The Curtis Family Tradition

This family tradition was written by Eleazer Curtis (1759-1801). There are variations on this telling that have been passed down through other lines of the family. This version appears in 'The Curtis Family' by Laura Guthrie (Curtis) Preston

Some time in the Sixteenth Century, [it was the Seventeenth Century], my great-grandfather's father, his father was a native of London, England; was a weaver by trade; was a third proprietor in the island of Barbados. Together with his two partners, he sailed to take possession of the said island, but on the voyage there arose a dispute between the three partners and the others gave Curtis a dose of poison, which would have ended his life had it not been for a sore on his heel, caused by getting an anchor in during a violent storm, which carried away three masts and caused a total wreck.

By the help of jury-masts they made land at Martha's Vineyard, where Curtis lingered a few years and died, as supposed, from the effect of the poison. He left two sons; one went to sea, the other went to Massachusetts Bay where he lived and died. He had three sons; one went to Virginia, one to Vermont and one to New York state.

The latter Curtis had four sons; the eldest, whose name was Eleazer, went to Farmington, Conn., from there to Hebron, Conn. He had a son named Eleazer, who also lived in Hebron. Further this record sayeth not.

The above was written by Eleazer Curtis, the grandson of the one that settled in Farmington, whose father's name was Eleazer.