E 
 
 IN MEMOEIAM 
 
 em< 
 
 DIED, DECEMBER 26th, 1866. 
 
 
Glass. 
 Book 
 
 e +(sr 
 
IN MEMOKIAM. 
 
 
 h 
 
 m\ 
 
 is. 
 
 • 
 
 DIED DECEMBER 26th, 1866. 
 
 KEOKUK, IOWA : 
 
 PRINTED AT REKS' JOB OFFICE. 
 
 7 
 
It 
 
IN MEMOEIAM. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SAMUEL RYAN CURTIS. 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 Council Bluffs, Dec. 26,1866. 
 Major General Samuel R. Curtis died very suddenly at this 
 city, this morning,' of apoplexy. 
 
 From the Omaha (Nebraska) Herald, Dee. 26, UStiO. 
 
 With a deep feeling of personal sorrow, we have to announce 
 the sudden death of Major General Samuel R. Curtis. He de- 
 parted this life at the house of Col. H. C. Nutt, in Council 
 Bluffs, at the hour of 10M o'clock, having left Omaha about 9 
 o'clock this morning, apparently in the full vigor of health. He 
 undoubtedly died of apoplexy, the fatal stroke of which came, 
 perhaps not so much from any lesion in the blood vessels, as 
 from some occult vital change in the nervous element, signs of 
 disorder in which those familiar with the distinguished deceased 
 may not have passed unnoticed. 
 
 The suddenness of Gen. Curtis' death has produced a pro- 
 found impression throughout our entire community, while a deep 
 sense of loss to kindred, to friends, and to the public, is expressed 
 
Letter of (ieneral Simpson. 
 
 Council Bluffs, Iowa, Dec. 26, 1866. 
 Mrs. Gen. Sam'' I JR. Curtis, Keokuk, Iowa : 
 
 My Dear Madam : Col. Nutt has already apprized you of the 
 sudden death of your devoted husband, and now the sad duty 
 devolves on me to communicate the particulars. 
 
 When the Government Commissioners, Dr. White and myself, 
 arrived at Omaha on the 21st inst., we found our colleague, the 
 General, already on the ground. The next morning, 22d inst., 
 we left Omaha, in the late President Lincoln's funeral car, for 
 the North Platte station, for the purpose of examining the 
 extreme section of thirty- five miles, terminating 305 miles west of 
 Omaha. We were engaged examining this section till the suc- 
 ceeding Monday, when we returned to Omaha, reaching there the 
 next morning, a little after midnight. We all took lodgings at 
 the Herndon House, and the next day were engaged getting up 
 our Report to the Secretary of the Interior, on the section we 
 had examined. 
 
 Yesterday afternoon, at 3 o'clock, we all, by invitation, dined 
 at Major Balcomb's, the editor of the Omaha Republican, and 
 remained there till about 6 p. M., when the carriage took the 
 General to his hotel, Dr. White and myself being left at a 
 friend's, where we spent the evening. Between 9 and 10 the 
 Doctor and myself returned to the Herndon House and spent 
 about an hour with the General, in Major Bent's rooms, with 
 whom the General was quartered. At about 11 we bade him 
 and the Major good night, and all retired to our beds. 
 
 This morning we were all up before 7 o'clock, and the General, 
 before breakfast, looked over, with the Doctor and myself, the 
 Report to the Secretary. At half-past seven we all went to 
 
breakfast, and immediately after walked over to the office of the 
 Union Pacific Railroad, where we signed the Report. 
 
 At about 9 a. m. the General, the Doctor and myself left in a 
 special carriage to go over the Missouri river to Council Bluffs, 
 intending to proceed immediately thence to St. Johns, in Iowa, 
 twenty-two miles distant ; there at 3 p. m. to take the train, via 
 the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, for Chicago, and thence 
 to Leavenworth, the General and myself occupying the back seat 
 and Dr. White the front. The Secretary of the Interior had 
 ordered us to inspect a section of the Union Pacific Railway, 
 Eastern Division, and we were on our way to obey his instruc- 
 tions. When we reached the Missouri river the General proposed, 
 as the ice was somewhat doubtful, that we should get out of the 
 carriage and walk across. We all did get out and walked across, 
 the carriage following us. No difficulty occurred to us except 
 some inconvenience from the cold, high wind and drifting sand ; 
 and, immediately after crossing, we took our old seats again in 
 the carriage to continue on our way to St. Johns. 
 
 We had not proceeded probably more than half a mile when 
 Dr. White, who sat on the front seat facing the General, ex- 
 claimed: " Stop, driver; I believe the General is fainting." I 
 immediately cast my eyes upon him, and I noticed that he was 
 quite pale — his eyes and a gurgling noise from his throat indi- 
 cating he was in great distress. We immediately stopped the 
 carriage, and laid him down as well as we could on a back seat, 
 I taking a seat with the driver to give him all the room possible. 
 This occurred about 9% a. m., Dr. White expressing his opinion, 
 from his not perceiving any pulse, and finding no action of the 
 heart, that he was already dead. We then drove rapidly to the 
 residence of Col. Nutt, a long and valued friend of the General, 
 
who lived on the verge of Council Bluffs, nearer than any other 
 citizen. Arriving there, Mrs. Nutt had a bed placed on her 
 parlor floor, and Dr. White, Col. Nutt, myself and others called 
 to our assistance, carried him from the carriage to the house, 
 and laid him on the bed. Immediately Drs. Hown and Bundy 
 were called in, and they and Dr. White, after an examination of 
 his pulse and heart, pronounced him lifeless, and believed he 
 died suddenly from congestion of the brain. 
 
 The General, during the trip, was never more cheerful, and at 
 no time evinced any indisposition, except on Monday morning, 
 when he told me he had some sensation of dyspepsia, of which he 
 had once or twice in our other trips complained. 
 
 He had been very temperate, both in eating and drinking, 
 while we were together, as was his habit, and therefore the shock 
 of his sudden demise was, to us, the more surprising and 
 unexpected. 
 
 Your lamented husband always, in all his trips, especially 
 
 during this last, evinced the greatest love for his family, and his 
 
 greatest solicitude was ever to quickly return to his home, where, 
 
 as he frequently told me, he was happier than anywhere else. 
 ******** 
 
 A number of his old friends, among them Judge Street, Judge 
 
 Baldwin, and R. S. Douglas, Esq., and others, called in soon 
 
 after the news reached the citizens of his death, to see his remains 
 
 and to offer their services. Messrs. Snyder, Bent and D. T. 
 
 Casement, officers of the Union Pacific Railroad, as soon as they 
 
 received my telegram, announcing the event, came over from 
 
 Omaha, and have, with Col. Nutt, made every arrangement for 
 
 his obsequies to-morrow morning, and his subsequent carriage to 
 
 his home in Keokuk, Dr. White, Col. Nutt, Col. Sapp, Major 
 
 Bent and myself purposing to accompany his remains. 
 
 
9 
 
 Knowing the General, as I did, while a Cadet at West Point, 
 and more particularly since he has been associated with me as 
 Government Commissioner on the Union Pacific Railroad and 
 branches, I am well apprized of his many manly and kind 
 qualities of head and heart, but to no one will the news of his 
 sudden demise come with more stunning effect than to his family, 
 whom he so dearly loved. 
 
 Be assured, Madam, that you have the heartfelt condolence of 
 a large circle of his old Congressional constituents in this city ; 
 of his many friends connected with the Union Pacific Railroad 
 at Omaha, and especially of his late colleagues, Dr. White and 
 myself, who have been thus deprived so suddenly of his co- 
 operation with us in the official discharge of our duties. 
 
 With sentiments of commingled grief and regard, I am very 
 respectfully, your obedient servant and friend, 
 
 J. H. SIMPSON, 
 
 Brevet Brig. Gen. IT. S. A., and President of the Board of Commissioners of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad and Branches. 
 
 Letter from Judge Baldwin. 
 
