What Happened To Arthur?

My Grandfather died a very long time ago. He died when my Dad was only 11 months old, so they never knew each other. Whatever I learned about my Grandfather, I received from my Aunts who were young women when he passed in 1925.
There were many family stories and beliefs about Arthur D Curtiss that I have found not to be true. Over the last 15 years I have dug into my family genealogy and history following the paper trail to where ever it took me. I discovered the true facts about the death of Arthur because I actually contacted the hospital where he passed away and had them photo copy his records for me. What I found dispelled one very mysterious family legend as to the cause of his death.
I have also discovered things that I think my dear deceased Aunties didn't even know. Things that occurred before they were born. It seems that my Grandparents possibly started their marriage on a very shaky foundation.
As per my usual searching routine, I happened upon I newspaper article dated Wed, May 23, 1906 from the St. Joseph News-Press/Gazette. Page 5
"A. D. CURTISS LEAVES
Street Railway Conductor Deserts Wife of Ten Months"
Oh my gosh. This was a shocking article to say the lease. Here it was for all of St Joe, Missouri to read about. After 10 months of marriage something caused Arthur to temporarily bolt from his wife and run away. He was almost 25 years old. He had a good job working as a Streetcar Conductor. Why would he write a note and leave it under the door saying he couldn't live happily with his wife anymore?
The article said the my Grandmother was very sick at the time. I returned to my family tree and found that she wasn't sick in any sense of the word. She was however very pregnant and about to give birth to her first daughter in July. I was beginning to get the picture of what was really going on with Arthur. This was all happening too fast for him to process. A new wife added more responsibility. Now a baby on the way adding even more pressure and responsibility. He must have been feeling somewhat overwhelmed and possibly trapped. He couldn't take the pressure.
But there was a twist to the story. The article also said that his friends thought he had committed suicide! He had told a friend recently he wanted to throw himself into the Missouri River and end it all. Maybe he could go into a state hospital if he acted crazy enough. His friends tried to make light of his talk by teasing that he might not actually be able to stay out of the asylum the way he is!  Running away and committing suicide are two different things! I believed something more than the normal pressures of a new family were at work here. I'm happy to report that he did not commit suicide but returned home at some point as I have census records and photos of them together. There was no follow-up article.
Arthur did in the end die in a State Hospital. His cause of death: Paralysis of the Insane.

MARY ELLA DARBY 1850 - 1936

OBITUARY -
The Yakima Daily Republic, Yakima WA
20 May 1936

Mrs. Mary Ella Curtiss

Mrs. Mary Ella Curtiss, age 86, died last night in her home, 404 South Fourteenth Avenue, after an illness of 3 1/2 years. She was born in Green, N.Y., and had lived in Yakima 12 years. Members of the family are two sons, P.W. Curtiss of St. Joseph, MO, and Lloyd R. Curtiss of Council Bluffs, IA; two daughters, Mrs. W.A. Vaughn of Tulsa, OK, and Miss Helen Curtiss of Yakima; two brothers, A.T. Darby of Seattle and Eugene H. Darby of Yakima, and 14 grandchildren. Mrs. Curtiss was a member of the First Presbyterian Church. The funeral will be held Thursday afternoon at 1:30 o'clock in Shaw & Sons Chapel. The Rev. D.W. Ferry will officiate and pallbearers will be L.P. Peck, E.J. Davis, H.C. Davis, L. Ballinger, Ethan Taylor and I.W. Brown. Burial will be in Terrace Heights Memorial Park.

ALFRED LEROY CURTISS (1852 - 1900)

Alfred L. Curtiss was born in Pennsylvania in 1852.

First census he appears in is 1860 in Allegheny Township, Venango Co. Pa. He was 7 years old. He appears as Leroy. This is probably because his father was also Alfred. His mother is listed as S.E. Curtiss. (In the 1870 Census she is listed as Ellen.)

In the 1870 Census the family had moved to Howard County, Maryland. They lived in the 6th Election District. (If someone knows where that is please reply.)

By the 1880 Census they had moved to St. Joseph, Buchanan Co., Missouri.

Leroy was a carpenter for the entire time he lived in St. Joseph, Mo. He co-owned a business in 1898-99 called Carson & Curtiss - 1821 Frederick Ave. The Carson of Carson & Curtiss was S.M.Carson 'contractor'.

Leroy Curtiss was married to Mary Ella Darby in 1875. They had nine children. The first two, born in Maryland, died within the first few months of their little lives. The third child Edwin H. was also born in Maryland just before they moved to St. Joseph, Mo. He was only 11 months old in his first Census in 1880. Then Arthur Darby, child number 4, my grandfather was born. After that Percy W., Floyd R., Frederick (d. 8 mo.), Hellen D., and Ruth L.

When Leroy, Mary Ella and Edwin H. first moved to St. Joseph, they lived with a relatives of Mary Ella. A senior couple listed as C. & M.A. Darby. I discovered their names to be Chauncy and Mary A. Darby. Mr. Darby lists his occupation as Baptist Minister.

Alfred Leroy died before the 1910 Census as Mary Ella is listed as a widow.

The Arthur D. Curtiss Family

Moves To California (1920 - 2008)

In the 1920's, the Arthur D. Curtiss family moved from Omaha, Nebraska to Los Angeles, California. Arthur's name appears in the 1924 Los Angeles Voter Registration as a Florist living at 1117 Idaho Avenue.

Here they are at the Del Mar shores.

Clockwise Top - Arthur D., Ethelyne Nadine (14), Ruby Lucille (13), Helen Francis (8), Vesta L. Curtiss.

The Death of Arthur D. Curtiss

On July 21, 1924 a son was born to Arthur and LaVesta named Edward Harry Curtiss. He never knew his father because 3 months earlier Arthur became seriously ill and entered the Veterens Hospital in Sawtelle, a military hospital in West Los Angeles. He was transfered to the Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino, California where he died on June 27, 1925. His family didn't know he was gone for weeks as the Military was hush about his condition, treatment and demise. They were eventually informed he had died and was burried in San Bernardino, 60 miles from their home in West Los Angeles.