Abner Curtis

ABNER CURTIS (1762–1839), son of Eli Curtis and Desire Turner

TAMSIN ATWOOD (1770–1848), daughter of Joseph Atwood and Susanna Smith

Abner Curtis was born on 31 May 1762 in Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. [1] He died on 30 June 1839, age 77, and is buried in the Riverview Cemetery in Bucksport, Hancock County, Maine. [2] Abner married Tamsin Atwood, the daughter of Joseph. [3]

Tamsin Atwood was born on 22 June 1770 in Barrington, Nova Scotia. [4] She died on 19 May 1848 and is buried in the Riverview Cemetery. [5]

The inscription on Abner's grave says, "Mr. Abner Curtis who died June 30, 1839 in the 78th year of his age. Mr. Curtis was a decided and exemplary Christian, the first Methodist that ever came to the state of Maine and for more than fifty years a class leader." [2]

The inscription on Tamsin's grave says, "Tamzin wife of Abner Curtis Esq died May 19, 1848 age 77 yrs 10 mos. & 28 ds." [5]

Abner moved from Nova Scotia to Maine. [6]

Abner and Tamsin Curtis witnessed a deed on 23 April 1790. [7]

The first town meeting in Bucksport was held on 6 September 1792 and Abner Curtis was chosen town clerk. [8]

The 1800 U.S. federal census for Maine gave the origins of residents. Abner, Seth, Abel and Asa Curtis came from Scituate. [9]

A search in 1794 and 1795 found only two Methodist church members in Maine: Abner Curtis and his wife, of Bucksport, who came from the British provinces. [10]

In 1800 Abner was living in Bucksport, Hancock County, Maine. His household consisted of one male age 26 to 44, One female 16 to 25, two females ten to 15, and two males and one female under ten. Tamzin, age about 30, seems to be missing from the enumeration. [11] In 1810 Abner was living in Bucksport in a household that consisted of one male 45 and over, one female 26 to 44, three females 16 to 25, two males and one female ten to 15 and three males and one female under ten. [12] In 1820 Abner was living in Bucksport—the town was renamed in 1817—in a household that consisted of one male and one female over 45, one male 18 to 25, one male 16 to 18, one male and one female ten to 15 and one male and one female under ten. [13]

On 31 January 1820 Abner Curtis and others—the proprietors of the First Methodist Meeting House in Bucksport—were incorporated. [14]

Abner was a member of the Maine legislature in 1823. [15]

In 1830 Abner was living in Bucksport in a household that consisted of a male and a female between 60 and 69, two males 20 to 29 and one female 15 to 19. [16]

Abner Curtis, Esquire of Bucksport, made his will on 17 May 1830. He left the use and improvement of his estate to his wife Tamsin, so long as she did not remarry. If she remarried, she was to quit to his children the whole of his estate and at her remarriage or decease his estate was to be divided between his children Desire, Elizabeth, Bathsheba, Mary, Abner, John, Wesley, Charlotte, Newton and Susanna. [17]

Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, Maine, 20 September 1839, 4.

Abner was justice of the peace in Bucksport in 1835. [18]

The court appointed John Curtis executor of the estate of Abner Curtis, late of Bucksport on 2 August 1839. Abner's will was probated on the first Wednesday of 1839. [18]

In 1840 Tamsin, aged 70 to 79, was living in Bucksport with a female aged 20 to 29. [19]

Children of Abner Curtis and Tamsin Atwood: (order uncertain):

i. Desire Curtis was born on 15 August 1787 in Barrington, Nova Scotia. [20] She died on 13 February 1855 and is buried in the Back Ridge Cemetery in Orland, Hancock county, Maine. [21] She married Daniel Blaisdell. He died on 22 November 1864 and is buried in the Back Ridge Cemetery. [22]

The inscription on Desire's grave says, "Mrs. Desire wife of Daniel Blaisdell 2d died Feb. 13, 1855 age 67 years, 6 mos." [20] The inscription on Daniel's grave says, "Danl Blaisdel 2d died Nov. 22, 1864, age 71 yr 8 mos." [22]

ii. Elizabeth Curtis was born in 1798. She died on 8 February 1868. She married Reverend Cyrus Cummings.

iii. Abner Curtis was born about May 1801. He died on 18 May 1867, age 66, in Riverview Cemetery. [23] He married Hannah Farnham. [24] She died on 33 August 1882 and is buried in the Riverview Cemetery. [24]

In 1850 Abner, age 49, and Hannah, age 48, were living in Bucksport. [25]

iv. John Curtis is possibly the John who was born on 2 July 1802. This John died on 20 December 1882 and was buried in the Roscoe Cemetery in Roscoe, Winnebago County, Illinois. He married Roxanna R. Unknown, said to be Roxanna R. Wood. She was born on 5 September 1817 and died on 12 April 1889. [26]

In 1840 John Curtis was living in Bucksport in a household that consisted of a male age 30 to 39, a female age 20 to 29 and two females under five. [27]

John may be the John Curtis, a physician, born in Maine who was living in Roscoe in 1850. [28] In 1880 this John was a retired farmer living in Roscoe, born about 1803 in Maine, whose father was born in Massachusetts and whose mother was born in Nova Scotia. [29]

v. Wesley Curtis might be the Wesley Curtis who was born about 1805 in Bucksport.