 Council Bluffs, Iowa, Dec. 26, 1866. 
 Hon. R. P. Lowe : Bear Judge — Knowing your intimacy 
 and personal friendship with Gen. Curtis and his family, I sup- 
 posed you would be anxious to hear of the particulars of his 
 death. I have just been down to see him. He died about an 
 hour ago, at half-past nine this morning. Gen. Simpson and 
 Dr. White, the other Commissioners, were with him at the time 
 of his death. They told me that when they left Omaha this 
 morning, Gen. C. was in fine health and very lively, and had 
 been for some time. They all walked over on the ice, and got 
 B 
 
into a carriage on this side. The General got into the carriage, 
 and after he had been seated a few minutes he gave a kind of a 
 groan and gurgling sound, and died. Gen. Simpson told me he 
 was sitting by the side of the General. Dr. White remarked to 
 him, " Gen. Curtis looks pale and faint," and as he said so 
 Gen. Curtis fell over on him. They ordered the driver to drive 
 with all speed to Colonel Nutt's house, but by the time they got 
 there, nothing could be done for him. Dr. White says that he 
 thinks the General died of congestion of the brain. I am in- 
 clined to think so. It was a very cold morning — one of those 
 north, piercing winds blowing. It may be that in crossing the 
 river this wind affected him. The wind is much more severe on 
 the river than elsewhere. You know how the wind strikes in 
 crossing the Des Moines to the Capital. 
 
 Col. Nutt will start with the remains to-night to Keokuk. 
 He will go by Chicago. 
 
 Yours truly, C. BALDWIN. 
 
 From the Council Blufls (Iowa) Nonpareil, Dec. 27, 1S66. 
 
 The numerous friends throughout this State and nation are 
 suddenly called upon to mourn the loss of him whose name 
 appears at the head of this article. 
 
 Apparently in good health, Gen. Curtis, in company with the 
 other members of the Commission, was returning from Nebraska, 
 having been called hence to examine and pass upon the last 
 section of the first three hundred miles of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad, and while riding in a carriage on their return, yester- 
 day morning, between Omaha and this city, he was attacked with 
 apoplexy, and only survived long enough to reach the home of 
 Col. Nutt, in this city, then to expire. 
 
 
11 
 
 His remains, under the special charge of Col. Nutt, will be 
 removed at 9 o'clock this morning to St. Johns, accompanied 
 by Gen. Simpson and Dr. White, (the other members of the 
 Commission) where a special train is in waiting to carry them 
 to his home at Keokuk. 
 
 We purpose making a more extended notice of the deceased 
 hereafter. His name has long been identified with the State of 
 Iowa, having represented the First District in Congress for three 
 successive terms, and surrendered the same voluntarily at the 
 outbreak of the rebellion, to enter the army and assist in battling 
 down the ramparts of treason. We extend our deepest sympathy 
 to the family of the de versed. 
 
 From the St. Louis (Mo.) Democrat, Dec. 27, 1866. 
 
 Our readers will regret to learn that Major Gereral Curtis 
 died of apoplexy at Council Bluffs yesterday morning. His re- 
 mains will at once be removed to Keokuk, where they will arrive 
 Friday night. ****** 
 
 His name holds an honorable place in the roll of those who 
 saved the nation from rebellion, and his record is part of the 
 history of the country. Since the war he has engaged again in 
 important railroad enterprises, and was one of the Government 
 Commissioners for the Union Pacific road. He was also one of 
 three Commissioners by whom important treaties were effected 
 with the Indian tribes last summer. 
 
 The death of such a man is a loss that cannot be repaired. 
 He was a man of excellent ability and of spotless chnracter, 
 shrewd in his plans and vigorous in execution, a man of enter- 
 
IT 
 
 prise and public spirit, and withal a true patriot. Whether in 
 Avar or in peace, his talents have been employed for the benofit of 
 his country, and his services will not soon be forgotten. 
 
 From the Keokuk (Iowa) (.ate City, Dee. 27, JSOIS. 
 
 Major General Samuel R. Curtis died yesterday morning 
 (26th inst. ) at Council Bluffs, of apoplexy. The announcement 
 has caused the profoundest regret in this city, and will through- 
 out the State and the country, with the history of which, in 
 peace and war, Gen. Curtis has markedly connected himself. 
 His varied services in civil and military place have made for him 
 wide reputation, and thus many communities will deplore his 
 death. 
 
 In this biographical notice we make no apologies for trans- 
 ferring here the major portion of the sketch of him given in 
 Captain Stuart's history of " Iowa Colonels and Regiments." 
 It was written while Gen. Curtis was yet alive, and with the 
 promise of many years before him, that could not have failed 
 to have been alike honorably and usefully employed. The author 
 above named said : 
 
 "Samuel Ryan Curtis, Iowa's distinguished statesman and 
 soldier, was the second Colonel and the first general officer ap- 
 pointed from the State. He is Iowa's first and oldest Major 
 General, and, at the time of entering the service, was more 
 widely known than any other officer sent out from the State ; for, 
 almost from the State's infancy, he has stood prominent among 
 her public men. ****** 
 
 " In 1856. Gen. Curtis was elected to Congress from the First 
 Congressional District of Iowa, and in 1858, and again in 1860 
 
13 
 
 was re-elected from the same district. In the canvass of 1860, 
 his opponent was the Hon. C. C. Cole, now Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court of Iowa, and one of the ablest debaters and most 
 popular men in the State. No better proof could be had of the 
 General's ability as a statesman, and of the integrity of his 
 record, than this final endorsement of him by the people ; in- 
 deed, nearly every section of his District gave him increased 
 majorities. 
 
 "From the organization of the party, he has been an earnest 
 and consistent Republican ; but that for which he became most 
 distinguished in Congress was the part he acted in securing the 
 passage of the Pacific Railroad Act. Others have claimed the 
 honor, but he is the father of this enterprise, as is evidenced by 
 his elaborate speeches and demonstrations of record in the annals 
 of Congress. I should also add that he was a leading member 
 of the committee on Military Affairs. He had, I am credibly 
 informed, much to do with the efforts of the House, in counter- 
 vailing the schemes of Jeff. Davis, in his manipulations of our 
 military forces to his base purposes. 
 
 " Gen. Curtis' patriotism was always fervent, and, though 
 others have made a more brilliant reputation in the war, none 
 responded more promptly to the first call of national alarm ; 
 and, I may add, none have led armies and fought battles 
 with more uniform success. Leaving his home in the West 
 on the first news of the attack on Fort Sumter, he started for 
 Washington ; and, meeting at Philadelphia the gallant 7th New 
 York, Colonel Lefferts, embarked with it on transports for An- 
 napolis. From that point the march was made through the heat 
 and dust by day and night to Washington. Returning to 
 Keokuk, he assisted in raising volunteers, and was, on the 1st of 
 

 p 
 
 14 
 
 June, elected Colonel of the 2d Iowa Infantry, (the first three- 
 years' regiment from the State) by the unanimous vote of the 
 officers and men. Ten days later and at midnight, he was sum- 
 moned by General Lyon by telegraph to Northern Missouri, and 
 marched next day with his regiment for that point. Besides 
 capturing many prisoners, guns, &c, he established at once in 
 Northern Missouri the military authority of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 "In the latter part of June, he left again for Washington to 
 be present at the extra session of Congress, and while there 
 was made a Brigadier- General. He now resigned his seat in 
 Congress, and, reporting at St. Louis, Missouri, was soon after 
 placed in command, first of Jefferson Barracks, next of the Camp 
 of Instruction at Benton Barracks, and finally of the St. Louis 
 District. While holding the last named command, the President 
 devolved on him the duties connected with the change of com- 
 manders — a most delicate and painful service, which he neither 
 sought nor desired ; but for the prudence and decision he dis- 
 played in the discharge of these duties, he received the special 
 thanks of Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 " In December 1861, General Curtis was placed in command 
 of the District of Southwest Missouri, and at once repaired to 
 Holla, where he established his head-quarters. Having organ- 
 ized his army in the early part of January, 1802, he marched 
 against General Price, and drove him through Missouri and 
 Northern Arkansas. On this march, the enemy were encoun- 
 tered in several skirmishes and engagements. The culminating 
 one was the sanguinary battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. It re- 
 sulted in a brilliant victory to the Federal arms, and in the 
 restoration of the flag and the authority of the Government in 
 that State " 
 
