JOHN NELSON CURTIS - One of the most prominent and best known business men whose worth and merit graces the history of Trumbull County is to be found n the personnel of John Nelson Curtis, the owner of a beautiful farm in Farmington Township.  He is also numbered among the native sons of this township, born on the 5th of September, 1852, a son of Louis and Harriet (Lewis) Curtiss, born respectively on the 22nd of April, 1805 and on the 16th of May, 1811, and a grandson of Ethan and Ann (Sedgewick) Curtiss, from Connecticut, born respectively on the 2nd of February, 1783 and in 1782.  His maternal grandparents, Dennis and Jane Leis, were also from Connecticut, and both families moved from there to Brunswick in Medina County, Ohio, in 1808.  In 1827, they established their home in Farmington Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, where they located in the dense woods, and there began clearing their land and erected log buildings.  Mrs. Curtiss was the second white child born in Farmington Township.  Louis Curtiss and Harriet Lewis were married on the 3rd of June, 1831, and they then took up their abode on one of his farms in this township, for he owned several here, and was one of the community's most prominent agriculturists.  He was a staunch Republican in his political affiliations, and he died on his farm here on the 31st of March, 1874, his wife surviving him until the 26th of October, 1892.  Of their family of eleven children, seven are now living (  1909 ), as follows:  Silas, of Farmington township;  Nancy, the wife of Elmer Mills, of Nelson township, Trumbull County;  John Nelson;  Martha A., now Mrs. John Cleland and a resident of Nelson Township;  Mary Jane, whose home is with her brother John Nelson;  Harriet Ellen, the wife of Albert Morrison, of Farmington; and Alfreda Amelia, the wife of Wesley Rinear, of Cleveland.

John Nelson Curtis received his educational training in the public schools of Farmington township and in the Western Reserve Seminary, and the farm which his father cleared and developed has been his home throughout his life.  After his father's death he bought the homestead of one hundred and fourteen acres, fifty acres of which is under cultivation and the remainder is timber and pasture land.  The home was built by the father in 1852, a beautiful dwelling of sixteen rooms and supplied throughout with running water.  On this farm, Mr. Curtis maintains a large dairy and in engaged in diversified farming and the raising of thoroughbred Holstein cattle, Percheron horses, and Chester White hogs.  His politics are Republican, and he has served as the trustee of the township since 1898.  He is a member of the Grange and of the fraternal order of Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 333 of West Farmington.

On the 16th of January, 1873, Mr. Curtis was married to Victoria M. Symes, a daughter of John and Martha (Hatch) Symes, from Farmington, and the only child of that union is Verna Victoria, who is now the wife of Bert Hart, a farmer in Southington township, Trumbull County.  Mrs. Curtis died on November 8, 1875, and on the 1st of May 1877, Mr. Curtis married Nettie Lord, who was born in Vineland, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, February 21, 1853, a daughter of John and Charlotte (Rowland) Lord.  John Lord was born in Oneida County, New York, but his parents, William and Mary (Jones) Lord, were born respectively in England and Wales, and coming to America they located in Farmington Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, and later in Wisconsin.  The children of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis are:  Vinnie May, born April 10, 1878, is the wife of Milo Thompson, of West Farmington;  Freda Maude, born November 2, 1880, died September 26, 1899;  Elsie Belle, born December 5, 1882 and died October 26, 1900;  Angie Lynn, born September 11, 1884, is the wife of F W Reiter, a mail clerk for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and a resident of Ashtabula County, Ohio;  and Eva June, born June 11, 1884, is the wife of Fred Estlack, an agriculturist in Farmington Township.