The biographical encyclopœdia of Ohio of the nineteenth century:

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCVCLOP,EDIA.
of that body. On January tI9th, I873, on motion of Caleb
Cushing, he was admitted to practise as a counsellor at law
in the Supreme Court of the United States; and precisely
one year thereafter he was nominated by President Grant as
Chief-Justice of that august tribunal, and having been'con- i
firmed by the Senate he took the oath of office, March 4th,
'I874. Outside of his profession he is regarded as a close
student, and consequently of considerable attainments, being
especially versed in constitutional law. He was married,
September 21st, i840, to Amelia C. Warner.
left his father's home, and. with full confidence in his own
abilities, which time proved t o have been waell founded,
started on foot for Mount Vernon, where his elder brother
resided, determined to fight the battle of life. Here he
arrived on April 28th, I817, and entered the to wn wi th but
twenty-five cents in his pockets. With his brother's assistance he soon gained a situatio n in the office of the
County Cl erk of the Court, and by close application to the
duties of his position soon secured the appointment of
Deputy Clerk, and had also the work of the clerk c hiefly
to d evol ve upon him. H is official duties brought him in
contact w ith all the prominent lawyers of that day in this
part of the State, and by his readine ss to please, and prompt
and str ict a ttention to and accuracy in business, won for
himself their friendly esteem and confid e nce; a nd his
youthful mn d eind being fired wit h the glory and honor of
the profession, he entered his brother's office a fe w years s
later, as a'a student, and applied hims elf diligently to the
study of the law. On Decem ber gth, I822, he was examined by Judges Pe as and Hitchcock, of the Supre me
Court, a nd, having passred with cedit to himself, was admitted s a s a practising law yer. While yet a law student he
was appointed to the responsible position of County Recorder, which he retained for over seven years. This was
of material aid to him, as it at o nce gave to him position,
and a fter admission to the bar lie soon acqu ired a large and
lu cr ative practice, the proceeds of which e nabled hi m to
procure a fine law librarv, of which he well knew the advantages and from which it was necessary for him to derive
all possible benefit, to be able to successfully cope with the
lawyers of that day, and the result shows how well he acquitted himself. His reputation soon gained him a practice
extending over many counties of the State, besides the
Supreme and United States Courts at Columbus. He was
admitted to the United States Supreme Court at Washington on January 9th, I863, and after having served for onehalf a century in his profession he formally retired from
the practice of law in December, I872. July 2d, I823, he
was married to his present wife, then Elizabeth Hogg, formerly of Durham county, England, but at that time residing
at Mount Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio. In politics, he
is a Republ-ican of the Whig school, and was an active
worker in the convention that organized the Republican
party in Ohio. While always identified with the party, he
has ever preserved his independence and avoided the character of a partisan; preferring the reputation of a good
private citizen and solid business man rather than that of
the politician and office-seeker, the arena for which, though
often solicited to enter, he always declined. In the session
of the winter of I84o-4I he represented his county in the
State Board of Equalization, and for over twelve years,
lately past, was a trustee of the Central Ohio Lunatic
Asylum, acting for a greater portion of the time as Presi-'
dent of the Board, and for the last six years the reports of
that institution have been written by him. To him the
236
' /URTIS, HENRY BARNES, Capitalist and Attor 3 ney-at-Law, Mount Vernon, Ohio, was born near
the village of Champlain, New York, on Novem b ber 28th, I799. His father, Zarah- Curtis, son
ig;~ tof Jothah Curtis, a captain in the Revolutionary
war, was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut,
in' the year I762, and at an early age entered the Continental army, under the command of his father, and also
served as a warrant officer in. Captain Webb's company, of
Colonel Sh'eldon's regiment of dragoons, and remained in
the service until the close of the war. His mother, for.
merly Phalley Yale, was a descendant of the Yales and
HIosmers, among the oldest families of Connecticut, and
who traced their ancestry beyond the reign of Henry VIII.
His elder brother, the Iton. Hosmer Curtis, died at
Keokuk, Iowa, in I874, at the age of eighty-five. His
younger brother, General Samuel R. Curtis, who commanded at the battle of Pea Ridge in the late war, died at
Council Bluffs, December, I866, at the age of sixty-one
years. His parents first moved from Connecticut to
Charlotte, Vermont, and afterwards to Champlain, settling
on a farm on the wraters of that lake, near the village of the
same name. In I8O9, when Henry was in his tenth year,
the family removed to Newark, Lickinig county, Ohio, occupying two and a half months in the removal, and some
years later to a small farm On the waters of South Fork, in
the same county, where the family resided when Henry left
home. His father afterwards moved to a farm in Washington township, same county, where he died in I849, in his
eighty-eighth year, respected and beloved by all who knew
him. Newark was but a small hamlet when the family
first settled there, and the opportunities of receiving an
education were very limited; but with that energy-and indomitable perseverance which have since characterized his
pursuits in the struggles of life he applied himself diligently
to his studies, and was thereby enabled to gain an education superior to that generally obtained by the youth of that
period, and this was farther perfected by private tuition
during the first year of his subsequent residence at Mount
Vernon. While pursuing his studies he rendered all p'ossible assistance to his father in his farm work. This was
continued until he arrived at the age of seventeen, when he