 
 
15 
 
 Thirteen days after the battle of Pea Ridge he was made a 
 Major General, and during all the war none wore the rank better. 
 Of his subsequent celebrated and successful march through 
 Arkansas to Helena, and the expeditions he organized from there 
 we shall not speak. While at Helena, says Captain Stuart, 
 " Though burdened with the cares of a large military command, 
 Gen. Curtis did not forget that magnificent enterprise, for the 
 success of which he had, in civil life, labored so untiringly, and, 
 I may add, so successfully. Having been made one of the cor- 
 porators, he obtained a leave of absence from the War Depart- 
 ment to attend the Pacific Railroad Convention at Chicago. He 
 was chosen and acted as President of that body. In the future 
 that assemblage will be looked upon as a land-mark of a new 
 era ; for it organized and inaugurated the great work which is 
 now in progress, to connect the two oceans and bind the conti- 
 nent together with iron bands. 
 
 " On the 19th of September, 1862, Gen. Curtis was assigned 
 to the command of the Department of the Missouri, with 
 head-quarters at St. Louis. At that time this department in- 
 cluded the States of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, the Territories 
 of Nebraska, Colorado, and the Indian Territory. The military 
 forces consisted of the armies of the Southwest, the Frontier, 
 and Southeast Missouri. The department was subsequently 
 diminished by the withdrawal of Arkansas. While in command 
 of this department, his troops fought the following battles : 
 Cane Hill, Old Town, Wayne, Prairie Grove, Springfield, Harts- 
 ville, Cape Girardeau, besides capturing Fort Smith and Van 
 Buren, Arkansas. There were also many skirmishes and en- 
 gagements of lesser note. But Gen. Curtis was too radical for 
 that early day of the struggle. His anti- Slavery spirit was dis- 
 tasteful to the conservative Governor of Missouri, and, harrassed 
 
by the importunities of that official, and other influential conser- 
 vative men of the State, the President relieved the General of 
 his command, after a successful and, with the true friends of 
 the Government, a popular administration of eight months. 
 The President expressly stated that he had no fault to find with 
 the General's administration, but that he was willing to yield to 
 the wishes of the conservative party, headed by Governor Gam- 
 ble, and see, if by inaugurating a more lenient policy, he could 
 not conciliate hostile factions, and heal the breach in the Union 
 party of Missouri." But we know that Mr. Lincoln was wrong 
 and Gen. Curtis right. 
 
 Gen. Curtis was next assigned to th» Department of Kansas, 
 January 1st, 1864. In the fall of that year he had again to 
 chase Price from Missouri, which he did in a succession of bril- 
 liant victories. Subsequently he was assigned to the command 
 of the Department of the Northwest. Since coming from there, 
 and his being mustered out of the service, he has been busied in 
 discharging his official duties in the construction of the Union 
 Pacific Railroad. We presume that it is while on this duty he 
 thus so suddenly ceases at once to work and live. 
 
 Gen. Curtis had solid abilities, better than brilliance. He 
 has filled more stations, requiring sound judgment and ability 
 and industry, than any other man in Iowa, and in none has he 
 been other than successful. The State suffers great loss in 
 losing him. Hereafter the judgment of the author before quoted 
 will be justified. He said truly: " General Curtis has a proud 
 record, whether before or during the war of the rebellion ; and 
 when this great conflict shall have closed, and a true love of the 
 Nation's ancient motto re-enshrined in the hearts of all, he will 
 stand, with the honest historian, as one of the most practical and 
 deserving men of his day." 
 
17 
 
 BroM the Cleveland (Ohio) Herald, Dee. 27th, istiti. 
 
 The death, by apoplexy, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, of General 
 Samuel R. Curtis, occurred on the 26th. 
 
 The deceased has been a man of mark in civil and military 
 life. His early life was spent in Ohio. Henry B. Curtis, a 
 distinguished lawyer, and very estimable citizen of Mt. Vernon, 
 Ohio, was a brother of the General. The deceased formerly 
 was a resident of Mount Vernon. He graduated at West Point 
 in 1831, served a short time in the army, and resigned, taking 
 up the law and practising in this State. The deceased entered 
 the service again in the Mexican war as Colonel, served under 
 General Taylor, and was Military Governor of Matamoras and 
 other conquered places. 
 
 After the Mexican war he moved from Ohio to Iowa, taking 
 up his residence at Keokuk, where he was elected to the 35th 
 Congress, and re-elected to the 36th, serving on important 
 committees. Gen. Curtis was a delegate to the Peace Congress, 
 and was again elected to the National Congress in 1860, but re- 
 signed in 1861, taking a position in the army as Brigadier Gen- 
 eral, serving with distinction through the rebellion. General 
 Curtis for a part of the rebellion was in command of the De- 
 partment of the Southwest, including Missouri and Arkansas. 
 Gen. Curtis was in command at the battle near Springfield, 
 Mo., February/ 11th, 1862, in which he whipped the rebel 
 General Price and took possession of Springfield, driving Price 
 from Missouri. Curtis followed the rebel General into Ar- 
 kansas, cutting up Price's forces, and capturing stores and 
 prisoners, and securing all the strongholds in that State, driving 
 Price beyond Boston Mountains, where he was reinforced and 
 soon after was fought the famous battle of Pea Ridge, where, 
 
 c 
 
after three days fighting, General Curtis drove the Confederate 
 forces and found Union dead tomahawked and scalped on the 
 field of battle. The military career of Gen. Curtis ranks with 
 the most brilliant of the war. 
 
 After the war the deceased returned to private life. At the 
 time of his death General Curtis was one of the Government 
 Commissioners for the Pacific Railroad. He was one of the ex- 
 cursionists in October to the 100th meridian and was then in 
 good health and spirits. Gen. Curtis had a very commanding 
 presence. He was tall, with a very massive brow — reminding 
 one of both Webster and Chase — had a deep-set, black, pene- 
 trating, yet kind, eye; was of quite stern expression when his 
 features were in repose, but animated and winning in conversa- 
 tion, his countenance lighting up with remarkable brilliancy and 
 attractiveness when interested and engaged. The manners of 
 the General were exceedingly courteous and kind, and he always 
 was the centre of attraction when drawn out. His age was 
 about 60, he having been born Feb. 3, 1807. 
 
 From the Keokuk (Iowa) Constitution, Dec. 27, iStifl. 
 
 We learn by a special dispatch to his family, in this city, that 
 Major General Samuel R. Curtis died suddenly of apoplexy 
 yesterday morning at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and that his remains 
 will be forwarded to this city immediately. The announcement 
 of the death of no citizen of the State of Iowa will bring more 
 sincere sorrow to the hearts of the whole people of the State, 
 and especially to the citizens of Keokuk, than that of General 
 Curtis. He removed to this city with his family from his native 
 Starr, Ohio, about twenty years ago, and has resided here 
 almost ever since ; and but few men ever lived so long in any 
 
n*mvmwB*Bmma bbb— 
 
 19 
 
 community -who had more devoted friends and fewer enemies 
 than the subject of this notice had in the city of Keokuk. 
 
 He was a. man of strict integrity in all the relations of life, 
 both public and private, and in the social circle of family and 
 friends his heart was as warm and genial as his impulses were 
 noble and generous. In his capacity of Congressman he was 
 devoted to the interests of his State and the constituency wliose 
 Representative he was ; and in projecting the great Pacific Rail- 
 way the whole country is more indebted to him than to any other 
 man in the United States. 
 
