FATHER

William Curtis

MOTHER

Agnes

WIFE

Elizabeth Hutchins

CHILDREN

1. John Curtis bap. 26 Feb 1611

2. William Curtiss bap. 21 Jun 1618

3. Thomas Curtis b. 12 Mar 1618-19

John Curtiss
by Susan Brooke
Jun 2023

John Curtiss was baptized 15 Sep 1577 in Nazeing, Essex, England. (1) A John Curtyce married Elizabeth Hutchins, at the parish of Nazeing 19 Apr 1610 and she is presumed to be the widow Elizabeth Curtiss who wrote her will in Fairfield, CT in 1658. She named sons, John William and Mary daughter of son Thomas in her will and these three sons are found with appropriate baptismal dates in Nazeing.
The last time John Curtiss showed up in the Nazeing records was in 1637/8. (2) They probably came to Roxbury, MA around 1638/9 and then moved to Weathersfield, Hartford, Ct. John Curtiss probably died there about 1639. (3) There is a memorial plaque to his widow in Fairfield, CT. (4)

Sources

(1)   Baptisms and marriages from the Nazeing Register

(2) Wikitree
In 1637/8 on a list of tenants of the manor of Nazeing.

(3) A Genealogy of the Curtiss Family by Frederic Haines Curtiss, 1903
"On 16 October 1632, the Court Roll of the Manor of Nazing shows that "William Searle and Elizabeth his wife surrendered land into the hand of the lord of the Manor of Nazing, by the Rod, according to the custom of the said Manor by the hands of John Curtys and Richard Campe, customary tenants."  This meant that John Curtis and Richard Campe had the privilege of obtaining the land if they wanted it, but John Curtis did not take it.
John is last of record in England in 1637, when he appears as taxed 6 shillings in the Ship Money list at Nazeing.  Assessed at the same time and place was his brother Gabriell Curtiss, assessed two shillings; also John's first cousin George Curtis, assessed three shillings; also John Hutchin, assessed 12 shillings; and Thomas Hutchin, John Curtis also sat as a juror in the manorial court of Nazing in 1637.
Apparently his eldest son John was sent to New England in advance, for a John Curtis, aged 21, embarked in the "Safety" 10 August 1635.  By 1639 the rest of the family followed and settled in Roxbury, MA where john's nephew William was already living.  "John Corteis" appears on the list of inhabitants of Roxbury 1639, having 15 acres of land and five persons in his family, which would be himself, his wife, and their three sons.  No further mention of the family is found at Roxbury.
In 1639 a John Curtis was a resident of Wethersfield, CT, owning a home lot on "the North Road to the Great Meadow."  The property is also described as "East side of High Street, opposite the Common and North of the house lot of Robert Bates." Parke says that Sherman Adams thought this was son John, but had much misinformation about him.  Mr. Hoppin thought it was the elder John and that he died in Wethersfield.  Certainly John Curtiss Sr. died early in or shortly after 1640."

(4) Memorial Stone in Old Congregational Burying Ground Stratford, Fairfield  CT

In/ Sacred Memory/ of/ John & Elizabeth/ Hutchins Curtiss/ M. 19 Apr 1610 Nazeing Eng./ Arrived Roxbury, Mass./ about 1637/ John Bapt. 1577 D. 1639/ Widow Curtiss, Sons/ John, William and Thomas/ Settled Stratford 1639/ She died/ June 1658 Stratford, Ct.

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