The Delahorne/Curtis Family History

Curtis · ◉ direct ancestor

♂Joseph Curtis Sr

Born 1644, Wethersfield, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America. Died 1683, Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America.

Joseph Curtis (31 March 1644 – 31 December 1683) was a landholder of Wethersfield, Connecticut Colony, who died at about forty leaving a widow and young children, one of whom, his daughter Meribah, died two weeks after him. He was the seventh great-grandfather of Frederic Roger Curtis (1928–2007), through his son Thomas Curtis (1680–1752).

Early life and marriage

Joseph Curtis was born at Wethersfield, the son of Thomas Curtis (1598–1681) and Elizabeth Salmon (1612–1681). The town book enters his birth on “the last day” of March 1644 as a son of Thomas, and Savage’s dictionary of early New England settlers lists him among Thomas Curtis’s children at Wethersfield.

On 8 February 1673/74, at Wethersfield, he married Mercy Deming (1651–1714); the town book records that Captain Samuel Wells performed the marriage. The town book records the births of six children between 1674 and 1682: Meribah, Joseph, Mary, Sarah, Thomas and David. In the agreement settling his father’s estate in 1681/82, his brothers and sisters consented to enlarge Joseph’s portion “in consideration of the service that Joseph Curtice & his wife have done for their father during his life”, as the printed digest of the Hartford probate records gives it.

At the Court of Election held at Hartford on 11 May 1682, “sundry inhabitants of Weathersfeild” petitioned “that they might have liberty to errect a plantation in the Wabaquassit country”, and the Court referred the petition to the Governor and Council. The printed colony records name Joseph Curtis among the petitioners.

Death and estate

Joseph Curtis died at Wethersfield on 31 December 1683, about two years after his father, and was buried there. The town book gives his age as forty. His eldest daughter, Meribah, died on 15 January 1683/84, aged about ten.

The inventory of his estate, dated the day of his death, was taken by Samuel Talcott and John Deming and came to £271 9s., against debts of £49 10s. Most of its value was land: the house and home lot, thirty-eight acres of upland and swamp, and meadow and swamp lots, together worth about £192. The rest was a farming household’s goods: a feather bed and a small bed, brass and iron cookware, pewter, two chests and a cradle, books, a pair of cards and linen yarn, a cart and plow irons, stores of wheat, rye, flax, cider and tobacco, part of a cider mill, a bear skin, and livestock of two steers, a cow, two heifers, a horse and a pig. The inventory lists no servants. It names five children as heirs: Joseph, aged nine; Mary, seven; Sarah, about five; Thomas, three; and David, one. On 6 March 1683/84 the widow swore before Samuel Talcott that the inventory was a true account of the estate.

A printed digest of the Hartford court record summarizes the court’s order of the same day. Administration went to the widow, who received £20 of the personal estate and a third of the real estate for her lifetime. The rest was to go to the children, with a double share for the eldest son. Sergeant John Deming, Ebenezer Deming and John Curtis were appointed to help the widow. The division itself came fifteen years later. On 27 April 1699 John Curtis, John Deming senior and Ebenezer Deming senior divided the estate’s land and debts among the five children. They named Joseph “the eldest son”, Thomas “the second son”, David “the third son”, Mary “the eldest daughter” and Sarah “the second daughter”. Joseph received twenty-seven acres at the west end of the west swamp lot and twice the share of debts given to each of the others. The widow is not named in the distribution.

Notes

In the original inventory the widow’s oath is sworn by “Mary Curtice”. The printed digest of the same record gives her name as Mercy, and the town book has “Mercy” or “Marcy” in most of the children’s birth entries and “Mary” in one. The town record of the 1674 marriage leaves the bride’s surname blank. Her identification as a Deming rests on later compilations.

Savage’s dictionary and some later compilations add a son Henry, born in 1676. The printed digest of the probate records lists a “Henry, 7” among the children in the inventory, but the original reads “Mary”, and no Henry appears in either the inventory or the 1699 distribution. No town-book entry for his birth has been found.

Family time line

◉ Joseph Curtis Sr 1644–1683
◉ Mercy Deming 1651–1714
Married 8 Feb 1674, Wethersfield
○ Meribah Curtis 1674–1684 ✧
○ Joseph Curtis 1675–1765
○ Mary Curtis 1677–
○ Sarah Curtis 1679–
◉ Thomas Curtis 1680–1752 ⚔⚖
○ David Curtis 1682–

Recorded events

EventWhenWhereEvidence ?on record - the record itself, its image, or a transcript or printed copy of it has been read
from a compiled source - an index, a printed genealogy or a memorial page says so
not yet documented - in the family record, no source attached yet
Birth 31 Mar 1644 Wethersfield, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America from a compiled source
Living at
One of the 'sundry inhabitants of Weathersfeild' petitioning to erect a plantation in the Wabaquasset country
 11 May 1682 Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America on record
Death 31 Dec 1683 Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America from a compiled source
Burial Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, United States from a compiled source
16441683 1650166016701680

Sources

  • U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current — Birth, Death, Burial, name
  • U.S., Family History Books — Birth, Death, name, Marriage (Mercy Deming)
  • Connecticut, U.S., Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) — Birth, name
  • The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, vol. 3, 1678-1689 (J. Hammond Trumbull, ed., Hartford, 1859) — Living at
  • Connecticut, U.S., Town Death Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) - Joseph Curtis, Wethersfield, d. 31 Dec 1683 — Death
  • Manwaring, A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, vol. I pp.297-298 — Thomas Curtice of Wethersfield, estate 1681 — about this person
  • Connecticut, U.S., Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) — name, Marriage (Mercy Deming)

Borders as they stood about 1650 (they follow the event under the mouse), from the historical-basemaps project, the Newberry Library's Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (states and territories, 1783 on) and Natural Earth; the colonies and provinces are drawn along today's lines.

