The only primary documentation of this Thomas Curtis is the record of his marriage to Eunice Peet on October 21, 1790, in the Huntington (CT) Congregational Church. The marriage record notes that both Thomas Curtis and Eunice Peet lived in North Stratford parish of Stratford Connecticut at the time of their marriage.
Examining the Curtis families who lived in North Stratford, Connecticut, in 1790 when Thomas Curtis lived there is the most promising approach to identifying his parents. The 1790 census appears to have missed North Stratford but the 1800 census for Trumbull (the name North Stratford received when it became a town in 1797) lists 12 households headed by someone named Curtis.
These Curtis households are all found in the genealogies of the Elizabeth Curtis family of Stratford, Connecticut. Further examining these households identifies just five men who are the age potentially to be Thomas Curtis’s father. These five men are:
Edmund Curtiss
Hezekiah Curtiss II
Judson Curtiss
Mitchell Curtiss
Nathaniel Curtiss
When Harlow Dunham Curtis compiled the Curtis Genealogy Supplement in 1953, he included the following under the entry for Nathaniel Curtiss on p. 34:
Nathaniel and Mary had only three children of record. [Charity, Andrew, Everard.] Perhaps a fourth child was that Thomas Curtiss of N. Stratford who m. October 31, 1790 Eunice Peet.
Harlow Dunham Curtis did not document why he listed Thomas Curtis under this particular North Stratford Curtis family and his use of “perhaps” indicates relatively low confidence in his choice. At the time, Thomas Curtis had no known history after his marriage and no known descendants so it was not that important who were identified as his parents.
Since then, Lee R. Christensen identified Thomas and Eunice (Peet) Curtis as the likely parents of his great-great-grandmother Huldah (Curtis) Parke, William Curtis (the grandfather of Vice President Charles Curtis), Elizabeth (Curtis) Bailey, Philip Curtis, and Charles Curtis based upon circumstantial evidence from Latter Day Saints Church records, census records, and land records. See [https://mtpleasantpioneer.blogspot.com/2014/04/look-for-grandmother... Look For A Grandmother - Find A Vice President]
Now that Thomas Curtis has likely descendants including a Vice President of the United States, a descendant of Nathaniel and Mary (Curtiss) Curtiss also named Thomas Curtis analyzed the existing information about the Curtis families of North Stratford as given in the Curtis Genealogies. He identified Mitchell and Phebe (Peet) Curtiss as the most likely parents of Thomas Curtis based on the following circumstantial evidence [See Thomas Curtis. Charles Curtis The First U. S. Vice President with Non-European Ancestry and HIs Correct Complete Ancestry Revealed for the First Time. Published in Curtis/s Chronicle Volume 45, No. 1, March 2021.]:
1) Mitchell Curtiss’s family is the only one of the five North Stratford families with both a record of frequent childbirths and a substantial time gap in childbirths strongly suggestive of missing undocumented children;
2) The oldest documented children of Mitchell and Phebe Curtiss on both sides of the childbirth gap are all named for their parents and grandparents. The only grandparent name that is missing is Thomas (the name of Phebe (Peet) Curtis’s father) strongly suggestive that a missing undocumented child’s name is Thomas;
3) The only other Curtis (or Peet) of North Stratford who married in the Huntington Congregational Church from 1780 to 1800 is Isaac Curtis (1796) , a known son of Mitchell and Phebe Curtiss, suggesting an association of that Curtis family with that church.
Mitchell and Phebe (Peet) Curtiss lived in the Zachariah Curtiss House (current address: 2950 Nichols Avenue, Trumbull) when Thomas Curtis was likely born. This house is currently in a dilapidated state awaiting demolition. See Wikipedia contributors. “[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachariah_Curtiss_House].” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 18 August 2021.
