Morgan County AlArchives Biographies.....Curtis, Robert M. 1855 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 8, 2012, 12:24 pm Source: See below Author: Smith & De Land, publishers ROBERT M. CURTIS, general manager of the Decatur Iron Bridge and Construction Company, son of Julius C. and Eliza P. (Skinner) Curtis, natives of Vermont and Ohio, respectively, was born in Delphos, Ohio, January 20, 1855. Julius C. Curtis was a merchant and contractor at Dayton, Ohio, where the firm of Morrison & Curtis, manufacturers of iron bridges, were the pioneers of that business, and built the first iron bridge in Ohio, at Piqua, in 1853. In 1865 he retired from business and located at Keokuk, Iowa. He was a member of the lower house in the Ohio Legislature: was born 1810, and is still living. Robert Skinner, Mr. Curtis' maternal grandfather, published the first newspaper in Dayton, Ohio, and donated grounds for the city buildings. Robert M. Curtis received his early education in Ohio and Iowa, graduated at Kenyon College. Gambier, Ohio, in 1875, and attended the Polytechnical Institute at Troy, N. Y., one year, there completing his education as a bridge engineer. After this he engaged with his uncle, D. H. Morrison, at Dayton, Ohio, as designer and contractor, and when he severed his connection with that institution, had charge of the entire works. In 1882, he became general manager of the business of the "Morse Bridge Company," of Youngstown, Ohio, for the Western and Southern States, with offices at Chicago, Dayton, Dallas, Tex., and Augusta, Ga. In April, 1887, Mr. Curtis organized the "Decatur Iron Bridge and Construction Company," with a paid up capital of $100,000, and was made its vice-president and general manager. Mr. Curtis' uncle, Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, was distinguished in the Mexican and the late wars. Henry B. Curtis, law partner of Columbus Delano (Secretary of Interior under Grant), and George William Curtis, of New York, are near relatives. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical Birmingham, Ala.: Smith and De Land 1888 PART IV. MONOGRAPHS OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES AND TOWNS IN NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA, TOGETHER WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY OF THEIR REPRESENTATIVE PEOPLE. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/morgan/bios/curtis1020gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 2.7 Kb