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George Curtis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1899
Preceded by	Walter I. Hayes
Succeeded by	Joseph R. Lane
Personal details
Born	(1844-04-01)April 1, 1844 Oxford, New York, U.S.
Died	February 9, 1921(1921-02-09) (aged 76) Clinton, Iowa, U.S
Political party	Republican

George Martin Curtis (April 1, 1844 – February 9, 1921) was a two-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district.

Biography

Born near Oxford, New York, to John S. and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Curtis, Curtis moved to Ogle County, Illinois, in 1856 with his parents, who settled on a farm near Rochelle, Illinois. He attended the common schools and Rock River Seminary, in Mount Morris, Illinois. Curtis was a clerk in Rochelle from 1863 to 1865, and subsequently for two years in Cortland, Illinois. He moved to Clinton, Iowa, in 1867 and engaged in the manufacture of lumber, founding the Curtis Companies, a conglomerate of associated sash, door, and millwork companies that eventually consolidated into a single corporation based in Clinton, Iowa. He was also one of the incorporators of the City National Bank of Clinton in 1880. After initially serving as one of its directors, Curtis was elected vice president of the bank in 1890 and served in that capacity until his death. He also served as director in a number of lumber companies.

Hie wife was a native of the State of New York. She was the only child of William Lewis. Both parents died in her early childhood. An aunt adopted the orphan girl and took her to Michigan, where she was educated. When she was nineteen years of age, the family moved to Clinton, Iowa. Here she met George M. Curtis, an energetic young business man, afterward prominent in the political affairs of his state, and they were married. They had three sons and one daughter; the daughter and second son died when quite young. Lewis was a member of the Presbyterian church and deeply interested in church and benevolent work. As President of the Associated Benevolent Society of Clinton for five years, she was instrumental in doing much to alleviate the sufferings of the poor of that city.

In 1887, he was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives, serving in 1888 and 1889. He served as delegate to the 1892 Republican National Convention.

In 1894, Curtis was nominated to run as a Republican against incumbent Democratic Congressman Walter I. Hayes in Iowa's 2nd congressional district. After defeating Hayes, he served in the 54th United States Congress, then was re-elected two years later and served in the 55th United States Congress. He refused requests to be a candidate for renomination in 1898. In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1899.

He resumed his former business activities in Clinton, and died there on February 9, 1921. He was interred in Springdale Cemetery. His house in Clinton has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

1. University of Iowa Libraries, Special Collections Department Archived November 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, a manuscript collection of the records of Curtis Companies, Inc., 1869–1948.
2. Hinman, Ida (1896). The Washington Sketch Book. sec. Supplement p. 15. Retrieved September 11, 2024. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

• United States Congress. "George M. Curtis (id: C001010)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa
1st	W. Thompson Miller Henn A. Hall S. Curtis J. F. Wilson McCrary Stone McCoid B. Hall Gear Seerley Gear S. Clark Hedge Kennedy Kopp Eicher Martin Schwengel Schmidhauser Schwengel Mezvinsky Leach Nussle Braley Blum Finkenauer Hinson Miller-Meeks
2nd	Leffler L. Clark J. P. Cook Thorington Davis Vandever Price Smyth W. Wolf Cotton Tufts Price Farwell Murphy Hayes G. Curtis Lane Rumple Wade Dawson Pepper Vollmer Hull Letts B. Jacobsen W. Jacobsen Talle L. Wolf Bromwell Culver Blouin Tauke Nussle Leach Loebsack Miller-Meeks Hinson
3rd	Allison Donnan Ainsworth Burdick Updegraff Henderson Birdsall Pickett Connolly Sweet Robinson Willford Gwynne Gross Grassley Evans Nagle Lightfoot Boswell Latham Young Axne Nunn
4th	Grinnell Loughridge Walden Pratt Deering Weller Fuller Sweney Butler Updegraff Haugen Biermann Talle LeCompte Carter Kyl Bandstra Kyl N. Smith Ganske Latham King Feenstra
5th	Kasson G. Dodge Palmer J. Wilson R. Clark W. G. Thompson J. Wilson Frederick Kerr J. Hamilton Cousins Good Cole Thurston LeCompte Cunningham N. Smith Scherle Harkin Lightfoot Grandy Latham King
6th	A. Hubbard Pomeroy Orr Loughridge Sampson Weaver Cutts J. C. Cook Cutts J. C. Cook Weaver Lacey White Lacey D. Hamilton Kendall Kirkpatrick Ramseyer Dowell Utterback Dowell Goodwin Cunningham Gilchrist J. I. Dolliver Coad Hoeven Greigg Mayne Bedell Grandy
7th	Kasson Cummings E. Gillette Kasson H. Smith Conger Hays Hull Prouty Dowell Wearin Jensen Hansen Scherle
8th	McDill Sapp Hepburn Anderson Flick Hepburn Jamieson Towner Evans Thurston Gilchrist Hoeven
9th	Orr Oliver Carpenter Pusey Lyman Reed Bowman Hager McPherson W. Smith Green Vincent Swanson G. Gillette Harrington Narey
10th	Holmes J. P. Dolliver Conner Woods Dickinson Gilchrist
11th	Struble Perkins Thomas E. Hubbard Scott Steele Scott Boies Campbell
AL	Hastings Leffler
Terr	Chapman A. Dodge

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

• 1844 births
• 1921 deaths
• Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives
• Politicians from Clinton, Iowa
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa
• People from Oxford, New York
• People from Rochelle, Illinois
• People from Cortland, Illinois
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives