jerome was born there June 1, 1852. He eventually moved to Ossian, Allegany Co. New York by time his second son Friend Charles was born July 31, 1853 and he had moved to Georgetown, Ottawa Co. Mich. when his first daughter, Sarah Ellenore Curtis was born Nov. 28, 1856. By time his third son was born, Oscar Benjamin Curtis, jan. 4, 1858 he had moved to near Grand Rapids, Lamont P.O. Tallmadge Twp. Ottawa County, Mich. where he owned his own farm, acreage not known, but it supplied all the needs of a large family thru the years they were raising their family.

They had a large comfortable home, there, as the photo of same is in our possession at this time, showing a team of oxen hitched to a wagon in front of the home, and on this farm all the rest of the children were born and raised, as follows: Cora Belle Curtis, Feb. 16, 1861, George Leslie Curtis, April 22, 1863, William Rushmer, Aug. 12, 1866, John J. June 22, 1868, but died at 4 years of age, Dec. 12, 1872. Mary Lovantia (my Mother) was born the same place near Grand Rapids, Feb. 1, 1871, and youngest child DeWilton Curtis was born, Sept. 6, 1873 same place.

Grandfather Curtis was a Sawyer or Lumberman some of the time during his early life. Was also a fine horseman. oxen were used most of the time for farm work, and the horses were used mostly for transportation. Grandfather Curtis evidently worked in the Lumber Mill prior to the birth of their daughter Ellen, as I recall a story my Mother told me that she learned from her Mother about Grandfather operating a saw mill at that time, but after moving to his own farm he had a full time job operating that, except for the time he was in the Civil War.

He enlisted Aug. 13. 1862 At Grand Rapids, Mich. and we have the record of this. Was in Company "B" 5th Regiment of the Michigan Cavalry Volunteers, commanded by Capt. David Olifont. Was discharged at Leavenworth, Kansas, June 20, 1865. Injured in left knee and hand, deafness in one ear. Also had Catarrh (better known as Sinus trouble) which he contracted near Detroit, Mich. Mar. 1863, result of typhoid fever. Reheumatism contracted near Stevensburg, Virginia, Jan. 1864 camping out in stormy weather. Was treated at St. Mary's Hospital, Detroit from Nov. 1862 to 1863. His family at the time he was in the Service were five children, oldest Cyrus Jerome 10 yrs. old and youngest Cora Belle not quite 2 yrs. old. I heard my Mother say that they had quite difficult times during the time my Grandfather had to be away, but with outside help they managed the farm fairly well. Mother said they raised practically everything they needed on their farm, having an orchard, gardens, all kinds of fowl, hogs, sheep and cattle, mostly for their own use, and of course horses for their transportation. Oh yes, I forgot to say Grandfather supplied his own horse when he enlisted but it was lost at Stevensbury, Virg. Feb. 29, 1864. He was a Corporal and furnished his own equipment as well as his own horse.

Nearly all the boys remained at home before marrying until approximately 30 yrs. or more of age, the girls marrying somewhat younger. the boys evidently felt a sense of their Father needing their help on the large farm, altho in those days girls married young and men not so young, as it was somewhat the custom to be financially established with home, etc. before taking on the responsibilities of married life. At least three of the boys at one time moved to ranches near Big Timber, Montana, and raised their families there and my Father and Mother joined them for a few years prior to moving to Alberta, Canada. The sister Ellen and her husband also moved there too, near her brothers. The daughter Cora moved to Ogden, Utah, her husband was a Railroadman, Conductor. The youngest, the son DeWilton, moved to Logan, Utah.

With all the children married and gone, Grandfather soon sold his farm and moved to Logan, Utah, where his son DeWilton lived. By the way DeWilton was called "Cap" short for Captain, after Grandfather having been in the Service, and this child was born afterwards. They only resided in Logan a few years when Grandmother Sarah Lovantia died on Dec. 14, 1891. Mother then made her home with an Aunt and Uncle. Card was their last name but do not recall their first names. My Mother married my Father, James Conroy Hobbs, May 5, 1893 in the Logan Temple at Logan, Utah. They soon moved to Pocatella, Idaho, where I was born Feb. 9th, 1895. Grandfather Curtis lived with his son DeWilton, "Cap" and his wife until he died Dec. 13, 1902. I wasn't quite 7 years old but I recall Mother coming from her home in Montana and visiting her Father as we were soon to leave for our home in Canada which we did in June 1902 so none of us ever saw him again and I never saw my Grandmother Sarah.

Mother loved the memories of her home so many years on the farm near Grand Rapids, Mich. and use to tell us about many things that happened there. Her brothers use to put her on the horses from the age of about three yrs. old and she learned to ride very well very early. They were very proud of her and when she was still just a girl 14 or 15 maybe 16, they put her on bucking horses where it took three of them to put her on one, and she always rode without accident and never rode astride in her life, as ladies in her day never rode astride, but she claimed it was easier to stay on a bucking horse on a side saddle because of the horn which was practically around one leg than to ride astride and stay on. She always had a good riding horse until she was married and began having a family, from then on she was only allowed her carriage and driving horse, which she often lamented of, but it was the Doctor's orders and that was it.

Well I seem to be getting off Grandfather Curtis story, so will mention a few more things Mother told me of her home life with her parents and then this story will end.

She often talked about the hazel and other nuts they use to gather in the Fall, some wild, and the wild berries and fruit which was canned and dried and told how they dried the corn in those days and put way potatoes and other root vegetables in root cellers and smoked their own hams and bacons, and put up eggs in salt for times when the chickens were moulting. How the boys cut huge chunks of ice on the rivers in the Winter time to put in an ice house and have things cool in hot weather. I can even remember havng ice in that manner in the early days of my life. For any the things they did not raise they bartered, or traded things they had for them, such as sale, spices, etc.

Letter stating Benjamin's full name

Mary Hobbs, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Curtis wrote a letter to the National Archives in 1938. She wanted to find out if her father's Civil War military records contained information about the names of her grandparents. Today, we might assume that everyone knows who their grandparents are, but such is not the case. I feel very blessed to have spent lots of time with my grandparents when I was a child. I knew them. I knew their names, where they lived, and I know where they are buried. I can't imagine what it would be like to not know anything about my grandparents. In this letter that Mary wrote, we have the only record known to exist that is at least partially official that states Benjamin's full name. Some descendants have questioned his middle name, thinking the wrong name had been recorded in our family records. I am glad that I found this letter, because if anyone would have known what was Benjamin's full name, it would have been his wife or his children. Thank you Mary for writing this letter to ask if the military service records had record of the parent's names for "Benjamin Kingman Curtis," your father.