 In the Mexican war and in the war of the late rebellion, Gen. 
 Curtis distinguished himself as a soldier, and proved himself 
 to be a sincere lover of his country, for which he left his family 
 and friends and risked his life on several hard fought battle 
 fields. 
 
 Alas ! our friend is gone. We shall meet him again no more 
 on earth. But as his death fills our heart with grief, what shall 
 we say of the stricken wife and other members of his family? 
 Their loss is indeed irreparable. We can only assure them of 
 our sincere sympathy in their great affliction. May the Lord 
 God of Israel be with and comfort the wife of our deceased 
 friend. 
 
 Preamble and Restitutions. 
 
 At a meeting of Damascus Commandery No. 5, of Knights 
 Templar, held on Thursday evening, Dec. 27th, 1866, the fol- 
 lowing preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted : 
 
 Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God in His wise providence to 
 remove from our midst Major General Samuel E. Curtis, our beloved Sir 
 Knight and friend, one of the charter members of this Commandery, and 
 
summon him from this transient existence to the eternal -world ; therefore, 
 as a testimonial of our fraternal regard, be it 
 
 Resolved, 1st. That while w r e submit resignedly to this painful dispensa- 
 tion, we cannot refrain from expressing our deep and heartfelt sorrow at the 
 loss of one who, as a Sir Knight and friend, we loved and esteemed for his 
 eminent qualities of head and heart so fitted to endear him to all. 
 
 2d. That we extend to his family in this hour of grief, our sincere con- 
 dolence and sympathy in the sad affliction which has befallen them, and 
 mingle our tears with theirs o\ T er the remains of one who has fallen while 
 honors were clustering thickly upon him and he was held in such high 
 estimation by his fellow men. 
 
 3d. That in testimony of our respect for the departed Sir Knight, our 
 banners will be draped and the members of our Commandery will wear the 
 usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 
 
 ■lth. That these resolutions be furnished to the family of the deceased, 
 and sent to the city papers for publication. 
 
 M. K. TAYLOR,) 
 
 H. W. WOOD, } Committee. 
 
 C. K. PECK, S 
 
 From (he Cincinnati (Ohio) Commercial, Dec. 28, 1n<><>. 
 
 Major General Samuel R. Curtis, whose death at Council 
 Bluffs, on Wednesday, has been already announced, was born in 
 Ohio, February 3, 1807, his parents having at that time just 
 removed from Connecticut. He graduated at West Point in 
 1831, and Avas appointed Lieutenant of Infantry, but resigned 
 the following year. Afterward he practiced law in Ohio, and 
 was chief engineer of the Muskingum Avorks from 1837 to 1840. 
 He went to Mexico as Colonel, under General Taylor ; after the 
 war, was employed in railroad and other engineering in Missouri 
 and Iowa, and at length settled at Keokuk, in the latter State. 
 He was elected and served through the Thirty-fifth and Thirty- 
 sixth Congress, and re-elected to the Thirty-seventh, but resigned 
 in 1861 to accept a commission in the army. At the close of 
 
21 
 
 the war he held the rank of Major General, and has lately 
 officiated as one of the Commissioners of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad. 
 
 From the Des Moines (Iowa) Register, Dee. 28, 1866. 
 
 The announcement of the death of this distinguished citizen 
 of Iowa, gave a shock and pang to all hearts. A fortnight 
 since he passed through this city on his way to the Pacific Road, 
 as one of the Commission to inspect the last Division completed. 
 He was in excellent health and spirits and visited a number of 
 our citizens to congratulate them on the growth of Des Moines 
 and its cheering prospects. 
 
 By the death of Gen. Curtis the State sustains a severe loss. 
 To his family and friends the loss is irreparable. In his domestic 
 relations he was peculiarly happy. The cold hand of death will 
 almost paralyze the loving hearts of wife and children. We 
 would enter that afflicted circle only to utter the words of sym- 
 pathy and condolement. 
 
 It is fifteen or twenty years since Gen. Curtis became a citi- 
 zen of Keokuk. He had lived an active life in Ohio, in charge 
 of important works of public improvement. In the Mexican 
 war he commanded an Ohio regiment with great honor to himself 
 and the State. In this State and at St. Louis, he had control of 
 important public works, calling into full exercise his engineering 
 skill. He was chosen Mayor of Keokuk and subsequently thrice 
 elected to t Congress. In that body he occupied important posi- 
 tions, exerted a large influence and contributed largely to create 
 a sentiment in favor of the great enterprise of uniting the At- 
 lantic and Pacific oceans. He lived to see the work advanced 
 
far towards a successful issue. Completed, it will stand as one 
 of the monuments of his comprehensive statesmanship. 
 
 Educated at West Point, Gen. CURTIS always recognized the 
 claims of the Government upon him, and promptly resigned his 
 seat in Congress to take command of the second regiment raised 
 in Iowa for the defense of the Government against Southern 
 traitors. By rapid promotion he reached the rank of Major 
 General. In every stage of the conflict, and in all the trying 
 positions in which he was placed, he performed well his part, 
 retaining the affection of his troops and the confidence of the 
 President. In the terrible three days' conflict at Pea Ridge, he 
 managed his army with consummate skill, and achieved one of 
 the most brilliant victories of the war over a force double his 
 own in number, and commanded by veteran rebel officers. 
 
 Ripe in honors and in years, he falls in the performance of 
 public duties, with his harness on. The people of the State of 
 his adoption unite in a tribute to his memory. Their affection 
 is a living monument. 
 
 From the Chicago (Ills.) Tribune, Dec. 2S, 1S66. 
 
 In our telegrams of yesterday was announced the death of Maj. 
 Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, well known as the hero of Pea Ridge, 
 and since the close of the war, one of the Commissioners ap- 
 pointed by Government to inspect the several sections of the 
 Union Pacific Railroad and its branches. * * * * 
 
 A meeting of military officers was called, yesterday morning, 
 in the office of Hon. W. B. Scatcs, Collector of the Port of 
 Chicago, at which it was resolved to proceed to the ears and 
 escort the remains from the Wells street depot to the depot of 
 
23 
 
 the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, in the evening. The 
 gentlemen who assembled for the melancholy duty were General 
 L. P. Braclley, General M. R. M. Wallace, General. W. B. 
 Scates, General Erskine, General 0. L. Mann, Colonel Hayden, 
 Colonel D. G. Rush, and Dr. S. C. Blake. The remains were 
 taken out last evening for Keokuk, Iowa, attended by General 
 Simpson and Dr. White, on the part of the Government, and 
 Mr. Bent, of the Union Pacific Railroad, and Colonels Nutt and 
 Sapp, on the part of the citizens of Council Bluffs. 
 
 Prom the Chicago (Ills.) Journal, Dec. 28, 1866. 
 
 General Samuel R. Curtis, the sad tidings of whose sudden 
 death from apoplexy, at Council Bluffs, has already been an- 
 nounced, was one of the foremost men of Iowa. In the late 
 war he bore a conspicuous and always an honorable part. 
 Thousands of soldiers who served under him will mourn his loss. 
 
 SjC -I* *f? »TJ *r« *tC 5jC 5)C 
 
 In 1856, General Curtis was elected to Congre^, and in 
 1858, and again in 1860, he was re-elected. As a statesman, 
 he deserves to be remembered with gratitude by all, especially at 
 the West, for the services which he rendered in securing the pas- 
 sage of the Pacific Railroad act. It will be remembered by 
 many of our readers that he was President of the Pacific Rail- 
 road Convention, at Chicago, which may be said to have organ- 
 ized and inaugurated that work, of which he, more than any 
 living man, was the father. It was therefore most fit that he 
 should be, until the time of his death, Pacific Railroad Com- 
 missioner. 
 
