Ebenezer Birdseye Curtiss (1774 - abt. 1838)

Born 22 Apr 1774 in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1 Feb 1838 at about age 63 in Ellicott, Chautauqua, New York, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Kimberly Carroll [send private message] and Lorena Wolfe [send private message]

Biography

Eben was born 22 Apr 1773 in Stratford, CT.^[1][2].

The Morse Bible transcript^[3] gives Martha Morse's marriage to Ebenezer "Eben" Curtis on 29 Sep 1799. The Curtiss books^[1][2] have Ebenezer "Eben" Birdseye Curtiss' married to Patty Morse. In both cases, the children include (in this order) Annis, John, Matilda, Celestia, and Morse. Therefore, I think it's safe to assume that Martha and Patty are the same woman.

They had the following children^[3][1][2]:
- Annis Curtis, b. 25 Oct 1800, d. 20 Jun 1847
- Mordicai Curtis, b. 14 Jun 1802, d. ...
- John M. Curtis, b. 6 May 1804
- Matilda Curtis, b. 18 Jan 1807, d. 8 Nov 1836
- Dyer Curtis, b. 1 Apr 1809, d. ...
- Celestia Curtis, b. 3 Jul 1810
- S. Morse Curtis, b. 25 Aug 1812

Mordicai and Dyer aren't in the Curtiss books. Between that omission and the death notation for both in the Morse transcript, they may have died young.

"He was early in Otsego Co., N.Y. where he bought land July 25, 1797 of his brother Agur Curtiss. Agur bought this land on Nov. 2, 1795 from A. Lispenard and w. Sarah of New York City."^[2]

Eben's will was signed 9 Mar 1837, and the 17 Dec 1838 probate says "Eben B. Curtiss died on or about the first of February last in the town of Ellicott in the county of Chautauqua which was the place of his residence at the time of his death."^[4]

His gravestone in Fluvanna Cemetery reads "CURTIS, Eben born 4-22-1794 died 2-2-1837" per the Painted Hills Genealogy Society website. FindAGrave transcribes the year of birth as 1774 but the stone is too faded to make out the date of death, and with the spelling "Curtiss." These dates are both one year off the other sources.

Research Notes

The Genealogy of the Curtiss Family (both the 1903 and 1939 editions) give Eben's birth as 22 Apr 1773. His gravestone says 22 Apr 1774. I'm changing his DOB to match the stone until/unless someone can check a primary source.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Curtiss, Frederic Haines. A genealogy of the Curtiss family : being a record of the descendants of widow Elizabeth Curtiss, who settled in Stratford, Conn., 1639-1640. Boston, MA: Rockwell and Churchill Press, 1903. p.91. Internet Archive
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Curtis, Harlow Dunham. A genealogy of the Curtiss-Curtis family of Stratford, Connecticut : a supplement to the 1903 edition. Stratford, CT: Curtiss-Curtis Society, 1939. p.96. Internet Archive
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Wolfe, Lorena (Foley). Morse Family Bible. 1815. Last known to be in possession of Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, N.Y. Includes names, birth, marriage, and death dates of family members from 1753 to 1916.
4. ↑ New York Probate Records, 1629-1971 Images 134-135 of 709. FamilySearch.org.

• 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, page 52
• Stephen A. Ferguson letter of 24 Nov 1859

Acknowledgements

This person was created through the import of Watkins.ged on 04 April 2011. He was just Martha Morse's husband, "Curtiss" with the notation "Couldn't find any valid first name." User ID: 33ABED739299814C8B51C89B7E92A4D3FC32. Data Changed: 28 May 2002, Time: 21:42:06