Butte County
Biographies
JOSEPH G. CURTIS
JOSEPH G. CURTIS.--Joseph G. Curtis was born in Hallowell, Maine, December 15, 1838, the son of Charles S. and Amanda (Ham) Curtis, both natives of Maine. His father came to California in 1850, and his brother, Henry S. Curtis, came in 1856, while the mother and another brother, Frank, came in 1859. They were located on Nelson Bar. Henry S. Curtis served in the Indian campaign with Bob Anderson. Frank Curtis also served in the Indian war, and afterwards returned to the state of Maine. In the early days, Charles S. Curtis was a prominent and active miner.
Joseph G. Curtis, when seventeen years of age, went to sea with his uncle, Capt. J. R. Curtis, of Yarmouth, Maine, and during his voyages circum-navigated the globe twice. He first went out on the Ironsides to New Orleans, thence to Liverpool, and back to New York; and then on the Detroit to New Orleans, thence to Liverpool and on to Australia, whence they crossed the Pacific to Callao, passed on to the Chincha Islands for guano, rounded Cape Horn, and completed their voyage to London. There he made a three months’ stay, visiting the city and taking in the sights. With his uncle he went to Havre, France, and then went aboard the Starr on the voyage to New York. In the Atlantic, at about the same place where the Titanic went down, the Starr was struck by a heavy squall and they had difficulty in righting her. The gale drove them back to the Azores, and they were sixty-three days in reaching New York. He then remained home a year, attending North Yarmouth Academy, after which he again joined the Starr and started for Australia. Near the Bermudas the Alabama chased them, but they made their escape from her and reached Melbourne, where they took two hundred sixty-four horses and five hundred sheep aboard for transportation to New Zealand. Having unloaded these at Port Chalmers, they again proceeded to the Chincha Islands via Callao, loaded guano and then rounded Cape Horn and sailed to Antwerp, Belgium, and thence to Cardiff, Wales, whence they took a load of coal on the return trip to Callao. This time it took forty-one days to round Cape Horn, and they were compelled to lighten the ship by throwing two hundred tons of coal overboard. Again he made a trip to the Chincha Islands, and thence around Cape Horn to Hull, England, where he left the ship and returned home. During these years he worked up to first mate.
After leaving the sea, Mr. Curtis engaged in the express business in Boston until 1870, when he removed to Butte County, Cal. Here he purchased his present place, which he improved, clearing the land and bringing it under cultivation. He has two hundred eighty acres in the Pentz Precinct devoted to stock-raising and horticulture. In 1888 he set out an olive orchard, and now has a very fine full-bearing olive grove. He was one among the first three men to put out olives, his work in this field being almost contemporary with that of John C. Gray and E. . Fogg. Hence Mr. Curtis’ grove was the third one planted in the county. By irrigating the orchard he raises a splendid variety of olives. He has built a plant with crushers and presses, and manufactures an excellent olive oil, which is sold to the trade. The product is shipped to different parts of the United States, some being sent even to far-away Maine; and all is sold under the Curtis Olive Oil brand. Mr. Curtis has also opened a chrome mine on his ranch, which is making a splendid showing and gives a promising prospect of high-grade ore.
In 1911 Mr. Cutis’ residence was burned to the ground, together with its contents, entailing him a heavy loss. He has since built a new, comfortable and modern residence, constructed of cement blocks.
In Waterville, Maine, Joseph G. Curtis married Miss Lucy A. Beale. She was a graduate of Bucksport Seminary, and was engaged in educational work in Maine and also in Butte County, Cal., where she became well and favorably known as a successful teacher. Mrs. Cutis passed away in 1911, mourned and loved by all who knew her. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis, not having children of their own, reared four of his brother Henry Curtis’ children. Mrs. Curtis was a member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Curtis has been an upbuilder of Butte County in every sense of the word. He has had much experience in horticulture, of which he is a close student, and ranks among the foremost men of the county in that line. He has been trustee of Mesilla Valley school district and was clerk of the board. Politically, he is a stanch Republican and protectionist.
Transcribed
by Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1082-1083, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Joyce Rugeroni.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County
Biographies