George Martin Curtis (April 1,1844 –February 9,1921) was a two-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district.
Born near Oxford,New York,to John S. and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Curtis,Curtis moved to Ogle County,Illinois,in 1856 with his parents,who settled on a farm near Rochelle,Illinois. He attended the common schools and Rock River Seminary,in Mount Morris,Illinois. Curtis was a clerk in Rochelle from 1863 to 1865,and subsequently for two years in Cortland,Illinois. He moved to Clinton,Iowa,in 1867 and engaged in the manufacture of lumber,founding the Curtis Companies,a conglomerate of associated sash,door,and millwork companies that eventually consolidated into a single corporation based in Clinton,Iowa. [1] He was also one of the incorporators of the City National Bank of Clinton in 1880. After initially serving as one of its directors,Curtis was elected vice president of the bank in 1890 and served in that capacity until his death. He also served as director in a number of lumber companies.
Hie wife was a native of the State of New York. She was the only child of William Lewis. Both parents died in her early childhood. An aunt adopted the orphan girl and took her to Michigan,where she was educated. When she was nineteen years of age,the family moved to Clinton,Iowa. Here she met George M. Curtis,an energetic young business man,afterward prominent in the political affairs of his state,and they were married. They had three sons and one daughter;the daughter and second son died when quite young. Lewis was a member of the Presbyterian church and deeply interested in church and benevolent work. As President of the Associated Benevolent Society of Clinton for five years,she was instrumental in doing much to alleviate the sufferings of the poor of that city. [2]
In 1887,he was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives,serving in 1888 and 1889. He served as delegate to the 1892 Republican National Convention.
In 1894,Curtis was nominated to run as a Republican against incumbent Democratic Congressman Walter I. Hayes in Iowa's 2nd congressional district. After defeating Hayes,he served in the 54th United States Congress,then was re-elected two years later and served in the 55th United States Congress. He refused requests to be a candidate for renomination in 1898. In all,he served in Congress from March 4,1895,to March 3,1899.
He resumed his former business activities in Clinton,and died there on February 9,1921. He was interred in Springdale Cemetery. His house in Clinton has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
George Washington McCrary was a United States representative from Iowa,the 33rd United States Secretary of War and a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Courts for the Eighth Circuit.
Gilbert Lafayette Laws was an American politician,newspaper publisher and businessman. He served as the Nebraska Secretary of State and as a member of the United States House of Representatives during the 1800s.
Curtis Bros. &Co. was a leading producer of doors,sashes,blinds and general house finishings between 1866 and 1966. The company was the first to produce pre-glazed window units.
Joseph Weeks Babcock was a seven-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin.
Albert Clinton Willford was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 3rd congressional district and supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal." He was elected in 1932,defeated in 1934,and failed to regain his seat in 1936.
Albert Foster Dawson was a three-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district.
Daniel Webster Hamilton was a one-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 6th congressional district.
George Douglas Perkins was a longtime newspaper editor,Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 11th congressional district in the northwestern portion of the state,and a candidate for his party's nomination as governor.
Irvin St. Clair Pepper was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district.
Jeremiah Henry Murphy was a two-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district.
John Nicholas William Rumple was a one-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district.
John Taylor Hamilton was an American businessman from Cedar Rapids,Iowa,and a one-term Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa's 5th congressional district.
Joseph Reed Lane was an attorney and a one-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district at the close of the 19th century.
Nathaniel Cobb Deering was a three-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 4th congressional district,then in northeastern Iowa.
Walter Ingalls Hayes was a four-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district during the Gilded Age.
William Dayton Boies was a lawyer,trial-court judge and five-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 11th congressional district in northwestern Iowa.
William Sebastian Jacobsen was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district who served three terms from 1937 to 1943. He was the son of his predecessor,Bernhard M. Jacobsen who held the same congressional seat for three previous terms.
William Henry Flack was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York from 1903 to 1907.
Benton Franklin Jensen served thirteen consecutive terms as a U.S. Representative from Iowa's 7th congressional district in the southwestern corner of the state. While on the floor of the U.S. House on March 1,1954,he was one of five Congressmen wounded by gunfire from a Puerto Rican Nationalists firing from a visitors' gallery.
Lewis Dewart Apsley was a businessman and U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress