USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 53
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1880-1882
William Blake
1852-1854
Uriel Crocker 1830-1832
John Bolles
1844-1846
Jno. Cummings, jr 1875-1817
Charles Bond 1846-1848 1
Nathaniel Cummings 1877-1879
Pelham Bonney
1853-1855
William Cumston 1865-1867
John Borrowscale
1861-1863
Samuel Curtis 1809-1811
Hiram Bosworth
1850-1852
Samuel Curtis (2d)
1833-1835
Alexander Boyd 1876-1878
Roland Cushing 1842-1844
Benjamin Bradley
1855-1857
Geo. L. Damon 1892
J. Putnam Bradlee
1868-1870
Benjamin Darling 1820-1822
Nathaniel J. Bradlee
1859-1861
Geo. Darracott 1821-1823
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Thos. E. Chickering 1859-1861
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536
SUFFOLK COUNTY.
Daniel Davies
1852-1855
Henry K. Hancock
1842-1844
Geo. H. Davis.
1863-1865
Ephraim Harrington. 1825-1827
Isaac Davis
1831-1833
Jonathan Harrington
1812-1814
James Davis.
1833-1834
Isaac Harris
1815-1817
James Dawson
1804-1806
William Harris
1814-1816
Thomas Dean _
1808-1810
Edmund llart 1795-1797
Sylvanus A. Denio.
1864-1866
Caleb Hartshorn
1817-1819
Henry B. Dennison
1888
Calvin W. Haven
1853-1855
Benjamin F. Dewing
1888-1890
Thomas Haviland
1840-1842
Oliver Ditson
.1862-1864
Ezra Hawkes 1836
John Doggett.
1818-1815
Charles J. Hayden
1887-1888
George Domett
1823-1825
James G. Ilaynes
.1880-1882
Joseph L. Drew
1862-1864
Isaac H. Hazelton
1855-1857
Henry D. Dupee
1892
*
Leopold Herman
1847-1849
Henry W. Dutton
1838-1839
Francis C. Hersey
1886-1888
Ezra Dyer
1827-1829
Ira G. Hersey
1892
William Eaton
1839-1841
Samuel Hichborn
1812-1814
Moses Eayres
1799-1800
Samuel D. Hicks
1869-1871
Thomas Edmands
1834-1836
Samuel F. Hicks
1892
*
Samuel Emmons
1796-1799
Zachariah Hicks
1798-1800
James Eunson
1797-1798
Joseph W. Hill
1880-1882
Gerry Fairbanks
1812-1814
Holmes Ilinckley
1855-1851
Stephen Fairbanks
1820-1821
Enoch Hobart
1825
Nathaniel Faxon
1821-1823
James L. Homer
1836-1838
Richard Faxon
1795-1997
Henry N. Hooper
1841-1848
William N. Fisher
1838-1840
J. Day Howard.
1806-1807
Jonas Fitch.
1859-1861
Thomas Howe
1809
Alonzo W. Folsom
1881-1883
John C. Hubbard
1860-1862
Charles J. Fox
1866-1868
Thomas Hughes
1820-1822
David Francis
1814-1816
Jonathan Hunnewell
1795-1798
Nathaniel Francis
1848-1850
Joab Hunt
1817-1819
James H. Freeland
1886-1888
Henry C. Hunt
1873-1875
Walter Frost 1837-1838
Moses Hunt
1856-1858
Jeremiah Gardner
1808-1810
Alfred A. Hunting 1892
*
Lemuel Gardner
1803-1805
Lynde A. Huntington
1869
Kimball Gibson
1841-1843
Henry Hutchinson
1810-1811
Elias W. Goddard
1851-1853
Henry Hutchinson (2d).
1854-1856
Thomas Gogin
1883-1884
Francis Jackson 1822-1823
Mark Googins
1871-1873
William Jackson
1819-1821
Stephen Gore
1795-1797
David H. Jacobs
1870-1872
Edward Gray
1816-1818
Horace Jenkins 1863-1865
John Green, jr
1845-1847
Joseph Jenkins
1822-1823
Gardner Greenleaf
1836-183*
Ebenezer Johnson
1859-1861
Lemuel M. Ham
1881-1883
Oliver Johonnot
1801-1803
Nathaniel Hammond
1835
Edward C. Jones
1889-1891
* Now in office.
MECHANIC ASSOCIATION.
