Joseph S. Curtis
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Brown 1st district
In office
January 6, 1873 – January 5, 1874
Preceded byChristian Wœlz
Succeeded byMorgan Lewis Martin
In office
January 2, 1871 – January 1, 1872
Preceded byEdward Hicks
Succeeded byChristian Wœlz
In office
January 4, 1869 – January 3, 1870
Preceded byJohn B. Eugene
Succeeded byEdward Hicks
Personal details
Born(1831-06-08)June 8, 1831
Warren, Ohio, U.S.
DiedMay 15, 1878(1878-05-15) (aged 46)
Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting placeWoodlawn Cemetery, Green Bay
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Rosalind Rider
​
(m. 1867⁠–⁠1878)​
Children4
Alma materWilliams College
OccupationLawyer
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Volunteers
Union Army
Years of service1862–1865
Rank2nd Lieutenant, USV
Unit
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Joseph Seaver Curtis (June 8, 1831 – May 15, 1878) was an American lawyer, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for three terms, representing Green Bay and eastern Brown County during the 1869, 1871, and 1873 sessions. He was also an editor of the Green Bay Gazette, and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Early life

Joseph Seaver Curtis was born in Warren, Ohio, in June 1831.[1] His mother died when he was just a year old. His father moved the family back east to Vermont, where Joseph was raised and educated. He graduated from Williams College, in Massachusetts, in 1852. He came out of college in poor health and sought revitalization in the west. He moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where his uncle, Reverend Jeremiah Porter, was established and lived as a member of Porter's household for several years.[2] When the Porters left Wisconsin, in 1858, Curtis elected to stay and make it his permanent home.[2]

In these early years in Green Bay, he served in several local offices, including justice of the peace, city clerk, and deputy clerk of the court. He chose to study law and moved temporarily to Madison, Wisconsin, to utilize the library there.[2]

Civil War service

While he was living in Madison, the country entered the American Civil War. He joined up with a company of Green Bay volunteers who had come to Madison to become organized into a regiment, and was enrolled as a private in Company H of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment.[3]

The 12th Wisconsin Infantry mustered into federal service in January 1862 and proceeded to Missouri for service in the western theater of the war.[4] Due to logistical challenges in southern Illinois, the regiment was exposed to severe cold and food shortages for much of their journey. Curtis served with the regiment through the Vicksburg campaign and Sherman's Atlanta campaign, he was promoted to corporal and re-enlisted at the end of his three year term as a veteran.[3]

He refused several offers to be commissioned as an officer, until July 1864, when he accepted commission as second lieutenant of Company E in the 42nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment.[2] He served only briefly with the 42nd Wisconsin Infantry, however. He was detached from his company and served as adjutant for the mustering office at Cairo, Illinois, until the end of the war.[2][5]

Political career

Curtis returned to Green Bay after the war and was admitted to the bar. He was a staunch Republican and was elected to three non-consecutive terms (1869, 1871, 1873) in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Green Bay and parts of eastern Brown County.[1][6] He also ran for election to the 1872 Assembly session, but was defeated in that election.[7] He ran for Wisconsin State Senate twice in the 2nd Senate district, but was defeated both times, in 1869 and 1873.[8][9]

Curtis was a friend and political ally to the owners of the Green Bay Gazette, and spent a year as editor of the paper in 1877. During the 31st Wisconsin Legislature, he was appointed clerk of the Assembly committee on revision, but had to resign due to his failing health.[10]

He died at his home in Green Bay, in May 1878, after suffering from illness for much of his adult life.[2][11]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1868, 1870, 1871, 1872)

Wisconsin Assembly, Brown 1st District Election, 1870[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 8, 1870
Republican Joseph S. Curtis 916 51.29% +7.56%
Democratic William J. Abrams 870 48.71%
Plurality 46 2.58% -9.97%
Total votes 1,786 100.0% +37.49%
Republican gain from Democratic
Wisconsin Assembly, Brown 1st District Election, 1871[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 7, 1871
Democratic Christian Wœlz 665 53.33%
Republican Joseph S. Curtis (incumbent) 582 46.67% -4.62%
Plurality 83 6.66% +4.08%
Total votes 1,247 100.0% -30.18%
Democratic gain from Republican
Wisconsin Assembly, Brown 1st District Election, 1872[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 5, 1872
Republican Joseph S. Curtis 1,082 57.68% +11.00%
Democratic Christian Wœlz (incumbent) 794 42.32%
Plurality 288 15.35% +8.70%
Total votes 1,876 100.0% +50.44%
Republican gain from Democratic

Wisconsin Senate (1869, 1873)

Wisconsin Senate, 2nd District Election, 1869[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 2, 1869
Democratic Lyman Walker 2,010 51.53%
Republican Joseph S. Curtis 1,891 48.47%
Plurality 119 3.05%
Total votes 3,901 100.0%
Democratic hold
Wisconsin Senate, 2nd District Election, 1873[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 4, 1873
Democratic John Milton Read 2,893 57.38% +5.70%
Republican Joseph S. Curtis 2,149 42.62%
Plurality 744 14.76% +11.40%
Total votes 5,042 100.0% +4.30%
Democratic hold

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Official Directory". The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1871. p. 371. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Death of J. S. Curtis". Green Bay Press-Gazette. May 15, 1878. p. 4. Retrieved July 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "Twelfth Regiment Infantry". Roster of Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861–1865. Vol. 1. Office of the Adjutant General of Wisconsin. 1886. p. 728. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  4. ↑ Quiner, Edwin B. (1866). "Regimental History–Twelfth Infantry". The Military History of Wisconsin. Clarke & Co. pp. 574–589. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Forty-Second Regiment Infantry". Roster of Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861–1865. Vol. 2. Office of the Adjutant General of Wisconsin. 1886. p. 711. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Official Directory". The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1873. p. 440. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Official Directory". The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1872. p. 443. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  8. 1 2 "Official Directory". The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1870. p. 350. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  9. 1 2 "Official Directory". The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1874. p. 448. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Death of J. S. Curtis". Oshkosh Northwestern. May 16, 1878. p. 4. Retrieved July 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ 'Collections on the State Historical of Wisconsin,' volume VIII, Wisconsin Historical Society: 1879, Biographical Sketch of Joseph S. Curtis, pg. 469
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