 The record of General Curtis as a soldier in the late war was 
 specially honorable. Like his colleague, General Vandever, he 
 
•24 
 
 resigned his seat in Congress to help in crushing the slavehold- 
 ers' rebellion. He led to the field the first three yea^' regiment 
 raised in Iowa, and soon won the stars of a Major General. 
 The most important battle which he fought was perhaps that of! 
 Pea Ridge, Arkansas, in which General Price was routed. It 
 was one of the most decisive of any in the Southwest. On 
 other occasions General Curtis met Price, and always out- 
 generaled him. 
 
 The only attempt ever made to disparage his good name was 
 in connection with the cotton speculations which were carried on 
 to a certain extent in his department. But it is now conceded, 
 even by his enemies, that the General had no complicity what- 
 ever in that illicit traffic. On the contrary, he did what he could 
 to suppress it. 
 
 Iowa is not at all poor in great men, but in losing General 
 Curtis that State sustained an irreparable loss. Eminently 
 practical in his turn of mind, he rendered invaluable service 
 both as a civilian and as a soldier. 
 
 Meeting of Eagle and Hardin Lodges of A. P. & A. M. 
 
 Masonic Hall, Dec. 28, 1866. 
 At a special communication of Eagle and Hardin Lodges of 
 A. F. & A. M., it was resolved that both Lodges join in the 
 procession to attend the funeral services of Bro. Samuel R. 
 
 % TTl^TTQ, V % *fc h£ *£ ^ vfc 
 
 From the Keokuk (Iowa) Gate City, Dec. 2S, 1S66. 
 
 A large number of citizens met at 10 o'clock a. m. yesterday, 
 in the office of Gen. Belknap, to confer with reference to the 
 reception of the body of Gen. Curtis, and his burial. Gen. H. 
 
Ho 
 
 T. Reid was called to the Chair and S. M. Clark made Secretary. 
 Gen. ReiiJ. announced the death of Gen. Curtis, and the 
 object in meeting. After a general interchange of views, the 
 following Committee of Arrangements, with Gen. Reid, Chair- 
 man, was appointed on motion of Gen. Bridgman, viz : Gen. 
 H. T. Reid, Gen. A. Bridgman, Dr. J. C. Hughes, Col. S. M. 
 Archer, Gen. W. W. Belknap, Smith Hamill, Esq., and Col. J. 
 W. Rankin. 
 
 Gen. Reid notified the committee to meet at 2 p. M., at Gen. 
 Belknap's office. 
 
 On motion, adjourned. 
 
 H. T. KE1D, Chairman. 
 S. M. Clark, Secretary. 
 
 The Funeral of General Curtis. 
 
 The Committee appointed at a meeting of citizens, held at the 
 office of the Collector of Internal Revenue on Thursday, at 2 
 o'clock p. m., cidopted the following preamble and resolution, 
 on motion of Wm. W. Belknap. 
 
 In anticipation of the funeral of Major General Curtis occurring on 
 Sunday, December 30th, at 2 o'clock p. m. : 
 
 Resolved, That the Chairman of the Committee be requested to invite the 
 members of military organizations during the war, city authorities and 
 other civil officers, and the citizens generally, together with the Masonic, 
 Fire and other civic associations, members of the bar and medical profession, 
 and especially the members of the Second Iowa Volunteers, to attend the 
 funeral at the late residence of the deceased, on the corner of Second and 
 High streets, on Sunda}% at 2 p. m. All military organizations are requested 
 to meet at the Estes House, at 1V 2 o'clock p. m., with colors appropriately 
 draped, to proceed to the residence, from which point the procession will 
 move to the Episcopal Church, and thence to the Cemetery ; that a Major 
 General's salute of thirteen guns be fired as the procession moves from the 
 church to the grave ; that the bells be tolled during the same time, and that 
 D 
 
the flags of the city be displayed at half staff; that, in accordance with 
 their generous offer, the Knights Templar are requested to act as an escort 
 and body-guard for the reception and custody of the remains, and that a 
 Chief Marshal be appointed, with authority to select such aides as he may 
 deem necessary to carry out these arrangements. 
 
 On motion of Dr. Hughes, General D. B. Hillis was appointed Chief 
 Marshal, and Messrs. S. G. Bridges, Howard Tucker, and C. P. McCune, a 
 special Committee to make the necessary arrangements. 
 
 II. T, REID, Chairman. 
 
 Wm. W. Belknai-, Secretary. 
 
 In accordance with the foregoing resolution, all the military 
 and civic associations, the city authorities, and officers and citi- 
 zens generally, are requested to take part in the funeral ceremo- 
 nies of the late Major General Curtis. It is requested that the 
 flags of the city be displayed, draped in mourning, on the day of 
 the funeral. In case the remains should not arrive in time, the 
 funeral will be deferred until Monday, in which case notice will 
 be given in the papers on Sunday morning. 
 
 H. T. RED), Chairman. 
 
 From Keokuk (Iowa) Gate City, Dec. 29, 1S66. 
 
 We publish elsewhere a letter from Gen. Curtis, and one of 
 the last written by him. This gives the subject a mournful 
 interest [apart from the interesting character of the letter itself : 
 
 End of Pacific Railroad, Nebraska, Dec. 24, 1866. 
 Messrs. Editors : Having a leisure hour, I am inclined to 
 say a word to my neighbors of Keokuk concerning their Western 
 Railroad connections. I have traveled out West 645 miles by 
 rail, except two short stages, one 35 miles, from Des Moines to 
 Ames' Station, and another from St. Johns to Council Bluff's, 
 25 miles; and been at mid-winter, far out on the prairie, one 
 hundred miles beyond cultivated farms. I am at the very end 
 
27 
 
 of the last raiL It is not very cold and there is no snow, but 
 the ground is hard frozen and the men have " knocked off," laid 
 lo vn their tools, and further progress must await the softening 
 influences of spring. From this point it is about 300 miles to 
 Denver, and stages run daily, making the trip in less than three 
 days. In the meantime, great preparatory arrangements are 
 being made by the railroad company for pushing forward the 
 work in early spring, in confident hope of reaching the base of 
 the mountains next spring. 
 
 This is realizing all my hopes, and accomplishing wonders for 
 Iowa. It is connecting us with the mining region, and as we are 
 the nearest producers we must furnish the miners with supplies. 
 
 This railroad extension also draws through Iowa a great por- 
 tion of the overland travel, and emigrants to Oregon and Cali- 
 fornia will also take this route, and find in Iowa the most 
 convenient and economical supplies for their overland outfit. 
 
 But the greatest advantage to Iowa and all the Northwest, is 
 the extension of our Iowa system of railroads, and the develop- 
 ment of the country. All the several Iowa railroad lines are 
 now making earnest efforts to push their way through the State 
 to secure a share of the Pacific Railroad business. There is a 
 road being constructed from St. Joseph to Sioux City, running 
 along the Missouri Valley, which will connect all our Iowa roads 
 with the Pacific road, and fortunately for us, that Missouri Valley 
 road is in safe hands, well endowed with means, and sure to be 
 completed in a year or eighteen months. Our railroads may all, 
 therefore, soon find easy and close connections with the great 
 trunk which is designed in a few years to reach the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 The scarcity of timber in Western Iowa has delayed settle- 
 ments, and the vast region of the Northwest never could be 
 
developed without railroad facilities. The Pacific Railroad will 
 .attract so many lines through our prairies as to accommodate all 
 sections of our State, and secure the early cultivation of the 
 richest portion of our domain. Western Iowa is a rolling prairie 
 country, abounding in rich soil and clear streams o£ water. 
 Railroads crossing the coal fields of the Des Moines Valley will 
 carry out fuel at cheap rates, and lumber will come from the 
 forests of the Des Moines and Wisconsin and Minnesota for 
 fencing and houses. 
 
 The growth of groves of timber also exceeds all my expecta- 
 tions, and counties that thirteen years ago, when I first passed 
 through, seemed very destitute of even fuel, now show quite an 
 abundance of timber. 
 