531
Ezekiel R. Jones 1890-1892
Granville Mears 1850-1852
Joseph Jones
1815-1817
Daniel Messinger 1801-1804
Peter C. Jones
1849-1850
Joseph Milner.
1816-1818
Jonathan Kilham
1807-1809
Edmund Monroe
1832-1834
Jonathan Kilton
1801-1802
Andrew J. Morse
1868-1820
Charles G. King
1851-1853
Alfred J. Neal 1892
Gedney King
1811-1813
Samuel Neal.
1862-1864
Elias Kingsley
1838-1889
Samuel H. Newman
1857-1859
James R. Knott
1884-1886
Charles C. Nichols
1819-1821
John Kuhn
1829-1831
Cushing Nichols
1826-1828
Frederick Lane
1826-1828
Edward T. Nichols 1891-1892
John M. Lane
1802-1803
George Nowell 1877-1879
Ebenezer Larkin
1799-1800
John P. Ober 1848-1850
Henry L. Leaeh
1876-1878
Peter Osgood 1807-1809
Thomas Leavitt
- 1879-1881
George W. Otis
1825-1827
William Leavitt
1869-1871
John S. Paine
1889-1891
Charles Leighton
1833-1835
Charles S. Parker 1871-1878
Joseph Lewis
1837
Charles W. Parker 1882-1884
Winslow Lewis
.1815-1817
Thomas Patten 1798
Frederie W. Lincoln, jr.
1850-1852
Joseph F. Paul 1862-1865
Ebenezer H. Little
1852-1854
William H. Pearson 1883-1885
Benjamin Loring
1828-1839
Samuel Perkins
1803-1805
Jonathan Loring
1810-1812
Samuel S. Perkins
1872-1874
Jonathan Loring (2d)
1838
James Phillips
1803-1804
Samuel H. Loring
1866-1868
John Pieree
1809-1811
Ansel Lothrop
1860-1862
Jonathan Pierce
1857-1859
Augustus Lothrop
1891
**
Albert A. Pope 1892 1 1
*
Loyal Lovejoy 1846-1848
George W. Pope
1878-1880
Joseph Lovering 1801-1802
Jonathan Preston
1844-1845
Nathaniel M. Lowe
1883-1885
Henry A. Lyford
1868-1870
Thomas Lyford
1857-1859
John E. Lyneh
1892 *
Joseph S. Read
1824-1826
John Mack
1877-1879
Giles Richards
1795-1797
William Mackenzie
1884-1886
William Marble
1864-1866
Ephraim Marsh
1821-1823
John G. Roberts 1841-1843
Robert Marsh
1849-1851
James B. Marston
1813-1815
Theophilus R. Marvin
1850-1852
William Robinson 1889-1891
Jesse Mayo __ 1811-1818
Horace T. Rockwell_ _ 1879 and 1883-1885
James McAllaster
1829-1830
John Gorham Rogers 1840-1842
Charles R. MeLean
1874-1876
George Ross 1868-1870
John J. McNutt. 1870-1872
William M. Rumery. 1879
Elijah Mears
1816-1818
Benjamin Russell, 1795-98 and 1822-1824
* Now in office.
68
Henry Purkitt. 1800
George C. Rand 1861-1863 1
John Rayner
1825-1827
J. Avery Richards
1874-1876
Enos Ricker 1882-1884
J. Milton Roberts 1873-1875
John A. Robertson 1870-1872
538
SUFFOLK COUNTY.
Amos C. Sanborn. 1858-1860
Everett Torrey.
1897-1879
Henry N. Sawyer
1884-1887
Isaac N. Tucker 1891
*
William Sayward 1877-1879
James C. Tucker. 1879-1881
William H. Sayward
1887
John Tuckerman.
1813-1815
Thomas J. Shelton
1837-1839
Otis Tufts 1855-1857
George S. Shepard. 1881-1883
Henry A. Turner
1880-1882
Seth Simmons 1845-1847
Job Turner 1843-1845
John K. Simpson.
1832-1834
Job A. Turner
1865-1867
Charles W. Slack
1873-1875
Daniel Tuttle 1804-1806
Albert W. Smith
1862-1864
Samuel Tuttle
1810-1812
Charles A. Smith
1871-1873
Turrell Tuttle, jr.
1824-1827
Christopher Smith
1808-1809
Edmund B. Vannevar.