Line of descent

  1. Thomas Curtis Jr 1598–1681
  2. Elizabeth Salmon 1612–1681
    1. Christopher Salmon 1586–1625
      1. Peter Salmon 1560–1600
      2. Alice (surname unknown) 1564–1610
    2. Sarah Curtis 1581–1630

Descendants

  1. Meribah Curtis 1674–1684 ✧
  2. Joseph Curtis 1675–1765
    1. Katharine Curtis 1710–
    2. Joseph Curtis 1713–
    3. Daniel Curtis 1715–
    4. Sarah Curtis 1717–
    5. Josiah Curtis 1721–
  3. Mary Curtis 1677–
  4. Sarah Curtis 1679–
    1. Miriam Phelps 1718–
      1. Stephen Bingham 1740–1835
        1. Cyrus Bingham 1789–1862
      2. Miriam Bingham 1749–1780
        1. Submit Clark 1769–1811
    2. Eunice Phelps 1720–1771
      1. Keziah Pease 1759–1846
        1. Elizabeth Warriner 1793–1863
      2. Moses Austin 1761–1821
        1. Stephen Fuller Austin 1793–1836
  5. Thomas Curtis 1680–1752 ⚔⚖
    1. Rebecca Curtis 1705–
    2. Mercy Curtis 1707–1757
      1. Oliver Warner 1729–1814
        1. Mabel Warner 1756–1801
    3. Sibbel Curtis 1708–
      1. Martin North 1734–1806
        1. Rufus North 1769–1841
      2. Sibyl North 1736–1807
        1. Noah Cowles 1759–1839
        2. Samuel Cowles 1771–1845
    4. Hannah Curtis 1709–
      1. Samuel Churchill 1733–1790
        1. Lucy Churchill 1762–1824
    5. Zebulon Curtis 1710/1711–1798 ⚔
      1. Elizabeth Curtis 1737–1801
      2. Thomas Curtis 1739–1776 ⚔
        1. Mary Curtis 1774–1867
      3. Marcy Freeman Curtis 1740–
      4. Job Curtis 1745–1807
      5. John Curtis 1748–bef 1790
        1. Jeremiah Curtis 1770–aft 1810
        2. Huldah T. Curtis 1772–1872
        3. Junia Curtis 1774–1831
        4. Lorrain Curtis 1775–1850
        5. Thomas Curtis 1778–abt 1848
        6. Mary Mercy Curtis 1779–
        7. Remembrance Curtis Sr. 1781–1840
      6. Lydia Curtis 1751–1820
    6. Elnathan Curtis Sr. 1713–
    7. Thomas Curtis 1715–1726 ✧
    8. Mary Curtis 1716–1795
    9. Prudence Curtis 1718–
    10. Lydia Curtis 1721–
      1. Keziah Woodruff 1742–1812
        1. James Brace 1767–1834
        2. Jeduthan Brace 1771–
    11. Lois Curtis 1726–
    12. Marcy Curtis 1727–
  6. David Curtis 1682–
    1. Joseph Curtis 1707–
    2. Allen Curtis 1708–
      1. Martin Curtis 1725–
      2. Solomon Curtis 1729–
      3. Ether Curtis 1732–1794
        1. Daniel Curtis
        2. Samuel Curtis
        3. Stephen Curtis
        4. Gilbert Curtis
      4. Chloe Curtis 1738–
      5. Medad Curtis 1740–
      6. Ebenezer Curtis 1741–1742 ✧
      7. John Curtis 1742–
        1. Solomon Curtis 1764–1826
        2. Ashel Curtis 1765–1852
        3. Amasa Curtis 1767–
        4. John Curtis 1770–1858
        5. Darius Curtis 1772–
        6. Flavius Curtis 1774–
        7. Lebbeus Curtis 1777–
      8. Anna Curtis 1748–
      9. Seth Curtis
      10. Ruth Curtis
      11. Elisha Curtis
    3. Anne Curtis 1710–1790
      1. John Church 1736–1811
        1. Aaron Church 1786–1846
      2. Joanna Church 1740–1795
        1. Nathanial Tallman Willey 1760–1821
    4. Abigail Curtis 1714–
    5. David Curtis 1716–1776
      1. Huldah Curtis
      2. Eleazur Curtis
      3. Achsah Curtis
      4. Abigail Curtis
      5. David Curtis
      6. Joshua Curtis
      7. Sarah Curtis
      8. Joanna Curtis
      9. Caleb Curtis
      10. Hull Curtis
    6. Eunice Curtis
    7. Sarah Curtis