 Campaigning and traveling around and over Iowa for years 
 past, possessing extraordinary opportunities to observe our own 
 and neighboring States, I am more than ever convinced of our 
 superior advantages and prospects, and rejoice in my home in 
 Iowa, on the banks of our bright and beautiful Mississippi. 
 
 S R. C. 
 
 Meeting of the Keokuk Bar. 
 
 At a meeting of the members of the Keokuk Bar, held at the 
 Court House in Keokuk on Saturday, the 29th inst., at 9 o'clock 
 A. M., on motion of Col. John W. Rankin, Hon. D. F. Miller 
 was called to the Chair, and Edward Mumm, Esq., was appointed 
 Secretary. 
 
 On taking the Chair, Mr. Miller said: 
 Gentlemen of the Keokuk Bar : 
 
 I suppose you all understand the object of this meeting. 
 General Samuel R. Curtis, late a member of this Bar, has 
 
29 
 
 recently deceased ; and the Committee of Arrangements, having 
 the funeral services of the illustrious deceased in charge, have 
 invited us in a body to attend the obsequies. 
 
 We all personally knew the deceased ; and we all esteemed 
 and loved him for his private virtues and social qualities. He 
 has gone, he has departed, and we shall know him no more in 
 earth life. But he has left a fame behind him which is im- 
 mortal. As a member of this bar, he adorned it with his genial 
 disposition and conduct, and dignified it with his learning and 
 abilities. As a civil engineer, (for his learning was very exten- 
 sive,) let that performance of his, by which he turned the chan- 
 nel of the Mississippi and saved the harbor of St. Louis, attest 
 to his greatness in that department of science. As a patriot, 
 let his military services in Mexico, and in the rebellion, declare 
 his best eulogium. As a General, his victory at Pea Ridge, 
 fought with consummate strategy and ability, and which virtually 
 annihilated rebellion in the States of Arkansas and Missouri, 
 has consecrated his fame and embalmed his name in American 
 history. 
 
 Indeed, a great man has fallen ! and it much concerns us as 
 surviving members of the Keokuk Bar, that we unite with the 
 rest of the citizens of Keokuk, in doing appropriate honors to 
 | the memory of the distinguished dead. 
 
 After the remarks of the Chairman, on motion, the following 
 gentlemen, to-wit : Col. J. W. Rankin, John H. Craig, Esq., 
 R. H. Gillmore, Esq., H. Scott Howell, Esq., and H. B. Ten- 
 Eyck, Esq., were appointed a Committee to draft resolutions ex- 
 pressive of the feeling of the Keokuk Bar upon the death of 
 their deceased brother, Gen. Samuel R. Curtis ; whereupon the 
 
 II I II IIIII I MIIIIIII II I I IIIII I II ^-*«~^«E^=sg 
 
■ 
 
 committee retired, and after a short time reported the following 
 resolutions, which were unanimously adopted: 
 
 1. With profound regret we have heard of the death of Major-General S. 
 It. Curtis. 
 
 2. General Curtis was an honor to his profession while lie was a member, 
 lie served the General Government without reproach, and with especial 
 honor — in the war with Mexico, and in the great rebellion of the 19th 
 century he exhibited a pure patriotism which his brethren of the Bar pre- 
 sent as a spectacle of personal and national devotion. 
 
 3. General Curtis died on duty ; therefore, we recommend his life and 
 example to the young men of the West, pioneers and adopted citizens, and 
 say to them, one and all, "go and do as he did" in his life, and enjoy the 
 honors of the dead. 
 
 4. In his sudden death, we have lost a true and noble friend, society has 
 lost a most liberal contributor to its usefulness, humanity has lost a bene- 
 factor, and our entire community has lost one of the very best supporters of 
 its advancement, its progress and its true civilization. 
 
 5. The members of the bar tender their condolence and heartfelt sym- 
 pathy to the members of the family. 
 
 6. They will attend the funeral in a body. 
 
 7. They will wear the badge expressive of mourning for thirty days. 
 On motion, the following gentlemen were appointed to present 
 
 a copy of the proceedings of this meeting to the City Council 
 of Keokuk, and to the United States and State Courts of the 
 State of Iowa, and ask that the same be spread upon their re- 
 spective journals, to-wit: City Council of Keokuk, George W. 
 McCrary, Esq.; Circuit Court of the United States, Hon. D. F. 
 Miller; District Court of the United States, S. T. Marshall, 
 Esq.; Supreme Court of Iowa, Col. J. W. Rankin; District 
 Court, 1st Judicial District of Iowa, R. H. Gillmore, Esq. 
 
 II. Scott Howell, J. W. Rankin, D. Mooar, and Gibson Browne, 
 Esqrs., delivered eloquent speeches eulogistic of the character of 
 the deceased. 
 
 On motion, the following gentlemen, to-wit: D. Mooar, Erie 
 J. Leech, and Gibson Browne, Esqrs., were appointed a Com- 
 
31 
 
 mittee to present a copy of the proceedings of this meeting, in 
 manuscript, signed by its officers, to the widow and family of the 
 deceased. 
 
 On motion of George W. McCrary, Esq., it was voted that 
 the Secretary furnish a copy of the proceedings of this meeting, 
 for publication in each of the city papers, to-morrow morning. 
 
 On motion, the meeting adjourned. 
 
 DANIEL F. MILLER, Chairman. 
 Edward Mumm, Secretary. 
 
 Keokuk, December 29th, 1866. 
 
 Address of Geo. W. McCrary to the City Council of Keokuk, 
 Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen of the City Council : 
 
 I have been directed by the members of the Bar of this city to 
 present to you the proceedings of their meeting, held on the 
 29th ultimo, with reference to the death of our late honored 
 ! and distinguished fellow-citizen, Major-General Samuel R. 
 Curtis, and to ask you to place upon your records the resolu- 
 tions adopted by them, as a feeble tribute of respect to the 
 memory of the illustrious deceased, who, I need hardly assure 
 you, was held by every member of our profession in the highest 
 esteem and respect as a friend, as a neighbor, as a citizen, as a 
 statesman, as a soldier and a General, and as an honored, up- 
 right and most exemplary member of the legal fraternity. It 
 were useless for me to dwell at length upon the life and character 
 of Gen. Curtis, especially in addressing you who knew him so 
 intimately and esteemed him so highly for many years. Suffice 
 it to say, that he lived a lung life of uprightness and usefulness, 
 a life characterized by sterling honesty, by a high sense of jus- 
 
ticc. and a strict regard for the rights of all — a life full of good 
 deeds — of noble aims and generous impulses. Few men have 
 had fewer enemies. Indeed, I know not that in passing on he 
 left a single personal enemy behind, and this is the more wonderful 
 when we remember the stormy scenes of his life, and especially 
 the many bitter contests of the last ten years in which he was so 
 prominent an actor. We can account for it only by remember- 
 ing his uniform courtesy and kindness towards his opponents — the 
 fact that he never gave them cause for offense, and was always 
 ready to forget injuries, and to forgive those who offended him. 
 In looking at his private character, we may, I think, truly say 
 that he was a good man, and we may well commend his life as an 
 example to be studied and imitated. Gen. Curtis was in the 
 best sense a great man. There are those who excel in some one 
 department of life, but who are unfitted for the duties of any 
 other, and there are those who fill with honor and success the 
 varied duties of all the relations they are called to sustain. Of 
 the latter class was our lamented friend, Gen. Curtis. Like 
 the father of his country, he was equally distinguished in war 
 and in peace. 
 
 Gen. Curtis filled many and various positions of honor and 
 trust among his countrymen, and in every one of them he greatly 
 distinguished himself. At the Military Academy at West Point 
 he was among the first students, and graduated with distin- 
 guished honors. At the Bar he was successful, and occupied a 
 position of prominence, and enjoyed a reputation for integrity 
 and ability which any of his brethren who remain behind him 
 may be happy to attain. As a Civil Engineer, he was justly cel- 
 ebrated ; and some of his successful labors in this department, at 
 St. Louis and elsewhere, will remain a monument to honor his 
 memorv in acres to come. As a General, he is best known to 
 
the country and the world. The history of his military achieve- 
 ments is a part of the history of our country, and as time passes 
 on and the real truth of history comes to be known, he will be 
 more and more appreciated and honored for his services to his 
 country, to humanity, to constitutional freedom and human 
 liberty. 
 