1884-1886
Franklin Smith
1872-1874
John Wade
1839-1840
George W. Smith
1868-1870
George W. Walker 1886
Stephen Smith 1862-1864
Paul D. Wallis
1876-1818
Enoch H. Snelling
1840-1842
Theodore Washburn
1839-1841
Josiah Snelling
1803-1805
Horace H. Watson
1889-1891
George K. Snow
1884-1885
John H. Webster.
1886-1888
Francis Southac
1823-1825
Benjamin T. Wells
1817-1819
Gershom Spear
1801-1802
Charles Wells 1826
James Spear
1831
Charles Allen Wells
1831-1833
James Standish
1871-1873
John B. Wells.
1821
L. Miles Standish
1854-1856
James Wentworth.
1845-1847
William Stearns
1844-1846
Oliver M. Wentworth
1887
Sidney A. Stetson
1883-1885
David M. Weston
1889-1890
George W. Stevens 1891
Joel Wheeler.
1849-1851
William W. Wheildon
1858-1860
Thomas J. Whidden
1878-1875
Caleb Stowell
1861-1863
Benjamin D. Whitcomb
1878-1880
Ezekiel B. Studley
1880-1882
E. Noyes Whitcomb. 1890
Lyman White. 1870-1872
John L. Whiting
1885-1887
Seth Thaxter
1827-1829
Thomas Whitmarsh
1830-1832
Ephraim Thayer
1807-1808
Jonathan Whitney
1810-1812
Chauncey Thomas 1889
Charles Whittier
1875-1871
John Thompson.
1874-1876
Joseph M. Wightman
1850-1853
John H. Thorndike.
1853-1855
Simon Wilkinson
1824-1826
John P. Thorndike
1824-1825
Levi L. Willcutt
1875-1877
Joseph Tilden
1837
Charles Williams, jr. 1889
David Tillson
1846-1848
Samuel S. Williams
1830-1831
Jacob Todd
1828-1830
William Williams
1798-1800
Samuel Todd
1805-1807
Henry W. Wilson. 1866-1868
William Todd
1800-1801
John B. Wilson 1874-1876
James Tolman
1860-1861
James I. Wingate
1883-1885
Samuel P. Tolman
1865-1867
John Winship.
1825-1826
Charles Torrey.
1864-1866
Francis B. Winter
1854-1856
*
Frederick H. Stimpson, 1848-50 and 1854 William P. Stone, jr 1892
Samuel F. Summers.
1871-1873
Thomas W. Summer
1802-1804
* Now in office.
MECHANIC ASSOCIATION.
539
Charles Woodbury 1860-1862 George Yendell
1852-1854
Albert J. Wright .. 1865-1866
William N. Young
1889-1891
Albert J. Wright (2d)
1888-1890
COMMITTEE OF RELIEF.
Erastus B. Badger __ 1874-1876, 1882-1884
Perez Cushing
1867-1869
Amasa W. Bailey 1885-1887
Roland Cushing 1850-1853
Job F. Bailey 1866-1868
George Darracott 1830-1833
George Baird 1861-1863
Jonathan Davis
1840-1849
Ruel Baker 1838-1840
Louis Dennis 1837-1839
Ilenry H. Barton 1831-1834
Charles Bates
1844 -1845
Benjamin F. Dewing
1881-1883
Levi Bates 1856
William Dillaway
1834-1837
Nathaniel N. Bates 1850-1854
Peter E. Dolliver
1885
Benjamin Beal 1834-1836
George Domett
1825-1828
Thacher Beal 1855
Job Drew
1814-1818
Ivory Bean
1883-1884
Charles Dupee
1 1843-1845
James Berry 1830-1832
William Dutemple
1
1
1
1883-1885
Abraham O. Bigelow. 1855-1856
1837
Matthew Binney
1869-1871
1 Ezra Dyer 1831
Levi Bolles 1839-1841 and 1857
Isaac Easterbrook 1
1875-1877
John Borrowseale 1856-1858
William J. Ellis
1883-1885
Thomas A. Branigan. 1875-1877
1876-1879
James Brown 1829-1830
1 1 Alonzo W. Folsom 1878-1880 I
David Francis
1829-1830
Lewis Burckes 1833-1835
Walter Frost
1835-1836
Gershom T. Burnham 1877-1899
Kimball Gibson 1839-1840
E. W. Goddard, 1861-62, '64-66, '68-70, '72-74, '77-78
Thomas Gogin
1879-1881
Enoch Goodwin 1865-1867
Isaiah Goodwin
1879-1881-1883
Edmund D. Cassell 1859-1860
William F. Goodwin 1856-1858
