GOLD TOMPKINS CURTIS AND FAMILY:

Gold T. Curtis was born in Morrisville, New York on August 16, 1821, the son of John G. and Ruth (Bartlett) Curtis. He graduated from Hamilton College (Clinton, N.Y.) in 1839, and practiced law in various places in New York State before coming to Stillwater (Minn.) in 1853. Curtis held the offices of district attorney and probate judge, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1857. Besides managing a lucrative law practice, he was also a collecting agent for the firm of Bun & Boyd, Chicago. Curtis enlisted in Company K, Fifth Minnesota Regiment, in January 1862; was mustered in as captain in April 1862; and died of dysentery in St. Louis on July 24, 1862.

Gold T. Curtis married Mary F. Gay of Canastota, Madison County, New York in 1846. She died less than two years later on July 17, 1848 at the age of 20. The following year, in 1849, Curtis married Mary Abigail Anderson of Belleville, New York. Two children were born: Jennie O. (ca. 1851), who married a New York banker, Henry W. Cannon, and had two sons, George Curtis and Henry White Cannon; and Gold T. Curtis, Jr. (ca. 1857). Gold T. Curtis, Jr. was employed at the Chase National Bank, New York, before moving to Great Falls, Montana in 1889. While in Montana he organized banks and became president of the First National Bank of Great Falls in 1897. He married Lucille M. Monroe in 1889, and had a son born ca. 1901 who was also named Gold T. Curtis.

More biographical information will be found in: U.S. Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men (1879), p. 496; Minnesota in the Civil War and Indian War, p. 298; James Taylor Dunn, The St. Croix: Midwest Border River (1965), p. 226-232, all available in the Minnesota Historical Society book collection.

Henry M. Curtis, brother of Gold T., arrived in Stillwater on June 6, 1854 was later mustered into Company F, Third Minnesota Regiment (age 26), and was mustered out on September 2, 1865.

John P. Houston, law partner of Gold Curtis, was, according to correspondence, working in Trempeleau, Wisconsin as a school teacher. When the Civil war broke out he returned to Minnesota, enlisted in Company F, Fifth Minnesota Regiment (age 27), and was mustered out in September 1865. (SEE: Minnesota in the Civil War and Indian War, I, p. 298; James Taylor Dunn, The St. Croix: Midwest Border River (1965), p. 230.

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Golds T. Curtis and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Microfilm Production:

St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society, [1956?].

Microfilm available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Location of Originals:

Originals of microfilmed papers (circa 49 items and 2 volumes) loaned by Mrs. George C. Cannon, New Rochelle, New York.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 7786; 11,477; 12,538; 12,580

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, September 1995

Catalog ID number: 990017341110104294

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There are only a few items for the 1863 to 1888 period, consisting mainly of tax receipts, grocery and dry goods invoices, legal papers relating to Curtis' land in Washington County, and letters from family and friends in New York and Stillwater. Mary Curtis left Stillwater sometime after 1884.

The remainder of the files (1891-1901) contain many letters written to Mary from her son Gold describing his banking career in Neihart and Great Falls, Montana. He organized a number of banks in the area and became the president of the First National of Great Falls in 1897. The letters contain much information on economic conditions in the area, particularly following the Panic of 1893; silver coinage plans; description of William Jennings Bryan's visit to Great Falls (Aug. 1897); family finances; his marriage to Lucille Monroe; comments on the Spanish-American War; frequent references to visits in the area by James J. Hill and his son Samuel; letters (1893-1899) to Mary Curtis from her daughter, Jennie Curtis Cannon, including those she wrote from the Exposition of 1900.

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Correspondence, deeds and other legal documents, tax receipts, and other materials relating to Curtis' law practice and to his employment as agent for the Chicago credit and collection agency Dun & Boyd. The materials after 1853 relate to St. Croix Valley residents and companies, and include letters from family and friends in New York state.

Letters of particular interest are L. E. Bormann to Curtis (July 22, 1845) describing Watertown, Wisconsin, with detailed information on the town, its inhabitants, and its economic potential; from the Minnesota State Democratic Committee (1860) requesting financial aid; from his brother Henry (Oct.-Dec. 1861) describing his experiences in the Third Minnesota Regiment; and from John P. Houston (1861) with information on his teaching career in Trempeleau and his attempts to join the Fifth Minnesota Regiment.

Other materials include diary-memorandum books (Curtis and Houston) and daybooks (1843-1859), ledgers (1853-1862), cash books (1853-1862), and report books (1853-1862) detailing Curtis' legal business and his work for the Mercantile Company. His diary (1854) contains only brief entries with information on the weather, real estate ventures, cash transactions, and similar information. An entry dated June 6 describes the arrival in Stillwater of his brother Henry.

John P. Houston is represented by a small notebook, mostly undated, but with a few entries dated 1856-1857. There is information on his school teaching activities, and literary and legal memoranda. Other Houston materials include a Curtis and Houston (1859-1861) ledger and cash book (1859-1881).

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Actions and defenses -- Minnesota -- Stillwater.

Banks and banking -- Montana -- Great Falls.

Business enterprises -- Montana -- Great Falls.

Collection agents -- Minnesota -- Stillwater.

Credit -- Minnesota -- Stillwater.

Law -- Cases.

Economic history -- Montana.

Places:

Great Falls (Mont.).

Saint Croix River (Wis. and Minn.).

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.

Persons:

Cannon, Jennie Curtis.

Curtis, Mary Abigail Anderson.

Curtis, Henry M.

Hill, James J. (James Jerome), 1838-1916.

Hill, Mary Theresa Mehegan.

Houston, John P.

Organizations:

Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.).

United States. Army. Minnesota Infantry Regiment, 5th (1861-1865).

Types of Documents:

Legal instruments.

Diaries.

Plats.

Occupations:

Bankers -- Montana -- Great Falls.

Lawyers -- Minnesota -- Stillwater.

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