On 31 October 1826, Wesley Davis, age 21 and born in Bucksport, signed an oath in New York that he was an American citizen so that he could obtain a Seaman's Protection Certificate. He was five feet seven and a half inches tall and had a light complexion. [30]

vi. Bathsheba Curtis died after 17 May 1830.

vii. Mary Curtis died after 17 May 1830.

viii. Charlotte Curtis

ix. Newton Curtis was born about 1810. He died on 10 December 1878 and is buried in the Riverview Cemetery. [31] He married Prudence Webster. [32] She died on 10 August 1896 and is buried in the Riverview Cemetery. [33]

In 1850 Newton and Prudence were forty years old and living in Bucksport with their five children. [25]

x. Susanna Curtis was born about 1816.

Susanna is probably the woman who was living with her mother in 1840. In 1850 Susanna was 34 and living with Abner and Hannah. [25]

References

1. Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, 2 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1909), vol. 1, 106, son of Eli and Desire.

2. Find a Grave, database and images, memorial page for Abner Curtis (31 May 1761–30 Jun 1839), Find a Grave Memorial ID 55431556, citing Riverview Cemetery, Bucksport, Hancock County, ME; Maintained by Whitney (contributor 47321457), All Find A Grave entries accessed 28 November 2022.

3. "Barrington and Argyle, Nova Scotia: Vital Records 1734–1908," database with image, AmericanAncestors.org, p. 30, daughter of Joseph.

4. "Barrington and Argyle, Nova Scotia: Vital Records," p. 3, daughter of Joseph and Susanna (Smith) Atwood.

5. Find a Grave, memorial page for Tamzin Atwood Curtis (22 Jun 1770–19 May 1848), ID 83832307, citing Riverview Cemetery; Maintained by Veteran Guy (contributor 47317741). Death date in inscription on gravestone.

6. "Barrington and Argyle, Nova Scotia: Vital Records," p. 2

7. "Hatevil Colson and Elisabeth Downs," Ancestors of Eastmill (http://fam.eastmill.com/f576.htm: accessed 25 May 2020).

8. "The History of Bucksport," Bucksport, Maine (https://bucksportmaine.gov: accessed 25 May 2020).

9. Walter Goodwin Davis, "Part of Hancock County, Maine in 1800," New England Historic and Genealogical Register 105: 283.

10. Abel Stevens, Memorials of the Early Progress of Methodism in the Eastern States ... (New York: Carlton & Phillips, 1854), 308.

11. "1800 U.S. Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry > ME > Hancock > Bucksport, image 3.

12. "1810 U.S. Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry > ME > Hancock > Bucksport, image 3.

13. "1820 U.S. Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry > ME > Hancock > Bucksport, image 1.

14. State of Massachusetts, Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Boston: Russell, Cutler & Co., 1818), 315.

15. Secretary of the State of Maine, Resolves of the Third Legislature of the State of Maine ... (Portland: Todd and Smith, 1823), 192.

16. "1830 U.S. Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry > ME > Hancock > Bucksport, image 9.

17. "Maine, Wills and Probate Records, 1854–1999," database with images, Ancestry > Estate Files, no. 1323–1386, 1790–1915, images 714–36.

18. John Hayward, The New England and New York Law Register for the Year 1835 ... (Boston: John Hayward, 1835), 31.

19. "1840 U.S. Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry > ME > Hancock > Bucksport, image 24.

20. "Barrington, Nova Scotia: The Register of Births in the Township," Mayflower Descendant 8 (1906); 139.

21. Find a Grave, memorial page for Desire Curtis Blaisdell (11 Aug 1787–13 Feb 1855), ID 74815638, citing Back Ridge Cemetery, Orland, Hancock County, ME; Maintained by Veteran Guy. Death date in inscription.

22. Find a Grave, memorial page for Daniel Blaisdell II (31 Mar 1793–22 Nov 1864), ID 74815582, citing Back Ridge Cemetery; Maintained by Veteran Guy. Death date in inscription on gravestone.

23. Find a Grave, memorial page for Abner Curtis Jr. (15 Jun 1801–18 May 1867), ID 83832457, citing Riverview Cemetery; Maintained by Veteran Guy. Death date in inscription on gravestone.

24. Find a Grave, database and images (: accessed 28 November 2022), memorial page for James Harris (1856–15 Jun 1931), ID 8383268, citing Smyrna Cemetery, Lulaton, Brantley County, GA; Maintained by Luvspugs (contributor 46559635).

25. "1850 U.S. Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry > ME > Hancock > Bucksport, image 7.

26. Find a Grave, memorial page for Dr John Curtis (2 Jul 1802–23 Dec 1881), Find a Grave Memorial ID 63444917, citing Roscoe Cemetery, Roscoe, Winnebago County, IL; Maintained by J & B (contributor 47352964) . Birth and death dates in inscription on gravestone.

27. "1840 U.S. Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry > ME > Hancock > Bucksport, image 24.

28. "1850 U.S. Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry > IL > Winnebago > Roscoe, image 21.

29. "1880 U.S. Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry > IL > Winnebago > Roscoe > 233, image 17.

30. "U.S., Citizenship Affidavits of U.S.-Born Seamen at Select Ports, 1792–1869," database with images, Ancestry > Quarterly Abstracts > New York > M2003 Roll 1, image 727.

31. Find a Grave, memorial page for Newton Curtis (unknown–10 Dec 1879), Find a Grave Memorial ID 83811647, citing Riverview Cemetery; Maintained by Veteran Guy. Death date in inscription on gravestone.

32. "Maine, U.S., Death Records, 1761–1922," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1962) > Hancock, 1898 > C, image 101.

33. Find a Grave, memorial page for Prudence Curtis (unknown–10 Aug 1896), Find a Grave Memorial ID 83811859, citing Riverview Cemetery; Maintained by Veteran Guy. Death date in inscription on gravestone.

last revised 26-Dec-2022