Santa Clara County
Biographies
FREDERICK A.
CURTIS
Prominent among the leading brick contractors of San Jose is Frederick A. Curtis, a man of pronounced ability and worth. He is an expert workman, and by his thorough mastery of his trade, fidelity to his trusts and honest dealings with all with whom he comes in contact has won deserved success in his chosen vocation. A native of England, he was born June 10, 1860, in Gloucester, which was the lifelong residence of his parents, Nathaniel and Caroline Curtis. His father was a farmer by occupation, and a highly respected member of the community in which his life was spent. Only two of his children ever crossed the ocean.
Brought up in Gloucester, Frederick A. Curtis obtained his early education in the public schools. At the age of twelve years he began life as a wage-earner, and subsequently served a full apprenticeship at the trade of a bricklayer, becoming so skilled in the work that he was made foreman in Gloucester before attaining his majority. Immigrating to America in 1881, Mr. Curtis spent one year in Toronto, Ontario, and the following year in Buffalo, N. Y. Traveling westward from there to Chicago, Ill., he was employed in contracting in that city until 1888. Coming then to San Jose, Cal., Mr. Curtis has since carried on an extensive and remunerative business in this place as a contractor and builder in brick and stone. In this and adjoining cities and towns he has erected numerous structures, which are not only a credit to his taste and ability, but an ornament to the city, adding much to its architectural beauty. Among the buildings which Mr. Curtis has erected in San Jose special mention may be made of the St. James hotel, the Carnegie Library building, the Baker building, the new theatre, and of the Hayes mansion at Edenvale. He has also had charge of the building of some of the finest residences of which this city can boast.
In Gloucester, England, in 1885, Mr. Curtis married Miss E. A. Trigg, a native of that city, and they are the parents of four children, William, Ernest, Harry and Ethel. Since coming to California, Mr. Curtis has been exceedingly fortunate in business transactions, and has accumulated considerable wealth, having bought and set out an orange grove and a peach grove in Butte county, in Palermo, and owning valuable city property in San Jose. In politics he is independent voting with the courage of his convictions, irrespective of party restrictions, and in religion both Mr. and Mrs. Curtis are members of the Baptist Church.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 903-904.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Cecelia M. Setty.