Curtis, Hon. A. H., of Marion, Ala., was born in Raleigh, N. C.,
December 29, 1829. He came to Alabama in 1839 with the Haywood family.
He was the property (?) of E. Haywood, and served as a waiting boy in
the store of Stockton & Hunt for many years. He moved to Marion in
1848 and was the body servant of R. T. Goree for two years. After this
he was barber for some years. Succeeding by industry and economy in
obtaining some cash, he, in 1859, paid Mrs. E. Haywood $2,000 for his
freedom, and during the same year went to New York and was emancipated.
After the war he engaged in mercantile pursuits and the barber
business. In 1870 he was elected to the lower house of the General
Assembly of Alabama, and in 1872 he was elected State Senator from the
Twenty-second senatorial district. No other colored man ever presided
over the Senate of Alabama. He was connected with the legislature
of the State for eight years, and not only enjoyed the respect of
his fellow legislators of all parties but closed his service in this
connection with growing confidence in his integrity. He was baptized
in 1851. In 1850 his marriage occurred. His wife was a suitable helper
for him and is still alive enjoying the honors and success which
justly crown their offspring. The Curtis brothers and sisters are a
praise to their parents. The senator was a strong man in society, in
church, in State. He died near Marion, July 20, 1878, as the result of
a bruise from a fall from his buggy. Three of his sons are successful
physicians; two are north; Dr. A. J. Curtis is in Montgomery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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