Simon G. Cheever
1851-1854
Mark Googins
1867-1869
William F. Chester
1874-1876
John Green, jr 1833-1836
Alfred A. Childs
1880-1882
Henry Guild 1892
%
Benjamin Clapp 1
1890
Josiah M. Harding 1840-1849
John C. Clapp
1891
Ivory Harmon
1875-1877
Benjamin Clark
1816-1828
Jonathan Harrington
1820-1825
James Clark 1832-1833
Isaac Harris 1819-1829
John Cotton 1813-1822
John Hatchman. 1870-1872
Nathaniel Cotton 1857-1859
Calvin W. Haven
1844-1846
C. W. Cummings
1845-1847
Willard Hawes 1849
H. B. Crooker
1847-1849
James G. Haynes 1872-1874
1
1
I
1
1
1
1
F
1
1
1
1813-1814
Jonas Fitch 1858-1860
Walter Bryant. 1846-1848
Theophilus Burr 1860-1862
Randall G. Burrell
1884-1886
William R. Carnes
1846-1848
Alpheus Cary 1827
Isaac Cary 1841-1843
Gerry Fairbanks 1
Samuel R. Brintnall
Henry W. Dutton
1
1
* Now in office.
John N. Devereaux, 1873-75 and 1877-79
540
SUFFOLK COUNTY
Leopold Herman. 1842-1844
George Nowell 1880-1882
Ira G. Hersey.
1891 %
Charles E. Noyes.
1859-1861
Samuel D. Hicks,
1871
William B. Oliver. 1848-1850
Samuel F. Hicks.
1890
*
George W. Otis.
1827-1830
E. H. Hitchings, 1857-1859 and 1878-1880
Charles S. Parker
1867-1869
Peter Hobart, jr. 1861-1863
Wm. S. Pendleton.
1834-1831
Albert Homer
1868-1870
James D. Percival
1892
John C. Hubbbard.
1856-1859
John Hunt.
1841-1843
John H. Pitman
1845-1847
Henry Hutchinson
1850-1853
Caleb S. Pratt
1849-1850
Francis Jackson. 1824
John Rayner
1830-1832
J. Arthur Jacobs
1887-1889
Joseph S. Read
1833-1835
David H. Jacobs
1868-1870
Stephen Rhoades
.1843-1845
Oliver Johonnot
1816-1827
George L. Richardson
1869-1871
Edward C. Jones
1886-1888
Thomas Richardson
1850-1851
Gilman Joslin
1884
Robert Ripley 1850-1855
Richard F. Keough
1849-1850
John A. Robertson 1861-1863
Charles G. King
1840-1850
William Robinson
1883-1885
Gedney King
1813-1815
Henry A. Root
1891
Elias Kingsley
1847-1849
Horace C. Rose
1873
James R. Knott
1876-1879
George Ross
1866-1868
Frederick Lane
1829-1831
Zephaniah Sampson
1823-1828
William Leavitt
1865-1867
G. C. Sanborn
1846-1849
Charles Leighton
1832-1833
Stephen Shelton
1851-1854
Edwin P. Longley
1889-1891
Thomas J. Shelton
1832-1835
Abner B. Loring
1871-1873
John Sikes. 1844-1846
James Loring
1865-1866
Robert Slade 1870-1872
Samuel H. Loring
1864-1866
Amasa G. Smith
1836-1838
Ansel Lothrop
1859-1861
Christopher Smith
1814-1817
Loyal Lovejoy
1842-1844
George S. Smith 1838
Nathaniel M. Lowe
1880-1882
William B. Smith 1888-1891
Slade Luther
1842-1844
Zenas E. Smith
1885-1886
Thomas Lyford
1854-1856
Enoch H. Snelling
1836-1838
John E. Lynch
1886-1888
James Standish
1859.1861
Thomas J. Lyons
1890
*
George M. Starbird 1876-1879
William Marble
1863-1865
William Stearns 1839-1841
A. M. McPhail, jr r 1
1882
George W. Stevens 1885-1887
Daniel Messinger
1819-1829
Charles Stimpson
1837-1839
George N. Miller
1888-1890
William P. Stone, jr 1889-1891
William Mitchell
1 1846-1848
Thos. D. Morris
1 1871-1874 1 1 1
Thomas Moulton 1
1843-1845
James S. Sweet 1854-1858
Samuel Neal
1859-1860
William A. Swift
1862-1864
S. H. Newman
1863-1865
Job Taber 1841-1843
Chas. C. Nichols
1831-1833
Fred'k H. Tarbox 1888-1890
Edward T. Nichols
1887-1890
Dolphin D. Taylor 1874_1876
* Now in office.
