John Curtis, of Wethersfield

John Curtis

• Born about 1577 in Nazeing, Essex, England
• Died about 1639 at about age 62 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut
• Son of William Curtis and Agnes (Unknown)
• Brother of Thomas Curtis, Mary (Curtis) Read, Edward Curtis, Robert Curtis, Gabriel Curtis and Sarah (Curtis) Salmon
• Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Curtiss — married about 1610 [location unknown]

Children of John Curtis and Elizabeth:

1. John Curtis Sr. died Dec. 2, 1707, ae about 96 y, at Stratford.[11] b. about 1611. Married Elizabeth.
2. Capt. William Curtis died Dec 21, 1702,[11] ae 84, Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut. Estimates place his marriage about 1642, making a birth about 1611-1621. ??Died 1702 ae 84 is frequently seen. Is this a case of he was 84 or 84 was calculated from his supposed baptism? 84 is not in the death record. Married 1) Mary 2) Sarah Marvin
3. Thomas Curtis died before 1 Dec 1648. He married about 1646. so born about 1615-1625. Married Mary Lewen.

Notes

On page 7 of "In A Note of ye Estates and Persons of the Inhabitants of Rocksbury 1638-1640" witten between June 1, 1639, appears the name of John Corteis having 15--0--0 acres of land and with 5 persons in his family". There is no further mention of this family in Rocksbury.

John and Elizabeth and their two younger sons, William and Thomas, emmgrated from Nazing England to Roxbury Mass. between 1637 and 1639. Ship's name is unknown. (Eldest son John Jr. had gone in 1635 and John Jr.'s cousin William b. 12 Nov 1592, son of Thomas and Mary, arrived Roxbury 1632.). He did not leave Nazing until after he became of record as taxed at Nazing in the year 1637. The proof therof is in State Papers, this record being the assessment levied upon the well to do inhabitants of Nazing (and all towns in Essex) in the year 1637, the assessment being known as tax called the Ship Money. This 1637 tax roll, now preserved at the Public Record Office, London, lists this John Curtiss (assessed six shillings) and his brother Gabriell (two shillings). They had arrived at Roxbury long enough before the 1st of June 1639 to have been allotted 15 acres of land in Roxbury by 1639. They did not remain on that land long enough to be even charged with any tax upon it or with having made any payment for it. Undoubtedly, he and his family left Roxbury either in the fall of 1639 or, at the very latest, in the winter of that year, for Wethersfield, Connecticut. Records indicate that John died in Wethersfield in 1939 before the family moved to Stratford, Connecticut in 1640.

GEDCOM Note

Category: Nazeing, Essex

Disputed Origins

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Curtis-961

Incorrect parents Thomas Curtis and Mary Camp were replaced by William Curtis and Agnes sourced parents.

Disputed Identity

A recent article by Barry E Hinman, "Widow Elizabeth Curtis of Stratford, Connecticut," TAG Vol. 87, No. 4 (published December 2015), 299ff, points out the fact that there is no absolute proof, that any or all of the following biographical items are interconnected

Biographical items

A John Curtis (no parents listed) was baptized in Nazeing, England, 15 Sept 1577[1]

A John Curtis was called son of William, whose wife was Agnes, in William's will of 1585.[2]

A John Curtyce married Elizabeth Hutchins, at the parish of Nazeing 19 April 1610.[1]

Children no parents listed were baptized at Nazeing.

• John Curtis baptized 26 Feb 1614/15[1]
• William Curtis baptized 21 June 1618[1]
• Thomas Curtis baptized 12 March 1619/20[1]

John Curtis is in records in Nazing 1632-1638, which means there is no chance he sailed on the "Lion" with William Curtis, as has been suggested.[3]

• 1632 "by the hands of John Curtys and Richard Campe, customary tenants"[4]
• 1637 Taxed in Nazing six shillings in 1637, in the tax known as “Ship Money” [5]
• 1637 Several persons having refused to serve on a jury, others including John Curtis were to be assigned.[4]
• 12 Jan 1637/8 on a list of coppieholders and freeholders[4]
• 1637/8 on a list of tenants of the manor of Nazeing.[4]

A John Curteis was in of Roxbury, Massachusetts, June 1639, registered with 15 acres and 5 persons in his household. There are no other references to this John in Roxbury.[6] Note: William Curtis (1592 - 1672) a nephew of John Curtis had been living in Roxbury, since 1632.[7]

A John Curtis (believed to be John Jr.) was of Wethersfield 1639.[8]

The Widow Curtiss first appears in a list of Stratford property owners (c1650), with her two sons, John and William Curtiss. In a list of "Every man's fence in the old field with what numbers and the several rods." The Widow Curtiss had 2 rods 10 feet 2 inches of fence. John Curtise had 4 rods 10 feet.[9]

