Edwin Burr Curtiss

Edwin Burr Curtiss (July 14, 1852 – March 30, 1928)[1] was an American attorney, bookseller, and a director of A. G. Spalding Bros.

Edwin Burr Curtiss
Born(1852-07-14)July 14, 1852
Fairfield, Connecticut
DiedMarch 30, 1928(1928-03-30) (aged 75)
Mountain Lake, Florida
Alma materColumbia Law School
Board member ofA. G. Spalding Bros.
Spouse(s)
Carrie A. Case
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(died 1907)​

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(his death 1928)​
Parent(s)Henry Tomlinson Curtiss
Mary Eliza Henderson Beardsley Curtiss
RelativesJulian Wheeler Curtiss (brother)

Early life

He was born on July 14, 1852 in Fairfield, Connecticut. He was the third child born to Henry Tomlinson Curtiss (1796–1876) and Mary Eliza Henderson (née Beardsley) Curtiss (1821–1886), who married in 1844.[2] His younger brother was Julian Wheeler Curtiss, president of the Spalding sports equipment company.

His maternal grandparents were Cyrus H. Beardsley and Maria (née Burr) Beardsley.[2] His paternal grandfather was Henry Curtiss, a descendant of William Curtiss, who came to America from England about 1650 and settled at Stratford, Connecticut of which he helped found. From 1667 to 1686, he represented Stratford in the General Court and in 1672, he served as one of six commissioners with the governor John Winthrop the Younger, the deputy governor, and assistants as a War Council against the Dutch in New York, and was distinguished for bravery in King Philip's War.[2]

After two years of studying abroad, Edwin graduated from Columbia Law School.[3]

Career

After graduation from law school, he practiced law in New York City for two years before forming the firm of Cunningham, Curtiss & Welsh in 1878. The firm was a wholesale stationers and booksellers, blank book manufacturers, printers, and lithographers headquartered in San Francisco, Curtiss was based primarily in New York City.[4] In 1892, together with his brother and others, he started the Fairfield County Golf Club in Greenwich, Connecticut.[5][6]

By 1900 and at least through 1908, he was a vice president of the American Booksellers Association.[7][8] He retired from the law in 1908 and was a director of A. G. Spalding Bros.

Personal life

Curtiss was twice married. His first marriage was to Carrie A. Case,[9][10] daughter of Joseph S. Case of New York and the sister of his brother's wife, Mary Louise Case.[2] Carrie wife died at St. Luke's Hospital in New York on July 20, 1907.[11]

After the death of his first wife, he remarried to Virginia Henry (1875–1941), who was born in Vienna and educated in England.[12] Curtiss commissioned the architects Carrère and Hastings, who had also designed the original clubhouse for the Greenwich Country Club, to build him a house on North Street in Greenwich, Connecticut.[13]

Curtiss died at his residence in Mountain Lake, Florida on March 30, 1928.[1] He was buried at the Putnam Cemetery in Greenwich. After his death, his widow remarried to August Heckscher, the German-born capitalist and philanthropist.[14]

References
  1. "Edwin Burr Curtiss" (PDF). The New York Times. March 31, 1928. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  2. Curtis, Harlow Dunham (1903). A Genealogy of the Curtiss-Curtis Family of Stratford, Connecticut | A Supplement To The 1903 Edition. p. 98. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  3. "Officers and graduates of Columbia college". Columbia University. 1894. Retrieved 2009-11-27. Edwin Burr Curtiss ...
  4. "The Industries of San Francisco". 1884.
  5. "Fairfield County Golf Club". The Connecticut magazine. 1900. Retrieved 2009-11-27. The Fairfield County Golf Club at Greenwich is one of the best known in the state and it contains some excellent golfers. The incorporators of the club are Julian W. Curtiss, John H. Boswell, James McCutcheon, Edward K. ... Edwin B. Curtiss ...
  6. In 1909 the club was renamed "Greenwich Country Club". Website of the Greenwich Country Club
  7. American Booksellers Association Almanac. 1950. Edwin B. Curtiss of San Francisco, second vice-president
  8. The publishers weekly. 1908. Edwin B. Curtiss, second vice-president ... San Francisco
  9. "DIED. CURTISS" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 July 1907. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  10. Columbia Alumni News. Alumni Council of Columbia University. 1927. p. 90. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  11. "DIED. CURTISS" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 July 1907. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  12. "Mrs. A. Heckscher, Philanthropist, 66. Widow of Real Estate Man Dies in Penthouse Home in Office Building". The New York Times. July 11, 1941. Retrieved 2009-11-27. ... Edwin Burr Curtiss, former president of A. G. Spalding Bros.
  13. "The Work of Carrère and Hastings," in Architectural Record (1910).
  14. "Heckscher, 81, Weds Mrs. V. H. Curtiss, 55. Philanthropist Quietly Married to Widow of E. B. Curtiss at Croton Last Wednesday. Bride, a Close Friend of His First Wife, Has Been Associated With Him in Child Welfare Work. Wed in Parsonage. Born in Hamburg in 1848" (PDF). The New York Times. July 8, 1930. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
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