1
1 I I 1 I
1
1 1
Samuel F. Summers __ 1874-75, 1880-1882 Asa Swallow 1837-1839
Lorin Peterson 1878-1880
541
MECHANIC ASSOCIATION.
Adam W. Thaxter (3d). 1863
Oliver S. Wells 1871-1873
Ephraim Thayer
1818
James Wentworth
1840-1842
James Tolman
1852-1855
Robert Wharton
1865-1867
Samuel P. Tolman
1862-1864
Benjamin D. Whitcomb
1883-1884
John Tuckerman.
.1815
Lyman White
1867-1869
Job Turner
1834-1836
Ebed Whiton.
1856-1858
Job A. Turner
1865-1866
Abel C. Whittier
1886-1888
John Turner
1886-1887
Simon Wilkinson 1826-1829
Nathaniel W. Turner.
1873-1875
1871-1873
Ottomar Wallburg
1892
*
1855-1858
Paul 1). Wallis
1880-1882
Charles Woodbury
1863-1865
Jeremiah Washburn
1839-1841
Solomon A. Woods
1888-1890
Theo. Washburn
1836-1838
Albert J. Wright 1862-1864
William Waters, jr
1892 *
Albert J. Wright (2d)
1883-1885
Aaron D. Webber
1845-1847
George Yendell
1850-1851
Charles Wells
1829-1831
William N. Young
1886-1888
John B. Wells
1829-1832
HONORARY MEMBERS.
Elected.
Elected.
John Adams
1820
James T. Austin
1839
John Brooks
1820
Thomas H. Perkins
1839
William Gray
1820
Joseph Story
1839
Christopher Gore
1820
James Tallmadge
1839
William Phillips. 1820 1 1 I I 1
George N. Briggs
1 1844 1 1
John Coffin Jones
1822
Marshall P. Wilder
1 1852
James Lloyd.
1822
William Appleton
1854
I James Perkins 1822 1
George R. Russell
1854
John Phillips
1822
George S. Hillard
1855
Marquis de Lafayette 1
1824
John A. Andrew
1864
Benjamin Dearborn
1827
Alexander H. Bullock
Levi Lincoln.
182%
Charles Summer
F 1 1865
Ilarrison Gray Otis 1827
Samuel H. Walley
1865
Josiah Quincy
1897
Emory Washburn
1
1
1865
Charles Sprague 182%
Henry Wilson
f
1
1
1865
Thomas L. Winthrop
Louis Agassiz .. 1
Nathaniel Bowditch
1828
William B. Rogers 1
William H. Eliot
1829
William Perkins
1868
Edward Everett
1830
Robert B. Forbes 1
1
F
1
!
1
1
1870
William Sturgis
1830
Peter Cooper
William Sullivan.
1830
1 Henry P. Kidder. 1878 1 1 I 1
Daniel Webster
1833
Amos A. Lawrence
1881
John Davis
1835
George C. Richardson
1881
Theodore Lyman
1835
Charles Devens
1889
1
1
1
1
1
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1
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1 1
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1
Abbott Lawrence
1836
The above deceased prior to January 1, 1892.
* Now in office.
1 1
1
4
1
1
1
.
1
4
1
1
1
1
1
.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 1
I
1
1872
1
1
182
1 1 1866
1
1 1866
1 1865
1
John B. Wilson Swain Winkley
542
SUFFOLK COUNTY.
Elected.
Elected.
Robert C. Winthrop.
1850
George D. Robinson.
1884
Nathaniel P. Banks.
1858
Augustus P. Martin
1884
Alexander H. Rice ..
1861
John 1). Runkle
1884
Henry L. Pierce
1878
Theodore Lyman
1885
Frederick (). Prince
1882
Carroll D. Wright
1886
John D. Long
1882
George F. Hoar.
