Biography of Charles N. Curtiss
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.