Charles N. Curtiss, a prominent businessman in Wessington, Beadle County, was born on August 7, 1858, in Port Washington, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. He received his early education in Wisconsin’s public schools, attended the University of Notre Dame for two years, and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1878. After working in a wholesale house in Chicago, he moved to South Dakota in 1882, where he established a successful lumber and general merchandise business in Wessington. Curtiss, a dedicated Republican, was involved in the Masonic fraternity and the Modern Woodmen of America. On April 14, 1892, he married Clara L. Ahlers of Dubuque, Iowa, and they had two children, Adele and Charles A.
Charles N. Curtiss.— Elsewhere will be found an individual sketch of the life of Asa E. Curtiss, the honored father of the subject, so that a recapitulation of the family history will not be demanded at this juncture.
Charles N. Curtiss, who is one of the representative businessmen of Wessington, Beadle County, was born in Port Washington, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, on the 7th of August 1858, and his early educational discipline was received in the public schools of that state, after which he was for two years a student in the University of Notre Dame, at South Bend, Indiana. In 1876 he was matriculated in the University of Chicago, where he completed the course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1878. After leaving college he secured a position in a leading wholesale house in Chicago, and remained with this concern until 1882, gaining a thorough knowledge of the details of the business. In April of the year mentioned he came to what is now the state of South Dakota and took up his residence in Wessington, where he established himself in the lumber trade and also in the general merchandise business, being one of the pioneer businessmen of the town and having ever since continued the merchandise enterprise mentioned. He has the unequivocal confidence and esteem of the community and has built up a large and prosperous trade in the line mentioned, while he is known as a man of progressive ideas and one straightforward in all his dealings. He has been and continues an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party and stands forward as one animated by a helpful and insistent public spirit. He is identified with the Masonic fraternity and also with the Modern Woodmen of America, while he enjoys marked popularity in both business and social circles.
On the 14th of April 1892, Mr. Curtiss was united in marriage to Miss Clara L. Ahlers, of Dubuque, Iowa, a lady of refinement and gracious social qualities. She was born in Dubuque and is a daughter of Herman and Sophia (Saniter) Ahlers, her father having been for many years engaged in fruit growing in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Curtiss have two children, Adele and Charles A.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.