Several biographical publications [1] [2] have incorrectly speculated that three Thomas Curtis lines, all three of them Quakers, were closely related.
We are researching one of these: Thomas Curtis of Derbyshire married to Joan Clay [3] [4].
A second Thomas Curtis was a woolen draper of Reading who was married in 1651 to Joan, born 1631, daughter of Robert Yeamans, of Bristol. Thomas Curtis of Reading was a close associate of the noted Quaker, George Fox. [5]
A third Thomas Curtis was from Bugbrook, Northamptonshire, England and named his estate in New Jersey Bugbrook. [6]
Based on dna evidence from male descendants, we know that Thomas Curtis of Bugbrook and Thomas Curtis of Derbyshire shared no common male ancestor. Thomas Curtis of Reading had no known male descendants, so it is unclear if he might be related to either of the other two Thomas Curtis men. Below are a few notes for Thomas Curtis of Reading and of Bugbrook, in order to clarify which men are different from the Thomas Curtis of Derbyshire followed at this website.
Here are notes about Thomas Curtis, draper, of Reading and friend of George Fox:
Thomas Curtis, a woolen draper, of Reading, England and Anne, his wife, were described as severe sufferers, and above mediocrity in position and intelligence, and among the earliest and most prominent members of the Society of Friends in England. They were named as ancestors of John Curtis, who settled in Mansfield Twp, Burlington County, New Jersey Anne Curtis was said to have considerable influence with the king and her father was hung at his door by the king's enemies in the time of the civil war. He did not emigrate to America, but remained in England. Two sons, John and William Curtis, emigrated to New Jersey. Thomas Curtis was a woolen draper from Reading who married Anne Clay. Anne Clay was close to George Fox, founder of the Quaker movement around 1650. Reading is not far from London. [This is an error. Thomas and Anne, friends of George Fox cannot be the parents of the Curtises of New Jersey since Anne and Thomas were married in 1651, and Anne was the daughter of Robert Yeamaon of Bristol, according to the notes in the journal of George Fox][7]
1655-56 Anne and Thomas Curtis; along with Joseph Cole, Dorothy Waugh, George Adamson, and Hannah Mills; were imprisoned several times for speaking to the priest and people in Steeple-house and Reading. [8]
1656-57 George Fox recorded in his journal: "After we had stayed there two or three days, we came to Thomas Mounce's, where we had a general meeting for the whole county; which, being very large, was held in his orchard. Friends from Plymouth were there, and from many other places. The Lord's power was over all, and there was a great convincement in many parts of the county. Their watches were down, and all was unobstructed and open; for the Lord had let me see, before I was at liberty, that he would make all the country unobstructed before us. Thomas and Ann Curtis, with a convinced alderman of Reading, had come to Lanceston to see us while I was prisoner, and when Ann and the other man returned, Thomas Curtis stayed behind in Cornwall, and had good service for the Lord at that time. " [9]
1657 "Thomas Curtis, a clothier, of Reading in Berkshire, being in the West of England, about his Trading Concerns, came to Plymouth, and from thence accompanied by John Martindale of that place, went to West-Allington, about Seventeen miles distant. Being in Bed, near Midnight, in a Friend's House, a Constable, with about ten other Persons, came with a Warrant, sign'd by two neighboring Justices, before whom they were carried the next day, and examin'd, when Thomas Curtis made his Business plainly appear by his papers, and Books of Account, and other vouchers; nevertheless they sent them both prisoners to Exon Goal. At the Sessions, on the 17th of the 5th month, when they were brought to the Bar, the Court gave Orders that their Hats should not be taken off; and when the Judges charg'd them with Contempt of Authority for standing covered, Thomas Curtis answered. 'God is my Witness, that I do it not in Contempt,' &c. Being also charg'd with denying the Trinity, he said, 'In the Presence of God, I declare that I own Father, Son, and Holy Ghost'. The Court upon this consulting together said, that it was their Opinion Thomas Curtis had sworn two Oaths, for which he must pay six Shillings and eight Pence. So they were both return'd to prison. [10]
1657 On the 30th of the same month, they were brought before the Judge of the Assizes; where nothing being laid to their Charge, the Judge taking Occasion for their Hats, fined them forty pounds apiece for Contempt; And for Non-payment they were kept prisoner for above a Year longer, during which imprisonment, John Martiddale, Having Leave from the Jaylor to visit a Friend at Ilchester, was whipt at Honiton as a Vagrant, ..." [11]