 As a statesman he was one of the first men in the Congress of 
 this great nation. Though elected as a partisan, he gave his 
 chief attention to measures calculated to develop the resources 
 of our great country, and especially the West, and he may, in- 
 deed, be justly styled the champion of that greatest work of 
 internal improvement known among men — the Pacific Railroad. 
 
 He was especially interested in the prosperity of his beloved 
 Iowa, and of this the city of his home, and one of the last 
 letters he ever wrote was dated at the farthest extremity of the 
 completed part of the Pacific Railroad, and was filled with indi- 
 cations of his anxious desire for our prosperity. His death is 
 indeed a bereavement to us all ; to the nation which he served 
 so bravely and so well ; to the State which he loved so much ; 
 to the city of his home ; to the soldiers whom he led to glory 
 and to victory ; to each and all of us as his friends and neigh- 
 bors, and above all, to the stricken widow and family of the 
 deceased, to whom let our sympathy, deep, strong and earnest, 
 be tendered, as some poor consolation in this, the time of their 
 great sorrow. 
 
 Jan. 14, 1867. 
 
 Kcinarks of R. II. ( i!!moiT, Esq. 
 
 At the February term of the District Court of Lee county, 
 
 E 
 
Iowa, at Keokuk, in accordance with resolutions of the bar, Mr. 
 Gillmore arose and said : 
 
 That bis relations toward the deceased made him hesitate 
 to say all that his feelings prompted and that lie might truth- 
 fully say concerning the subject of the resolutions. General 
 Curtis had lived among us long, and was intimately known by 
 our people. His affability rendered him approachable by all, and 
 few men were more generally beloved. His private character 
 was stainless ; he was uncontaminated by a single vice ; he was 
 beyond and above suspicion in this regard. The example of his 
 life was his most valuable bequest to the community in which 
 he lived. 
 
 As a statesman, his position, too, always reflected honor on 
 the State of Iowa. He was the father of the Pacific Railroad. 
 In Congress he was the originator of the measure, and its able 
 and persistent supporter so long as he remained a member. He 
 lived to witness the actual prosecution of the work ; to see it 
 stretching itself westward at the rate of a mile per day. The 
 last labor of his life was an examination of a completed section 
 of the road, then running more than three hundred miles into the 
 heart of the wilderness. 
 
 Gen. Curtis was especially prominent as a patriot and soldier. 
 Perhaps his fellow citizens who knew best his goodness and gen- 
 tleness may not be most appreciative of his heroic qualities, and 
 yet none can doubt the position which history will give him. 
 
 "When the rebellion broke out, he did not^hesitate for a moment 
 as to his course. Patriotism to him, was instinctive. Every 
 fibre of his organism thrilled with loyalty. When the President 
 was beleaguered in the Capitol of the nation, and treason held 
 every avenue of approach, he hastened to New York, enrolled 
 himself with the glorious Seventh regiment, went to Annapolis 
 
35 
 
 by sea, and thence, "with his handful of braves, marched on foot 
 across Maryland, and, covered with dust, and travel-stained, 
 drew up for review before the Presidential Mansion. It seems to 
 me that it must have been the proudest moment of his life. If 
 not so to him, it certainly was an event which we, his fellow 
 citizens, the members of the Bar, among which his name is 
 enrolled, may regard with unmixed admiration. History has no 
 examples of patriotism more devoted, more simple and unselfish, 
 or more sublime. If the painter shall one of these days desire 
 to depict the brightest spot in the darkest hour of the rebellion 
 he may find it here. 
 
 I cannot follow him through his military career. Nor is it 
 necessary to recapitulate what we all so well know. We all 
 remember vividly how untiringly he, as Colonel of the Second 
 regiment, acted as drill master on our bluffs ; how his prompt 
 action saved Missouri, and, best of all, how his star rose in the 
 ascendant at Pea Ridge. Few battles of the war show such a 
 disparity of forces, and such decided success on the part of the 
 smaller army. Van Dorn, with 25,000 men, offered battle. 
 Curtis, with 10,000, accepted the issue. The battle raged for 
 two days, when the enemy, demoralized and routed, fled precipi- 
 tately. Nor did the rebellion in the Southwest ever recover from 
 the stunning blow it received at Pea Ridge. 
 
 Gen. Curtis died in the prime and vigor of his manhood. 
 Many apparent years of usefulness and happiness were before 
 him. Rut he is gone from among us — 
 
 " He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle, 
 No sound shall awake him to glory again." 
 
,., ..— . 1WW lu , JfJ 
 
 Remarks of 8. T. Marshall. Esq., 
 
 At the March term of the U. S. District Court, at Keokuk, 
 presented the resolutions of the bar with the following remarks : 
 
 On presenting these resolutions, it may not be out of place to 
 speak of the acts and public services of the deceased. His 
 fame, however, is not confined to our city or State, it is national. 
 
 As a citizen, Gen CURTIS was justly respected ; as a husband, 
 beloved, and as a father, venerated. In these three relations in 
 life he enjoyed that olium cum dig?->itate which the good in 
 all ages strive to attain. 
 
 Although his whole life was devoted to the public, he was not 
 unmindful of those domestic relations which so endeared him to 
 his family and neighbors and friends. 
 
 As a lawyer, he was successful and popular, never forgetting 
 those endearing and manly courtesies of the profession, and in 
 fact his open suavctar in modo made him the idol of the bar. 
 For his deep learning and critical knowledge of the law, the 
 General was greatly indebted to his elder brother, Hosmer Curtis, 
 Esq., who has sustained an enviable reputation for near fifty 
 years as a jurist, a man, and a scholar. He, too, has lived among 
 us for many years, and, although much older than the General, 
 he travels the down-hill of life, with a pleasant countenance, 
 adding dignity and example to every step as he approaches 
 the end. 
 
 As an Engineer. General Curtis deservedly stood at the head 
 of his profession, and the great West shows many monuments of 
 his scientific skill in this department, and it is believed that the 
 great city of St. Louis owes her preservation to his efforts as 
 Engineer. His services will not be forgottoD on the Des Moines 
 improvement in our own State. 
 
37 
 
 As a General, he was brave, patriotic and commanding. 
 Having received an early military education, he always showed 
 a martial hearing. Portly in person, his very appearance com- 
 manded respect and pointed him out as a leader, and his military 
 record in Mexico and in the late rebellion will be written — 
 " here is one American General who never lost a battle." Gen. 
 Curtis was from very right and justice entitled to be Secretary 
 of War ; and nothing but his extreme diffidence and natural 
 modesty kept him from that office. The results of his great 
 victoiy of Pea Ridge crushed the very life out of rebellion in 
 the Southwest, and was almost as decisive in favor of the Gov- 
 ernment as was the battle of Pharsalia in favor of the great 
 Roman. 
 
 It was soon acknowledged that where severity was required, no 
 man was more moderate ; and where mildness was necessary that 
 no man maintained his dignity better. In the late rebellion, as 
 Military Governor and as General, his envied authority (to 
 wdiich had been given the name of tyranny) soon appeared to be 
 the bulwark of the State. He drew, as it were, the Northwest 
 from an abyss of misery and raised it to happiness and peace. 
 The great secret of his success was justice, so tempered with 
 mercy, that he overawed the vicious and secured the good will 
 even of the foe and commanded his respect. He was the man of 
 all others to negotiate a treaty with the enemy ; his manner was 
 free from duplicity, and his charity was proverbial. He was the 
 American Pericles, without his ambition — save to do right — in 
 this he was ambitious. He was perhaps the only true knight in 
 the American Army in military etiquette, and was called the 
 Alcibiades of modern times in person and address, without any of 
 his extravagance or vices. And notwithstanding the deadly feel- 
 ing existing between the combatants, and general antagonism of 
 

 
 the times, he acquitted himself with such address that his enemies 
 were disarmed o£ their wrath, and a social feeling sprang up which 
 produced good to the country. It has been said by many that 
 General Curtis died without an enemy. 
 
