Peter Kurtz
Birth 4 Jul 1814
Death 1 Oct 1874 (aged 60)
Burial: Thornrose Cemetery
Staunton, Staunton City, Virginia, USA
Staunton character captured in photo
By Charles Culbertson-contributor
At first glance, the man in the photo appears to be a tramp, possibly a drunk. He is shabby and unshaven, with a knapsack hanging at his right side and what appears to be a flag of some sort suspended from a stick, cradled against his right shoulder.
Minimal care was taken in setting up the faded carte-de-visite by Staunton photographer George C Teaford. Just to the left of the odd little man, one can see the edge of the backdrop, and protruding from behind the subject's feet is the photographer's brace to minimize movement.
It was almost as if Teaford pulled the man off the street, stood him in front of a camera and then snapped the image.
Which is precicely what happened on a day in 1865 just after the close of the Civil War. The subject, however, was neither a tramp nor a drunk, and the story that accompanies the image is both interesting and long forgotten.
The man in this extremely rare carte-de-viste was Peter Kurtz, born in Staunton on July 4, 1814. In remembrance of that patriotic day, he later gave himself the middle name of "Independence."
He ended up being known as Staunton's town "character" thanks to his eccentric dress and behavior. In fact, his wild appearance frequently sent children fleeing to safety until he had passed on his way. Kurtz, however, was completely harmless. In fact, his carefree, easy disposition earned him the appellation, "Happy Man of the Valley."
Kurtz earned his living doing odd jobs for businesses around town. Before the war, he was known as Staunton's only bill poster. For many years he also worked as a carrier for the Staunton Vindicator, delivering it every Friday morning.
The printing business apparently got into Kurtz's blood. When he wasn't working, he could always be found lurking around the offices of the Vindicator. During the war, when the Confederacy was flooded with private scrip knows as "shinplasters," Kurtz printed a monetary note of his own. It reads:
"Six months after the ratification of the treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States, the undersigned will pay to the bearer 50 cent in blackberries."
In 1865, shortly after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Union troops occupied Staunton to harass citizens and browbeat returning Confederates. One of the occupiers boasted that the South was so thoroughly whipped that he could "carry a flag in safety" from "some Northern city all the way to Vicksburg," passing through Staunton.
Not to be outdone by an arrogant Yankee, Kurtz proclaimed he could carry a flag from Staunton to Winchester, where he had family. Staunton businessman J. M. Hardy, who owned the city's wagon works, provided Kurtz with a simple flag attached to a stick. As Kurtz walked down Main Street in front of Teaford's photography studio, Teaford pulled him into the studio for a portrait.
And that's the image we have today, of Peter Independence Kurtz getting ready to undertake his march to Winchester as a show of defiance against Yankee occupation. Which he did.
After the war, Kurtz's fascination with the printing business led him to publish his own small newspaper. Titled "Catamount and Funny Boy," the periodical took gentle potshots at local people and institutions. The newspaper was so popular that Kurtz reportedly derived considerable means from its sale.
Kurtz died Oct 1, 1874, at the age of 60, after an illness of several days. He was buried in Thornrose Cemetery.
"He was as honest as the sun, and any impeachment of his integrity, even in jest, made him an enemy for life of the jester," wrote the Vindicator after Kurtz's death.
So warm were the affections of Stauntonians for their eccentric little man that, 32 years after his death, he would be remembered in a special publication issued by The Dispatch and News.
Kurtz, pictured holding his flag, occupied an honored position among write-ups of local businessmen, industralists and professionals.
The News Leader, Saturday, February 3, 2007
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48050965