1657 "On the 24th of the 6th Month 1657, Daniel Waftfield, Sopeboiler, and John Speed, Merchant, both of Bristol, came with Anne Curtis to Exeter, to visit her husband Thomas Curtis a prisoner there, and were imprisoned some Time, and afterward carried before the Magistrates, and by them threatened to be whipt. On the 30th of the same month, William Elliot of Bridgport, and William Elliot of Topsham, his Son, going to visit the said Thomas Curtis in Prison, were sent for by the Magistrates, and the Father was sentenced to be put in the Stocks, and the Son to be whipt with 5 Stripes, but the Executioner, instigated by a wicked Constable, gave him six Stripes, which he bearing with great Patience, the barbarous Whipper said, wilt thou not cry? I'll make thee cry; and thereupon gave him six more bloody Stripes, so that many of the Spectators wept to see such barbarous Usage. -- What a low Ebb was Justice at this Place! And what could the poor Quakers expect; when inferior Ministers of the Law dare to extravagantly exceed their Commissions without Controul." [12]
1659 "Thomas Curtis was with Edward (Burrough) in his travels through Hertfordshire, and perhaps James Naylor. They passed northward into Buckingham shire, and in the tenth month held a meeting at a place called "The Grove," about a mile from the house of Isaac Pennington. This meeting was remarkable as that at which Thomas Ellwood was convinced of the truth of Quakerism. The whole ministerial service of the meeting fell upon Edward. Thomas says that the ministry not only convinced his understanding but warmed his heart with a heat which till then he had never felt under the ministry of any man." (Burrough, page 179). "To this meeting came Edward Burrough, besides other preachers, as Thomas Curtis and James Naylor, but none spake there at that time but Edward Burrough." [13] [14] [15]
1659 A paper was presented to Parliament, signed by 164 persons, including Thomas Curtis, making an offer of their own bodies to lie in prison instead of such of their brethren as were then under confinement. [16]
1660 George Fox was arrested at the house of Margaret Fell: "I went next day to Swarthmore, Francis Howgill and Thomas Curtis being with me." [17] "By the solicitations of Margaret Fell and Anne Curtis, (whose father had suffered death for previously attempting to bring back the King), they obtained, at this time, an order for the removal of George Fox to London; he was brought up by habeas corpus, before the court of the King's bench; where the matter was referred to the King and council. With no accuser appearing to testify against him, Fox was honorably discharged, after an imprisonment of twenty weeks." (The Life of Margaret Fox wife of George Fox, 1859). "About this time Ann Curtis, of Reading, came to see me; and understanding how I stood committed, it was upon her also to go to the king about it. Her father, who had been sheriff of Bristol, was hanged near his own door for trying to bring the king in; upon consideration of which she had some hopes the king might hear her on my behalf. Accordingly, when she returned to London, she and Margaret Fell went to the king together; who, when he understood whose daughter she was, received her kindly. And her request to him being, 'to send for me and hear the cause himself,' he promised her he would, and commanded his secretary to send an order for bringing me up. But when they came to the secretary for the order, he said, 'It was not in his power; he must go according to law; and I must be brought up by a habeas corpus before the judges.' So he wrote to the judge of the King's Bench, signifying it was the king's pleasure I should be sent up by a habeas corpus." [18]
1660 "Anne (Clay) Curtis is said to have had considerable influence with the king, her father being a personal friend of the king in the time of the civil war, having been hung without trial by the king's enemies at his own door." [19]
1660 In his autobiography, George Fox, an influential early Quaker in England wrote: "About this time Ann Curtis, of Reading, came to see me; and understanding how I stood committed, it was upon her also to go to the King about it. Her father, who had been sheriff of Bristol, was hanged near his own door for endeavouring to bring the King in; upon which consideration she had some hopes the King might hear her on my behalf. Accordingly, when she returned to London, she and Margaret Fell went to the King together; who, when he understood whose daughter she was, received her kindly. Her request to him being to send for me up, and hear the cause himself, he promised her he would; and he commanded his secretary to send an order for bringing me up."