In her will, proved 4 Nov 1658 at Fairfield, CT, she mentions her three sons, John, William and Thomas.[10]

1. John Curtis Sr. died Dec. 2, 1707, ae about 96 y, at Stratford.[11] b. about 1611
2. Capt. William Curtis died Dec 21, 1702,[11] ae 84, Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut. Estimates place his marriage about 1642, making a birth about 1611-1621. ??Died 1702 ae 84 is frequently seen. Is this a case of he was 84 or 84 was calculated from his supposed baptism? 84 is not in the death record.
3. Thomas Curtis died before 1 Dec 1648. He married about 1646. so born about 1615-1625.

The mention of these three sons is the strongest evidence that the Widow Curtiss is the same woman who had sons John, William and Thomas baptized in Nazeing in the decade after 1610.

References

• 1. Abbrev: Stratford, CT, History of Title: Wilcoxon, William Howard, History of Stratford, Connecticut 1639-1939 (Stratford, CT, Stratford Tercentenary Com, 1939)99. Stratford, CT, Stratford Tercentenary Com, 1939. Page: p. 114
• 2. Abbrev: Stratford, CT, History of Title: Wilcoxon, William Howard, History of Stratford, Connecticut 1639-1939 (Stratford, CT, Stratford Tercentenary Com, 1939)99. Stratford, CT, Stratford Tercentenary Com, 1939. Page: p. 113
• 3. Abbrev: Great Migration Begins Title: Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins; Immigrants to New England 1620-1633; Great migration study project (Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995) New England 1620-1633; Great migration study projectew England 1620-1633; Great migration study project. Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995. Page: p. 501
• 4. Abbrev: Torrey - New England Marriages Prior to 1700 Title: Torrey, Clarence Almon with a revised introduction by Gary Boyd Roberts, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Baltimore, MD, Genealogical Pub. Co., 1985), New England Marriages Prior to 1700. New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Baltimore, MD, Genealogical Pub. Co., 1985). Page: p. 198
• suzysclanadded this on 30 Jul 2010
• http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db...
• Curtis, Harlow D. A Genealogy of the Curtiss-Curtis Family of Stratford, Connecticut: A Supplement to the 1903 Edition. Edwards Bros, 1953.[https://archive.org/details/genealogyofcurti00harl|Archive]
• Curtis, Stiles H. Notes. The Curtiss Family of Stratford, Conn. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 43:321. Link at American Ancestors (1889). First article to make connections between the widow Curtis and Nazeing.
• Find A Grave Memorial# 8652436
• Monument in the Old Congregational Burying Ground, Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, USA
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Curtis-961 cites:

1. Winters, William. Memorials of the Pilgrim Fathers: John Eliot and His Friends, of Nazing and Waltham Abbey. Waltham Abbey, Essex: 1882 pp. 46, 47 from the Nazing registers
2. Curtis, Harlow Dunham. A Genealogy of the Curtiss-Curtis family of Stratford, Connecticut: a supplement to the 1903 edition. 1953. p. vii link at archive
3. History of Ancient Woodbury, by William Cothren, Baltimore: Gen. Publishing Co., Inc., 1977, p.531:
4. Winters: Memorials. "From Original MSS. Relating to Nazing Court Leet. pp 70-71
5. Curtis, Harlow Dunham. A genealogy of the Curtiss-Curtis family of Stratford, Connecticut : a supplement to the 1903 edition. Curtiss-Curtis Society, 1953. Nazing Records p. x cites “State Papers volume 16 # 358 p. 4 Hoppin statement p. xiii
6. “A Note of the estates and persons of the Inhabitants of Rocksbury” – Report of the Record Commissioners, containing the Roxbury Land and Church Records. Second Edition. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1884. p. 4
7. Report of the Record Commissioners, containing the Roxbury Land and Church Records. Second Edition. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1884. p. 75
8. Stiles, Henry Reed. Families of Ancient Wethersfield Connecticut; Consisting of the History of Ancient Wethersfield, Comprising the Present Towns of Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, and Newington; and of Glastonbury Prior to Its Incorporation in 1693, from Date of Earliest Settlement Until the Present Time, with Extensive Genealogies and Genealogical Notes on Their Families. Vol II. 1904.At HathiTrust
9. Wilcoxson, William H. History of Stratford Connecticut 1639-1939. (Stratford: 1939) p. 72
10. Curtiss, Frederic Haines. A Genealogy of the Curtiss Family (Rockwell & Churchill, Boston, 1903-1953) Page 1, citing Fairfield Probate Records, Vol. 1648-56, Page 17.
11. Stratford. Connecticut Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. p. 46