CURTISS FAMILY in the NEWS - 1872

Here is a story I found while searching for Curtiss news via newspapers.com. The story as it appears in print is very hard to read due to poor quality so I transcribed it.

It appears that the siblings of  L. Rebekah Steadman (nee Curtiss b.1819) thought it wasn't healthy for her to stay with her husband James Steadman III in McKean, PA. At age 53 she was most likely going through menopause and acting crazy.

Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) - 29 May 1872, Wed. - Page 4

ABDUCTING A WIFE

A Married Lady Stolen by Relatives – A Curious Case

McKean Township has had another sensation, thought not of a very virulent kind. Living there is Mr. James Steadman age 45 or 50, a farmer, of frugal habits. His wife is daughter of Alfred Curtis, Esq. of that place and she is of weak mind, and has been partially deranged for some time. Her brother, H. H. Curtis, insurance agent and Deputy Sheriff of Venango county is resident of Pleasantville where also resides her sister, Mrs. B. Snell (Small). Mrs. Snell and Mrs. H. H. Curtis visited McKean about a week ago, stopping with Mr. Alfred Curtis, and sent for Mrs. Steadman. Thinking a change of scene would be beneficial they proposed that she should return to Pleasantville with them and suggested it to Mr. Steadman. who objected on account of the expense. They said he should be at no expense in the matter, but he did not assent to their proposition. However, they subsequently induced Capt. Daniel Marsh to drive them and Mrs. Steadman with them to the Waterford depot and then telegraphed to Mr. H. H. Curtis to meet them at Titusville and take them to Pleasantville. The programme was carried out, but Mr. Steadman didn’t approve of it and made compliant before Alderman Skinner, charging conspiracy and abduction upon Alfred Curtis -- the wife’s father – her sister Mrs. Small, her sister in-law Mrs. H. H. Curtis, and Capt. March.  An officer was sent with warrants, and the Pleasantville ladies gave bail before Justice Dodge, to appear at next Court. Messrs. Curtis and Marsh were brought from McKean to this city for a hearing.  Mr. H. H. Curtis wished to avoid the annoyance of attending Court, and paid all the costs to settle the suit, also offering Mr. Steadman a bond of indemnity that Mrs. S. should not be any charge to him while she was there. She yet remains at Pleasantville.

The Family: 

Alfred Curtiss (b. 1797)

Loeza Rebekah Curtiss (b. 1819) married to James Steadman III (b. 1815 England)

Henry Hatch Curtiss (b. 1829) married to Varilla W. Waid (b. 1833)

Lovina Belinda Curtiss (b.1823) married to Robert  A. Small (b. 1823)

HENRY HATCH CURTISS

My 2xGreat Grandfather's brother, Henry H. Curtiss was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania 1829. His parents were Alfred and Charlotte (Hatch) Curtiss.
He married a local girl named Varilla W. Waid on the 4th of July 1849. They had four daughters named Ada Evangeline, Alma Bernice, Adelma Clarabell and little Hattie May who died by age 3.

In 1850 at age 21, Henry was a Blacksmith and lived in Randolph Township, PA, close to where his father had a farm in Guys Mills. He moved his family to Allegany Township, PA where he was farming. In 1863 he registered in the Civil War Draft Registration but did not serve. That same year Hattie May died. Henry made a career change and moved to Pleasantville, PA where he became a News Dealer. He stayed in Pleasantville for the remainder of his life which ended suddenly one night in 1878.

On the night of October 18th, Henry had invited guests to his home for dinner. Dr. William A.Glover, Miss Theresa Lay and Mary A. Lay were there in the sitting room with daughter Dell (Adelma) enjoying a conversation about the scenery in Arizona. Everyone was having a good time and according to Mary Lay, Henry was in his usual happy entertaining spirits. They mentioned some relics that they had gotten and Henry got up from his seat and went to his desk. He said he had some interesting relics from a nitroglycerine explosion to show Dr. Glover. As he pulled the bones out of his desk drawer Dell said she didn't like having them in the house as they were skull bones. They were looking at the bones and heard the sound of a pistol firing. Henry said, "Who loaded this pistol?" He got up, walked to the lounge where he had been sitting earlier and sat down. Everyone thought he had exploded something to frighten them until he slumped over on the lounge. Dr. Glover said, "I thought he had exploded something to frighten us; then I got up and just as my back was turned I heard their screams, and as I turned around I saw him falling and caught him and put him on the lounge, and found life extinct." They called for Dr. Benedict who did a full examination and found a wound in his left side. The bullet had passed through his heart. Dell said that her father "was in his usual good spirits" and that it was her pistol that was kept in the desk drawer and she had been the one to load it about a year before the accident. He apparently didn't know it was loaded when he put it back in the drawer and it fired off a round into his side. The Coroner's Inquest concluded it was an accidental shooting.

Alfred Curtiss - Death of an Old Pioneer

Erie Saturday Evening Gazette - 17 March 1888

Alfred Curtis, who died at his home in Branchville last week at the advanced age of 89 years, was one of the oldest pioneers of Northwestern Pennsylvania. He was born in Stratford, Conn., in May, 1799. When a mere lad, he moved to Whitehall, N.Y. In 1818 he was married to Charlotte Hatch, a sister of the Crawford and Erie County of that name. She was one of those noble women of olden time who was not afraid to brave the perils and privations of frontier life, and proved indeed a helpmate to her husband. In 1822 Mr. Curtis and his family moved from Whitehall and located on the farm now owned and occupied by his son A.N. Curtis. He was a radical abolitionist and for many years he conducted a train and kept a station on the Underground Railroad. While tolerant towards others Mr. Curtis was fearless in his advocacy of the cause of the oppressed. No worthy person ever appealed to his sympathies in vain. In after years he delighted to talk about the thrilling scene, incidents and adventures of those perilous times in which he was an important actor. He was an eloquent stump speaker, and on a certain occasion an anti-slavery meeting was announced in a neighborhood where party spirits ran very high. There had been a logging bee in the neighborhood and in the evening many of the half drunken men came to the meeting bent on breaking up the assembly and having a little fun at the expense of the speaker. Mr. Curtis, who was personally unknown to the audience, took his position on the platform and opened the meeting with prayer. Such a proceeding at a political gathering was unheard of and had a strangely subduing effect on the turbulent settlers, who listened to his thrilling speech with breathless interest. Although he never dreamed that slavery would be abolished in his lifetime, Mr. Curtis lived to see the “sum of all villainies” swept away, and a generation rise and nearly pass from stage of action before he was summoned from “labor to reward”. He was an earnest and effective worker in the temperance field, and a consistent member of the Baptist Church for many years. He was an exemplary Christian, a loyal citizen, a kind neighbor, a true friend, a loving husband and an indulgent father. He died as he lived, in the belief of a resurrection and a future life beyond the grave.

“Uncle Frank”

Frank Henry, an abolitionist and local historian who lived in Wesleyville, PA.