1664 Thomas Curtis' entire family was jailed (Berkshire). [20]
The Journal of George Fox [21] provides more information about this Thomas Curtis and wife Ann: "Anne Curtis, wife of Thomas, was a daughter of Robert Yeamans, of Bristol (see 360. 3). She was baptised in 1631, and married in 1651. She united with her husband in suffering, and also joined him in opposition to George Fox, whom she had tenderly nursed in 1659." [Pain, Letter to Thomas Curtis, 1697; Observation on Thomas Curtis, 1697; FJJwood, Hist. 1714; Extracts from State Papers, 1910; Mss. in D. The Journal of George Fox, p 441] "This was Robert Yeamans, " Sheriff of Bristol in 1641—2, who in 1643 was hung opposite to his house in Wine Street for conspiring to deliver up the city to Prince Rupert" (Hodgkin, Fox, 1896, p. 179 n.; see Webb, Fells, 1865, p. 407). He married Anne Yeamans in 1627 (Parish Register of Chnstchurch, Bristol). The widow of Yeamans married Thomas Speed (349. 2) who generously undertook to bring up her numerous offspring, some of whom like their step-father became prominent Quakers'' [22] [23] [24]
1650s Thomas Curtis was mentioned in notes of Fox as having had military experience: "Many joined Friends and remained in army ranks. Both officers and recruits found that Quakerism spoke to their condition, and early Friends, including Fox, targeted them as potential converts without requiring them to give up their positions. Indeed, many early Quaker leaders were refugees from military service. Richard Hubberthorne himself and James Nayler, who rivaled Fox in the public mind as the movement's chief spokesman, had held high positions in the army, and others like Thomas Curtis, one of Fox's closest early companions, and Anthony Pearson, a amiable fellow traveler, served as militia commissioners and busily raised soldiers for the army as late as 1659; Pearson accepted the post but refused to don a sword, a kind of symbolic balancing act highlighting the tensions produced in the period. And the most notorious of all the leading army officers, John Lilburne, capped his career as a Friend... Men like Curtis and Pearson concluded that military action represented a legitimate way to achieve their goal of a godly society, one in which Christ would rule as surely as they were convinced that he ruled in their hearts." [http://www.kimopress.com/Ingle-01.htm, H. Larry Ingle, The Politics Of Despair: The Quaker Peace Testimony, 1661]
Here are the notes about Thomas Curtis of Bugbrook, New Jersey.
1681 Daughter Sarah was bound to Benjamin Scott of West Jersey as a servant for 4 years, in return for 40 acres. Daughter Elizabeth was similarly bound to Elias Farr, cheese monger. [25]
1682 Mary Curtis, daughter of Thomas and Jane Curtis, was born 19th day, 1st month, 1682, as recorded in births and deaths of Burlington Monthly Meeting [this seems inconsistent with the immigration date of 1685, reported below]. [26]
1685 Thomas Curtis of Bugbrook, Northamptonshire, England, with his wife Jane, emigrated to Burlington County, New Jersey. Both were Friends (Quakers). [27]
1685 In August, a tract of 150 acres on the south branch of Birch Creek, Springfield County, New Jersey, was surveyed for Thomas Curtis. [28]
1686 On May 9, Elizabeth Curtis, daughter of Thomas Curtis, married William Atkinson, all of Birch Creek, Burlington County, New Jersey. Witnessed by Thomas and Jane Curtis and others. [29]
1686 Oct. 10. Peter Harvey of the First Tenth yeoman and wife Sarah (sister) to Thomas Curtis, perhaps this one, of Buggbrook, West Jersey, husbandman, for 40 acres in the Second Tenth, part of the land formerly belonging to Benjamin Scott dec'd, and by him assigned to Sara Harvey (supra, p. 111). [30](See 1681 indenture of Sarah Curtis)
1688 23d d. 5th m. (July). Deed. William Stayner of Springfield near Burlington to Samuel Ogborne of the same place, carpenter, for a plantation of 90 acres, on Birch Creek, between Tho; Budd and John Pancoast, 50 acres thereof bought of Daniel Leeds Dec, 1686, the other 40 of Thomas Curtis, perhaps this one, date uncertain "by reason of whose death not sufficiently Confirmed." [31]
"John Pancoast married his second wife, Ann Snowden, in the fall of 1682 (second intentions, 2nd of 8th mo. 1682). In 1689, again a widower, he married his third wife, Jane Chapman (8th day, 7th mo.). Jane, as the widow of Thomas Curtis, had married John Chapman, who died within a few months. When she married John Pancoast, less than five months later, they were reproved for their haste by the Burlington Meeting of Friends. John Pancoast died in December of 1694 and his widow later married her fourth husband, Thomas Crosse. John Pancoast's will is dated 30 November 1694; he died prior to December 12."
1688 Widow Jane Curtis married John Chipman/Chapman.
1689 Jane married John Pancoast.
1694 John Pancoast made his will Nov. 30, wherein he stated he was of Mansfield, Burlington County. It was probated Dec. 22, 1694 and mentions wife, Jane, and children by his first wife. Of John Pancoast's grandchildren, two married Ogborns and two Curtises.
The children were as follows [32] [33]:
1. Jane, born 11 April, 1661, in England; died 1729 in Buckingham Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; m. 1st. Samuel Ogborn, 2nd. John Hampton, 3rd. Nathaniel Fitz Randolph, on 4-12-1706/7, m. 4th. John Sharp, 10-24-1719.
2. Dorothy, born 29 Sept, 1662 in England.
3. Sarah, born 21 March, 1663/4 in England; m. Peter Harvey.
4. Elizabeth, born 21 March 1666/7 in England; m. 3-9-1686, William Atkinson.
5. Thomas, born 14 Jan 1669/70. m. Els-- (???); will proved May 11, 1749. Thomas and Elizabeth Curtis appeared, Feb. 1, 1720, as witness to will of Joshua Fretwell of Mansfield Twp, Burlington County.
