Person:Barber Curtis (1)

Barber J. Curtis was the father of Malinda. LDS data says she was born 13 July 1823, in Lena, Stephenson County, in the northernmost part of Illinois. However, 1850 and 1870 census records for Barber say he was born in Indiana and the 1930 census record for daughter Malinda says he was born in Vermont. He was married at least twice. In 1845 and 1848, Barber Curtis patented parcels of 40 acres of Federal land (sections 28 and 30 at T28N, R7E) in Stepehenson County and filed the patent in Dixon, IL. He paid $1.25/acre for these properties. The 1850 census shows that Barber (age 27) was a farmer living in the village of Wadam, Stephenson Co., IL, with his spouse Melinda (sic) (age 17) and son Dexter (age 1). Several Cain families live nearby, although there is no mention of Patience, an alleged wife of Barber. Reuben Curtis, age 64, and wife Marie, probable parents of Barber, also live nearby. I have not found a record for Barber in the 1860 census files. In the 1870 census Barber’s age is given as 50, place of birth as Indiana, living with spouse Matilda (sic), age 40, and children Dexter, Malinda, Rockford, Ida, William, and Belle. The family was living with Moses Hobart and wife in Port Byron, IL, a town on the Mississippi River about 30 miles northeast of Rock Island. The Curtis family lived only four houses away from the Charles Emeigh family, where my great-greatgrandmother, Hannah McBride, was living. Barber worked as a carpenter and had $200 in personal property. The 1880 census data brings more surprises. Barber’s DOB is given as 1831in Indiana; his wife’e name is Kate; the couple have one daughter named May (age 8); two stepsons of his second wife Kate are part of the household; they live in Portland twp., Whiteside Co., IL. Portland is a village 10 miles east of Port Byron. This records second marriages for both Barber and Kate. Barber now is a physician (hey, no med school was needed in those days!). I was uncertain whether this was the correct Barber Curtis, but there are at least two clues that he is: 1) he is in the same area as he was in the 1870 census, and 2) the obituary of Malinda indicates her father was Dr. B.J. Curtis. The LDS source mentioned earlier says the wife of Barber was Patience Gail Cain, but no spouse named Patience is listed in the census records. Cain families lived near Curtis families in Wadam, Stephenson Co., IL, so the alleged marriage may be real. But verification of this marriage is lacking. Nevertheless, it appears that Barber had nine children with either or both Patience and Malinda before his marriage to Kate. Barber died of a heart attack September 26, 1894, in Clinton, IA, not far from Port Byron and Portland Twp., IL. The death certificate records that he was retired and age 67 (an error), but provides no other information. He is the sole burial in a six-plot gravesite in Springdale Cemetery in Clinton. Cemetery records show that Mrs. B.J. Curtis, not identified by name, bought the cemetery plots two days after Barber’s death. There are more than a dozen other Curtises buried in the cemetery, but none can be identified as relatives of Barber. Barber’s gravestone is made of limestone and was barely legible on my visit to the gravesite on 6/25/03., , , , , , ,

1. ↑ Name and YOB from data sheets provided by Terry E. Caswell; 1850 Census; dwelling 1094; family number 1155; ro.
2. ↑ Death certificate: Clinton County Record, State of Iowa, book 2, page 110..
3.   Ancestral File v.4.19; AFN: 1HHM-N23.
4.   1930 census; dwelling 231, family 233, ED 7, enumerated April 10, 1930, Erie, Whiteside Co., IL..
5.   BLM documents 24743, 18054..
6.   1850 census: roll 129, p. 323B, dwelling number 1094, family number 1155..
7.   1870 census: roll 273, book 1, page 271; enumerated July 21, 1870..
8.   1880 census: date = June 1; ED 208, roll 259; page 213B..
9.   Death Certificate: Clinton County Record, State of Iowa, book 2, page 110..