1889
Francis A. Walker
1883
Benjamin A. Gould
1889
Augustus Lowell
1883
Charles W. Eliot.
1889
Noah Curtis
BIOGRAPHIES.
THE CURTIS FAMILY.
THE Curtis family of Quincy, Mass., occupies a unique place among the shoe manufacturers of New England. The history of this family in this industry began more than one hundred years ago, and furnishes the rare business phenomenon of a continued business enterprise in- volving the successful participation in it of four generations of men. The founder of the business, Noah Curtis, was born in Quincy in 1772. In June, 1790, then but eighteen years of age, he opened a shop for shoemaking on Penn's Hill. For three years previous to this he had served an apprenticeship to an Englishman named Ripley. The shop was a small one in which Noah Curtis essayed to make a name and a living on his own account, but skill and industry, and an ambition to excel in doing good work, soon brought him so much custom that he had to enlarge, and in a few years he had an establishment which was not only capable of supplying the local demand, but of turning out a considerable surplus for those days. Here the Yankee enterprise of young Curtis began to manifest itself. Taking a large number of men's footwear he started out with a two-horse team to dispose of them to farmers or men living in the seaboard towns and cities southwest of Boston. His first peddling expedition proving successful, he gradually extended his trips beyond the James and Roanoke Rivers in Virginia, and early in the present century he made his first trip across the lower section of the Carolinas and into Georgia as far as Savannah. In Charleston and Savannah, especially, Mr. Curtis established a good trade. He there, as elsewhere south, found the planters and merchants demanding a certain style of shoe, known as the turned pump, with high heels, fancy shank, and with uppers made of the finest and best calf skin that could be obtained. For many years-in fact up to about 1825-Mr. Curtis made regular trips to the southern country, starting
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from Quincy with a two-horse covered wagon filled with from 800 to 1,000 pairs of pumps, and never turning back until he had reached his southern destination and had disposed of his entire stock on the way, or when he reached there. The character of his work was so excellent that he became so favorably known at the South that the rich planters there gave him their measure and ordered shoes ahead; that is, for de- livery on his next semi-annual visit. In this way he established a very large and prosperous business, as can be inferred from the circumstance that the shoes he made were wholesaled by him to dealers for twelve dollars per pair-a large price for those days. After disposing of his shoes Mr. Curtis made his return trip, also one of profit, by laying in a stock of hardware and other manufactured articles imported by the merchants of Charleston, which he disposed of at a good profit on his way homeward. Thus we see the earlier manufacturers of Massachu- setts had not only to make their leather, thread, wax, and shoes, but they had to find a market for them as well, doing a wholesale and retail business from a moving store on four wheels.
The peddling expeditions of Mr. Curtis must have been rich in adven- ture, though we have but few records of what they were. It is stated that Daniel Webster, at a time when his fame was becoming national, availed himself of Mr. Curtis's conveyance as far as Washington rather than take the stage-coach lines. In this connection it may be said that Noah Curtis, in his day, among the people north and south with whom he became acquainted, was like Webster himself, an almost national character. With his blue coat and brass buttons, and his well known face and figure, he was to be found frequently at Wilde's Hotel, on Elm street, in Boston, and was, in fact, to be found among the latest of his contemporaries who made that hotel their stopping place in this city.
After giving up his trips to the South, Mr. Curtis continued in busi- ness up to 1840, when he retired with a competence. Previous to 1833, or for a period of forty-three years, the style of the firm was Noah Curtis. At this time, being sixty-one years of age, he took into part- nership his son Benjamin, who had learned the trade and been associ- ated with him in business for some years. Before this time the sign had read " Noah Curtis, Boot Manufacturer, " but when the son became a partner the sign was changed by adding a line underneath, and "Ben, too," which illustrated the quaint humor which existed in the elder Curtis, and used to cause many a broad smile on the faces of
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strangers, whose amusement was probably much enjoyed by the senior proprietor. When Benjamin Curtis & Co. took the business in 1840, this sign came down and a new and conventional one succeeded it. At this time Benjamin Curtis was thirty years of age, and he conducted the business alone until 1859, when he admitted his two sons, Benja- min F. Curtis and Noah Curtis 2d, and his brother, Thomas Curtis, into partnership.