[1] John W. Jordan, Colonial Families of Philadelphia, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), 709, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[2] John E. Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, Vol. 3 (1914), 200, [InternetArchive].
[3] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Thomas Curtis, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[4] Lewis D. Cook, "John Curtis (1635-1696) of Derbyshire, England, and Burlington County, New Jersey," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 61 (1973), 83-99, at 83.
[5] Norman Penney, ed., T. Edmund Harvey, The Journal of George Fox, Vol. 1 (Cambridge: The University Press, 1911), 441, [GoogleBooks].
[6] Lewis D. Cook, "Thomas Curtis of [Northamptonshire,] England, and Burlington County, New Jersey, 1685," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 60 (1972), 96-102, at 97.
[7] Major E. M. Woodward and John Hageman, History of Burlington and Mercer Counties, New Jersey (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1883), 359, [HathiTrust].
[8] An Abstract of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers, Volume 1 From the Year 1650 to the Year 1660 (London: J. Sowle, 1733), 8, [GoogleBooks].
[9] The Journal of George Fox; Being an Historical Account, Vol. 1, Eighth Edition (London: Friend's Tract Association, 1901), 326, [GoogleBooks].
[10] An Abstract of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers, Volume 1 From the Year 1650 to the Year 1660 (London: J. Sowle, 1733), 67, [GoogleBooks].
[11] An Abstract of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers, Volume 1 From the Year 1650 to the Year 1660 (London: J. Sowle, 1733), 67, [GoogleBooks].
[12] An Abstract of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers, Volume 1 From the Year 1650 to the Year 1660 (London: J. Sowle, 1733), 71, [GoogleBooks].
[13] C. G. Crump, ed., Thomas Ellwood, Joseph Wyeth. The History of the Life of Thomas Ellwood, Written by His Own Hand (1900), xxviii, [InternetArchive].
[14] C. G. Crump, ed., Thomas Ellwood, Joseph Wyeth. The History of the Life of Thomas Ellwood, Written by His Own Hand (1900), 12, [InternetArchive].
[15] C. G. Crump, ed., Thomas Ellwood, Joseph Wyeth. The History of the Life of Thomas Ellwood, Written by His Own Hand (1900), 29, [InternetArchive].
[16] Joseph Besse, A Collection of the Sufferings of the People Called Quakers, Vol. 1 (1753), v, [InternetArchive], [HathiTrust].
[17] Rufus M. Jones, ed., George Fox, an Autobiography (Philadelphia: Ferris & Leach, 1904), 342, [GoogleBooks].
[18] Wilson Armistead, Journal of George Fox; Being an Historical Account, Vol. 1 (London: W. and F.G. Cash, 1852), 370, [GoogleBooks].
[19] Major E. M. Woodward and John Hageman, History of Burlington and Mercer Counties, New Jersey (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1883), 359, of 359-60, [HathiTrust].
[20] Joseph Besse, A Collection of the Sufferings of the People Called Quakers, Vol. 1 (1753), 19, [InternetArchive], [HathiTrust].
[21] Norman Penney, ed., T. Edmund Harvey, The Journal of George Fox, Vol. 1 (Cambridge: The University Press, 1911), 441, [GoogleBooks].
[22] John Latimer, The Annals of Bristol in the Seventeenth Century (1900), 176, [GoogleBooks].
[23] Norman Penney, ed., T. Edmund Harvey, The Journal of George Fox, Vol. 1 (Cambridge: The University Press, 1911), 464, [GoogleBooks].
[24] Bonnelyn Young Kunze, Margaret Fell and the rise of Quakerism (Stanford University Press, 1994) 136, [GoogleBooks].
[25] William Nelson, Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Archives Vol. 21. (Patents and Deeds, 1664-1703) (1899), 414, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[26] Charlotte D. Meldrum, Early Church Records of Burlington County, New Jersey, Vol. 1 (1994), 2.
[27] Lewis D. Cook, "Thomas Curtis of [Northamptonshire,] England, and Burlington County, New Jersey, 1685," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 60 (1972), 96-102, at 96.
[28] Lewis D. Cook, "Thomas Curtis of [Northamptonshire,] England, and Burlington County, New Jersey, 1685," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 60 (1972), 96-102, at 96.
[29] Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Burlington Monthly Meeting, Minutes, 1677-1777 (includes many different types of records), [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[30] William Nelson, Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Archives Vol. 21. (Patents and Deeds, 1664-1703) (1899), 425, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[31] William Nelson, Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Archives Vol. 21. (Patents and Deeds, 1664-1703) (1899), 456, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[32] Lewis D. Cook, "Thomas Curtis of [Northamptonshire,] England, and Burlington County, New Jersey, 1685," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 60 (1972), 96-102, at 97.
[33] Lewis D. Cook, "Thomas Curtis of Burlington County, New Jersey," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 62 (1974), 213-214, at 213.