James Curtin Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1652-1653 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	JAMES CURTIN, one of the representative citizens and leading 
business men of Northville, Spink county, is a native son of the west, 
having been born in Winneshiek county, Iowa, on the 27th of November, 
1856, and being a son of James and Catherine (Murphy) Curtin, the former 
of whom was born in Ireland, of Scotch-Irish lineage, while the latter 
was born in Ireland. The father of the subject came to America as a 
young man, and early located in Dubuque, Iowa, later engaging in farming 
in Winneshiek county, that state, where he remained until 1865, when he 
removed with his family to Pawnee county, Nebraska, where he devoted the 
remainder of his life to agricultural pursuits, his death there 
occurring in 1867. His widow still lives in Pawnee county, Nebraska. She 
later married Silas Huff. 

	The subject of this review secured his educational training in the 
public schools of Iowa and Nebraska, having attended the high school in 
Pawnee City, Nebraska, in the completion of his scholastic work, and in 
the meanwhile he had assisted in the work of the homestead farm. At the 
age of twenty-one years he entered upon an apprenticeship at the trade 
of harnessmaking in Pawnee City, becoming a skilled artisan in the line. 
He was for a short time a successful teacher in the district schools of 
Pawnee county, Nebraska, and there continued to make his home until 
1881, when, as a young man of twenty-five years, he came to the present 
state of South Dakota, arriving in Spink county in May of that year, and 
forthwith taking up one hundred and sixty acres of government land, in 
Mellette township. While "holding down" his claim he was employed in the 
James river valley at farm work for one year, and later engaged in the 
work of his trade in Fargo, North Dakota, after which he held a clerical 
position in a mercantile establishment in Northville for a period of 
five years, at the expiration of which, in 1888, he was elected to the 
office of county recorder, being chosen as his own successor in 1890, 
and thus serving four consecutive years. Within this time he purchased 
other land, in different sections of the county, having secured a 
considerable amount for speculative purposes, and after retiring from 
office he engaged in the buying and shipping of grain at Northville. In 
1893 Mr. Curtin exchanged some of his real estate for a stock of 
merchandise and two lumber yards, the store and one lumber yard being 
located at Bath, Brown county, and the other lumber yard at Andover, Day 
county. He continued to successfully conduct these enterprises for three 
years, in the meanwhile maintaining his home in Bath, and he then, in 
1896, disposed of the lumber business, as well as his store, and 
returned to Northville, where he opened his present establishment, in 
which he handles a comprehensive and select stock of general 
merchandise, as well as hardware and agricultural implements, and here 
he is also engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock, while 
retaining a number of valuable farm properties. He has a large and well-
appointed store, and is popular in the business and social circles of 
the town and county, while in politics he gives an unswerving allegiance 
to the Republican party. He was appointed postmaster at Bath, under the 
administration of President Cleveland, and continued to serve in this 
capacity until the time of his removal to Northville. Religiously he is 
a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church. 

	On the 30th of September, 1884, Mr. Curtin was united in marriage 
to Miss Sarah Martin, who was born in Michigan, being a daughter of W. 
P. and E. A. (Disbro) Martin, while she was a resident of Northville at 
the time of her marriage. She is a sister of Ezra Martin, of whom 
individual mention is made on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. 
Curtin have three daughters, Zella, Elma and Faye, the eldest daughter 
being a successful and popular teacher in the public school at 
Clearview, this county, at the time of this writing.