The new firm was organized to do a wholesale and retail business in Boston, as well as the manufacturing business in Quincy. The former branch of the business was established at 108 Hanover street, by buying out C. T. P. Appleton, a well known retailer of boots and shoes, whose store was reputed to be the finest of any in the country at that time. The two sons, Benjamin F. Curtis and Noah Curtis, managed this store, and the father, Benjamin Curtis, and his brother Thomas, conducted the Quincy shop.
Business increased in both branches, and a new and larger factory was built at the corner of Summer and Gay streets, Quincy. About 1865 the Boston wholesale business assumed such proportions that it was deemed best to sell the retail business at 108 Hanover street and remove the wholesale branch to more commodious quarters, which were secured at 62 Milk street. The trade of the Boston store at this time was principally with New England retailers, although there were a good many customers scattered through the western and southern sections of the country. The present Noah Curtis was the traveler of the house, and was remarkably successful as a salesman.
In 1872 the Boston branch of the firm was burned out by the great fire of that year which swept so many millions of dollars out of Boston's accumulated wealth and ruined so many firms. The house of Curtis & Co. was not seriously crippled by this disaster, however, and soon re- newed the wholesale business at 147 Federal street, where it prospered under the same management and firm name until 1876, when Noah Curtis, the head of the present house of N. Curtis & Co., bought the entire business, and his father, Benjamin Curtis, retired at the age of sixty-six years. Benjamin F. Curtis, the other son, also withdrew to engage in the lumber business, and Thomas Curtis, uncle of the pur- chasing partner, started a shop in Quincy to manufacture boots and shoes on his own account. The business of manufacturing at Quincy and the wholesaling branch in Boston, were now under the sole charge of Noah Curtis, grandson of the founder of the business. Mr. Curtis
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continued the business alone from 1846 up to 1884, when Walter B. Curtis, his son, was admitted as partner, and the firm name became N. Curtis & Co., thus completing the succession of that somewhat rare ex- perience in business in this country of four generations engaged in the same firm and same line of industry, and what is more remarkable still, is that the experience of this Massachusetts firm covers in itself the en- tire history of shoemaking in this country from its erudest and smallest beginnings to its present advanced condition of development through improved labor saving machinery, which represents to-day in Massa- chusetts alone an annual value of over $100,000,000.
The Boston house of N. Curtis & Co. is now located at 171 Congress street, where it was removed in 1887, having a few years previously occupied the premises 44 Federal street, which proved inadequate, and were relinquished for the present quarters. The record of the business of this house is remarkable, not only for its having been for more than one hundred years handed down from father to son, but equally note- worthy in the fact that never since the grandfather of the present Noah Curtis began business has there been a business obligation unfulfilled, or a single smirch upon the integrity of those who have managed its affairs. Its history has been one of industry, enterprise, ability and honesty. It is not therefore strange that the business has prospered under such management, or that the name of Curtis in the shoe trade is a synonym of the best in boots and shoes.
The following additional facts concerning the personal history of the men who have been prominently identified with the business during the last one hundred years will not be without interest to the general reader.
Noah Curtis, the founder of the house, died in Quincy, Dec. 2, 1856. He was twice married and had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters. He was for many years a selectman of Quincy. Besides his son Benjamin, who was his partner in the business, he had five other sons in the shoe manufacturing business. Adam and Samuel, under the name of Adam Curtis & Co., were among the most prominent manufact- urers of shoes of their time. Charles and Lewis were also prominent shoe manufacturers, and Thomas was of the firm of Benjamin Curtis & Co., of Quiney, and T. Curtis & Co., shoe jobbers in Boston.
Benjamin Curtis, the father of the present senior member of the firm of N. Curtis & Co., died at Quincy, July 18, 1889. The Boston Post shortly after his death paid the following tribute to his memory: "In
Hoal Quilis
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BIOGRAPHIES.
the death of Mr. Benjamin Curtis, which took place on Thursday, the city of Quincy is deprived of one of its best known citizens-a native and continuons resident-a shoe manufacturer for nearly half a century, and a business man whose word was never questioned, and who leaves a record for honesty and integrity that is beyond price. Mr. Curtis in early life identified himself with the Democratic party, and for many years served as town treasurer. He was one of the earliest patrons of the Post, and enjoyed the personal friendship of Colonel Greene, its founder, for many years. He retired from active business in 1826, be- ing succeeded by his son, Noah Curtis. He leaves a widow and two sons. His age was seventy-nine years and three months."
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