George M. Curtis 1844-1921

CURTIS, LEWIS, CARPENTER

Posted By: Michael J. Kearney (email)
Date: 8/2/2002 at 11:33:12

Wolfe's History of Clinton County 1911 p. 445-448 Hon. George M. Curtis Gaining success and recognition for himself and at the same time honoring his country and state by distinguished services in important trusts, Hon. George M. Curtis, of Clinton, holds worthy prestige among the leading public and business men in eastern Iowa. Distinctively a man of affairs, he has long filled a conspicuous place in the public eye, and as a leader in many important civic enterprises, as well as a notable figure in the political arena of his day, he has contributed much to the welfare of his fellow men and attained distinction in a field of endeavor where sound erudition, mature judgement and talents of a high order are required. Clinton county has been the scene of the major part of his life's earnest efforts and extensive achievements, having for many years been the potent factor in business enterprises of extensive mangntude and where he also commands the eateem and confidence of all classes. Mr. Curtis is the scion of an influential old family of the Empire state. He and his brothers, Charles F., of Clinton, Iowa, and Cornelius S., of Wausau, Wisconsin, are the sons of John S. and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Curtis, of Chenango county, New York, where, on April 1, 1844, occurred the birth of George M. Curtis. He remained in his native state until 1856, when he removed with his parents to Ogle county, Illinois, settling on a farm in the vicinity of Rochelle, and there the father and sons engaged successfully in agricultural pursuits. In 1866 the family moved to the town of Rochelle and two years later Clinton, Iowa, in which the sons, G.M. and C.F. Curtis, had previously located and which has remained the home of George M. Curtis to the present time. Until sixteen years of age he attended the district schools during the winter months and worked on his father's farm in the summer, and then became a student in Mr. Morris Seminary, Mr. Morris, Illinois, preparing himself for a teacher, which profession he afterwards followed during the winter terms of 1862 and 1863. For the two years following, until 1865, he clerked in a store in Rochelle. From this date until 1867 he engaged in the coal business at Cortland, Illinois. He then purchased an interest in the sash and door business which his brother had established the previous year at Clinton, Iowa, conducting the affairs of the office and going out on the road in the interest of the business. To his personal efforts may be attributed much of the solid foundation on which this firm has been able to build its present vast volume of business. Of the original members, C.F. and G.M. Curtis still hold a large part of the stock of Curtis Brothers & Company, the stock formerly owned by J.E. Carpenter now being in possession of George L. Curtis, son of the subject, who, together with his brother, Eugene J., are now prominent stockholders of the Curtis establishment. They carry on a wholesale business in the manufacture of sashes, doors, blinds, stairs, stair-railings, balustrades, mouldings, lumber, lath and shingles, and employment is furnished to a large force throughout the entire year. The plant is located on the river bank at Clinton, covers a wide area and is equipped with the most modern and approved machinery for turning out first-class work. The output has long stood for an excellence that commands a very ready sale on the market and is eagerly sought for over a wide territory. The stockholders of this company are also the principal stockholders of the Curtis & Yale Company, which has factories at Wausau, Wisconsin, and branch houses at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the subject of this sketch being its president. Curtis Brothers & Company have branch houses at Lincoln, Nebraska, Sioux City, Iowa, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, all of which aid largely in disposing of the Clinton output which is shipped to many states. Illustrative of his strong faculty for large enterprises, George M. Curtis, a number of years ago, founded and is the principal owner of one of the largest olive oil and pickling of ripe olive plants in this country, its products standing, without a doubt, as absolutely pure and the most popular upon the market today. The ranch where the olives are grown, together with other citrus fruits, is located at Bloomington, California. Mr. Curtis at all times keeping in touch with his interests there. The present style of the company producing olives and olive oil is Curtis Olive Company, the ranch proper of which there is about eight hundred acres of citrus land at Bloomington and territory adjacent thereto, being under the corporate name of G.M. Curtis Company. Mr. Curtis has at all times manifested a lively interest in the political affairs of his state and nation, having made a careful study of the same and kept fully abreast of the times on all current topics, his business affairs having been such as to require that he know what the effect of legislation would be upon the country at large. He was twice elected to serve his district as a member of Congress, his wide popularity winning the first Republican victory in the second Iowa district, as then and now organized. His first election in 1894 was over a natural Democratic majority of almost nine thousand, his majority in that election being four hundred and thirty-six. The record of Mr. Curtis was so satisfactory that his constituents re-elected him in 1896 by a majority of over three thousand. He was urged for a third term in 1898, but for business reasons he positively refused to be a candidate. During his congressional life, Mr. Curtis was a member of the committee on the District of Columbia, one of the most active and important committees of Congress, much of the time serving as chairman pro tem. of the committee. From this committee he probably reported and had charge of more bills than any other member during his term of service in the fifty-fourth and fifty-fifth Congresses. He was especially active in the interests of his city and county, and it was through his influence that the appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars was secured for the government building in Clinton. While a member of that distinguished body he took an active part in the general deliberations, participating in the discussions and debates, and withal his congressional experience is replete with duty ably and faithfully performed, and such was the interest he manifested for his district that he won the confidence and good will of the people, irrespective of political alignment, all of whom speak in praise of his honorable course and broad, enlightened spirit which he displayed throughout his career as a member of Congress. For many years he has been prominent in local and state conventions of his party where his influence for the general good is always manifest. Twice he has been prominently mentioned by the leaders of his party to make the race for governor, both factions of the Republican party having been apparently united in his support. Mr. Curtis is known as a vigerous and independent thinker and investigator, spending much time in his splendid and carefully selected library, composed of the world's standard and choicest literature. Fraternally, Mr. Curtis is a thirty-second-degree Mason, being a member of DeMolay Consistory of Clinton, Iowa, and has by the supreme council been elected to the thirty-third degree of the Rite, being recognized as one of the prominent Masons of the state. He is a member of the Emulation Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is also a member of Holy Cross Commandery and has served as its eminent commander. The domestic chapter in the life of Mr. Curtis began in 1872, when he let the hymeneal altar a lady of culture, education and refinement in the person of Ettie Lewis, a representative of an excellent family, and this union has been graced by the birth of two sons, each young men of rare attributes and much promise, George Lewis and Eugene J. Mr. Curtis has his labors so systematized that he experiences little inconvenience in doing them. He is essentially cosmopolitan in his ideas, a man of the people in all that the term implies, and in the best sense of the word a representative type of that strong, virile Amerian manhood, which commands and retains respect by reason of inherent worth, sound sense and correct conduct. His beautifull residence in Clinton is one of the social meccas, the many friends of the family here finding a spirit of good cheer and old-time hospitality ever prevailing. Few there are who have made such good use of their talents and opportunity as has Mr. Curtis, and he stands today one of the most representative men of Iowa, and doubtless would have become one of the great men of the nation had not ill health cut short his political career; but measured by the accepted standard of excellence, his career has been eminently honorable and useful and his life fraught with great good to his fellows and to the world.