Samuel ‘the Regulator’ Curtis

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Curtis-13735
Curtis-13735 created 27 Jun 2020 | Last modified 5 May 2023

Samuel Curtis

M, b. circa 1720, d. between 1775 and 1779

Birth* Samuel Curtis was born circa 1720 at America/England; there was no age exemption from the colonial North Carolina poll tax, so tax records are not instructive in estimating his

date of birth.1,2 Name Variation As of circa 1720, Samuel Curtis was also known as Samuel Curtice.

NoteB Only James and Joseph are documented sons of Samuel; DNA test results and circumstantial evidence are consistent with Samuel having nine sons. It is likely Samuel had 1 or more additional daughters and possibly 1 more son. No record exists of his wife's name. The ancestral family is the Curtises of Derbyshire, England, Quakers who came to Burlington County, New Jersey in 1680. It has not been determined whether Samuel was born in England, or in New Jersey, and followed the typical migration path through Virginia, arriving in North Carolina in the 1750s. 1758 is the first record of him in North Carolina; no Curtis land records have been found prior to the Revolutionary War.3

Tax List- He appeared on the personal property tax list of 1758 at Rowan, North Carolina; two polls.4

Tax List- He appeared on the personal property tax list of 1759 at Rowan, North Carolina; one poll.5

Tax List- He appeared on the personal property tax list of 1761 at Rowan, North Carolina; one poll.6

Tax List - He appeared on the personal property tax list of 1768 at William Millikan's District, Rowan, North Carolina; three polls, sons Joseph and James; area is now included in southern Guilford and northern Randolph counties.7

NoteB- Regulators' Advertisement No. 8 of 1768 includes the name Samuel Curtis of Orange County. The eastern portion of present-day Randolph County, including Sandy Creek, was then part of Orange County. This could be either the elder Samuel Curtis or his son Samuel (Jr.) Because the names of the adjacent signatures on the advertisement correspond to those of Samuel (Jr.'s) neighbors in the 1779 tax list, I am inclined to believe this is Samuel (Jr.), whose name may have been added to the list by his militia captain. Samuel Sr. is thought to have lived on Caraway Creek, rather than Sandy Creek, because his name appears on the Rowan County tax lists of 1758-1768, rather than Orange County.8,9

NoteB- James, Joseph, Samuel and Thomas Curtis appeared on the list of debtors of Col. John McGee, and Orange County, NC merchant; unclear which Samuel this is; also Elijah & Elisha Isaacks, Coble, Nation, Robins, Staley, Trogdon, Vickrey and Welborn.10

Death- He died between 1775 and 1779; No further records after early 1770s; he might have left the area following the Battle of Alamance Creek, perhaps moving to western North Carolina.

Family: Children:

1. Joshua Curtis Sr.+ b. c 1740, d. bt 1811 - 1820
2. Elizabeth (Sarah) Curtis+2,1,11 b. c 1744, d. b 1816
3. David Curtis+ b. c 1745, d. bt 1816 - 1820
4. Thomas Curtis Sr.+2,12 b. c 1746, d. bt 1811 - 1820
5. Joseph Curtis+2 b. c 1749, d. bt 1795 - 1797
6. Samuel Curtis Jr.+13 b. c 1751, d. c 1814
7. James Curtis Sr.+ b. c 1752, d. c Jul 1795
8. John Curtis+2 b. c 1756, d. c Jun 1830
9. Caleb Curtis+2 b. c 1758, d. bt 1821 - 1830
10. Benjamin Curtis Sr.+2 b. c 1759, d. bt Dec 1827 - Apr 1828

References

1. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/17172574/person/34...
2. https://gw.geneanet.org/slayer42890?lang=en&pz=christal+rose&nz=col...
3. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1002509:2204
4. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Curtis-13735 cites
   1. [S874] Marvin Robbins, "Ancestral File of Marvin Robbins", Ancestral File. ##[S872] Jo White Linn, Rowan County, North Carolina Tax Lists.
   2. [S206] Al Field, "Ancestral File of Al Field", Ancestral File.
   3. [S872] Jo White Linn, Rowan County, North Carolina Tax Lists, 1758.
   4. [S872] Jo White Linn, Rowan County, North Carolina Tax Lists, 1759.
   5. [S872] Jo White Linn, Rowan County, North Carolina Tax Lists, 1761.
   6. [S872] Jo White Linn, Rowan County, North Carolina Tax Lists, 1768.
   7. [S883] "The Regulator Movement", Spring 1987, page 123. [S893] William L. Saunders, North Carolina Colonial Records, Book 10, page 730-735.
   8. [S916] Jo White Linn, "1773 Debtors of Col. John McGee, Orange County, N.C.", also original document from North Carolina Archives.
   9. [S866] Alyce H. Kenady, Robbins History (Kenady), page 3.
   10. [S875] Frances Curtis Bogy, Curtis Genealogy.
   11. [S1] Census of Population 1790, 1800, 1810.
   12. Mark Chilton, "Who were the Regulators?", 9 March 2016, Wandering through the NC Piedmont