Asa E. Curtiss Biography


	This biography appears on page 865 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. I (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	ASA E. CURTISS has been incumbent of the office of postmaster at 
Wessington, Beadle county, since 1897 and is one of the honored and 
representative citizens of this section of the state, where the circle 
of his friends is circumscribed only by that of his acquaintances.  

	Mr. Curtiss is a native of Derby, Connecticut, where he was born 
on the 21st of January, 1832, being a scion of stanch old New England 
stock and a son of Joseph and Mary (Hart) Curtiss. His father was a sea 
captain, and stood as a representative of that class of sturdy and 
noble seafaring men which has gained so wide a reputation and respect 
the world over. He was one of the first captains employed in connection 
with the navigation of the Great Lakes, having removed to the western 
part of New York state when the subject of this sketch was a lad of 
eight years. Asa E. Curtiss received his early educational training in 
the common schools of New York, and though his advantages were 
necessarily limited he made the best use of them and thus gained a 
foundation for that broad and exact fund of information and practical 
knowledge which he has since gained by personal application and by 
active association with men and affairs. As a youth he became 
identified with navigation on the lakes, and continued to be identified 
with this important industry for many years, being at the age of 
twenty-one years master of the steamer "Allegheny," plying between 
Buffalo and Chicago, and known as the youngest master on the lakes, 
while he resided in Ozaukee county, Wisconsin, until his removal to 
what is now the state of South Dakota. In 1855 Mr. Curtiss was united 
in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Davison, who was born and reared in the 
state of New York. She proved a devoted wife and helpmeet until her 
death, which occurred on the 23d of November, 894, and she is survived 
by her only son, Charles N., of whom specific mention is made on 
another page of this work. On the 20th of October, 1898, Mr. Curtiss 
consummated a second marriage, being then united to Miss Mary B. 
Spiller, of Ashland, Kentucky. No children have been born of this 
marriage.  

	Mr. Curtiss came to South Dakota in the year 1882 and settled in 
Beadle county, where he took up three claims of government land, under 
homestead, preemption and timber-culture entries, and developed the 
property, where he has maintained his residence since 1882. In politics 
Mr. Curtiss has ever been aligned as a stalwart advocate of the 
principles and policies of the Republican party, and he has been an 
active factor in the promotion of its cause. In 1897, during the regime 
of the late lamented President McKinley, he was appointed postmaster at 
Wessington, and he has ever since continued to serve in this capacity, 
while he is known as a capable executive and as one whose 
administration of postal affairs has met with unqualified popular 
approval. He also served for several years as justice of the peace of 
Beadle county.