Sacramento County
Biographies
WILLIAM ALBERT CURTIS
WILLIAM
ALBERT CURTIS.--A representative man of Sacramento, who came here in the
early part of both his life and that of the state, and since then was
identified with the growth and advancement of this part of California, was
William A. Curtis, a native of Massachusetts, born on a New England farm, near
Boston, in 1857. Ambitious and far-seeing, even as a lad, he wished to start
his business career in a newer environment, and in 1870, before fourteen years
of age, he came West and located near Sacramento, and worked, for a beginning,
on a ranch owned by his uncle, William Curtis, a pioneer of the Valley and
prominent in its upbuilding; the Curtis Oakes
subdivision was named for him. William
A. Curtis came into Sacramento three years later, and for a time worked for W. R. Strong
& Company, now the Ennis-Brown Company. On leaving them, he formed a
partnership with W. H. Wood and established the Wood-Curtis Company; this
firm, begun in a small way, is now one of the leading produce firms in the
West. Later, Mr. Curtis established the William A. Curtis Company, of San Francisco, one of the leading produce firms of that city, and he
remained at the head of these two successful concerns until his death, at the
same time being actively interested in other business affairs. He bought
and developed two large ranches, one on Sherman Island and the other near Isleton, having large acreage in celery
and asparagus. He was a director in the Haggin Bottom
Land Company, president of the Wood-Curtis Company, and vice-president of the
California National Bank of Sacramento; and, as is true of all men of his
caliber, his impress was felt in many large affairs pertaining to the
advancement and progress of this part of the state, affairs in which he took up
no public part, but gave of his time and energy that the community might
benefit; an example of that fine integrity of spirit which has welded men
together since the world's beginning, and made possible such human achievement
as surrounds us today.
The marriage of Mr. Curtis united him with
Mary Helen Case, daughter of Captain G. W. Case, a pioneer master of river
boats on the Sacramento; three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Curtis: Mrs.
Neva Moore; William A. Jr., a student at the University
of California; and Mrs. Isabel Hechtman.
Fraternally, Mr. Curtis was prominent as a
thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the I. O. O. F. and of the Knights
of Pythias. His death, which occurred December 27, 1914, left a vacancy in the roll of men who were the real
founders of the prosperity of our glorious state; to whom all honor is due and
is gladly rendered. Mrs. Curtis died March 31, 1923.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento
County, California With
Biographical Sketches, Pages 275-276.
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.