 As a statesman, General Curtis lias left an enviable reputa- 
 tion. Pie is styled the Father of the great Pacific Railway, to 
 which he is most justly entitled. His whole heart was given to 
 the project, and with untiring exertions did he prosecute it till 
 success crowned his efforts. He was always a favorite of the people; 
 he was the great Republican of Iowa, yet many of the opposi- 
 tion supported him for Congress ; and indeed the writer of this 
 (though a Democrat) always was a great admirer of General 
 Curtis. 
 
 He was appropriately called the Cincinnatus of our Republic. 
 Like him he gave his seat in Congress for a soldier's tent ; his 
 velvet carpets and downy bed for a saddle and a war horse, nor 
 did he disappoint his government in expectations. 
 
 The sudden death of General Curtis has thrown a gloom over 
 the State, that will long be remembered. He died in the very 
 midst of his fame and usefulness. He leaves a most amiable wife 
 and interesting family, and is deeply regretted by a whole people. 
 He deserves well of his country, of which it will not be unmindful. 
 
 I'roreedingrs of (he Kcokuli City Council. 
 
 Council Rooms, Dec. 29, 1866. 
 
 Present, the Mayor, and Aldermen Gillmore, Leisy. Mumm 
 and Seat-on. 
 
 The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. 
 
 The Mayor stated that the object of this called meeting was 
 to take into consideration the most appropriate manner of rcn- 
 
39 
 
 dering to our deceased distinguished fellow-townsman, General 
 Samuel R. Curtis, that respect which is due to his memory. 
 
 After some remarks by members of the Board in eulogy of the 
 valuable public services and great personal worth of the de- 
 ceased, Alderman Mumm moved that a committee of three be 
 appointed to draft suitable resolutions for the occasion; said 
 resolutions to be published in both the daily papers, and a copy 
 to be sent to the family of the deceased. Also, that all officers 
 of the city government be requested to assemble at the Council 
 Rooms at 12 M., on Monday next, and from thence to proceed in a 
 body to attend the funeral of the late Gen. Samuel R. Curtis. 
 Motion carried. 
 
 The Mayor appointed the following committee on resolutions: 
 Aldermen Mumm, Gillmore and Seaton. 
 The committee reported as follows : 
 
 Whereas, It has pleased the Almighty Disposer of events to remove 
 from our midst Major General Samuel R. Curtis ; 
 
 Resolved, That while we deplore in his loss, the deprivation sustained by 
 our whole country, of one of whom we had reason to be proud wherever 
 the country had occasion for his services, whether as soldier, statesman or 
 patriot ; that as a community we have suffered an especial calamity in the 
 loss of a citizen, who, in addition to all his great and shining qualities, 
 afforded us the example of a life entirely pure, a character unspotted by any 
 vice and a heart kind and benevolent towards all whom he encountered in 
 the daily walks of life. 
 
 Resolved, That our citv and State have lost by his death a citizen who 
 has been always intimately connected with their material progress, and 
 whose ability and influence have always been exerted for their benefit, and 
 were especially needed at the present time. 
 
 Resolved, That we tender to his afflicted family our earnest sympathy in 
 this sad bereavement. 
 
 The report of the committee was received and adopted. 
 Council adjourned. 
 
 E. WELCHMAN, Clerk. 
 
 L 
 
' • ..-.■■ i -iii,Yn.f.'.T, l -~-i ~ . - 
 
 40 
 From the Kcoliuh (Iowa) Constitution, Dee. :totlt. isr.i;. 
 
 The remains of General CURTIS arrived in this city Saturday 
 afternoon, accompanied by several friends of the deceased. 
 They vert met on their arrival at the landing on the Illinois side 
 of the river by the Sir Knights of the Masonic Order, dressed 
 in regalia, and other citizens, and escorted to the family dwelling 
 of the deceased, "where they will remain until to-morrow, when 
 the funeral and burial will take place at the appointed time. 
 
 We learn from a gentleman who w r as present when the General 
 died, that he and others had just previously walked across the 
 Missouri river and gotten into a carriage to ride to Council 
 Bluffs, the General being in his usual good health and spirits, 
 but died in the carriage without a moment's warning, or a strug- 
 gle. His sudden death is attributed to an affection of the heart, 
 and not apoplexy, as heretofore stated. 
 
 
 Order of the Procession for the Buria! of Major General <urlis. 
 
 The procession for the burial of Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis 
 will be formed on Main street, on Monday, the 31st inst., at 12 
 o'clock precisely, in the following order, with the right of the 
 column resting on Fifth street, facing Fourth : 
 
 1. Military Band. 
 
 2. Knights Templar. 
 
 3. Hearse with Pall-Bearers. 
 
 4. Horse of the General, led by his Orderly. 
 
 5. Family (will join procession at residence.) 
 (!. Second Iowa Infantry. 
 
 7. Masons, in their order. 
 
 8. Military Organizations (Infantry first.) 
 
 9. Young America Fire Company. 
 
 m^..!— ■inwMiLiiiiiiuijm. : . . - 7"" ■. ,'■■.■ j'..m.j , ., ■.TT-r ;=rs r.sj"i-'i I I , mi l l I e— — 
 
41 
 
 10. Other Fire Companies. 
 
 11. Major and Council, (in carriages.) 
 
 12. Members of the Bar, (in carriages.) 
 
 13. Clergy, (in carriages.) 
 
 14. Members of the Medical Procession, (in carriages.) 
 
 15. Other Associations. 
 
 16. Citizens, (in carriages.) 
 
 17. Citizens, (on horses.) 
 
 18. Citizens, (on foot.) 
 
 All of the above organizations are invited to attend. 
 
 The procession, having been formed as above, will proceed to 
 the residence of the deceased, through the following streets, viz : 
 Down Main to Fourth, up Fourth to Concert, down Concert to 
 Second, and up that street to the residence, — where it will be 
 halted — with the right of the column resting on High street, 
 facing Third. From the residence the procession will proceed 
 to the Chatham M. E. Church, by the way of the following 
 streets, viz: Up High to Third, down Third to Main, out Main 
 to Seventh, and up Seventh to the church, where it will be halted, 
 with the right on Morgan street, facing Fifth. 
 
 After the conclusion of the services at the church, the proces- 
 sion will proceed to the Cemetery, via the following streets, viz : 
 Down Morgan to Fifth, down Fifth to Main, and thence by the 
 usual route. 
 
 Having arrived at the Cemetery, the burial services will be 
 conducted by the Knights Templar. 
 
 The following time will be observed in firing the salute : The 
 fir-t gun will be fired when the procession begins to move from 
 the church, and the firi'g will then be repeated every three 
 minutes, till the whole number are fired. 
 
 It is hoped and requested that the various organizations, and 
 
all of the carriages, will be at the designated place promptly at 
 the hour for forming, and that the citizens will render all the 
 aid they can in carrying out the above programme. 
 
 Col. S. M. Archer, Capt. Israel Anderson, and Henry Teble- 
 man, Esq., are requested to act as Assistant Marshals. 
 
 D. B. HILLIS, Marshal. 
 
 Extract from the Remarks of the Rev. Mr. Woods at the Funeral of Gen. Curtis. 
 
 [The address of the Rev. Mr. Woods was extemporaneous, an 1 no copy of 
 it could be had. The following is as near a copy as memory can reproduce.] 
 
 I icas dumb, I opened not my mouth : because tJwu didst it. 
 
 — Psalm xxxix : 9. 
 
 The recognition of God's hand in all the events of life is the 
 foundation of religion, and the ancients had this tendency in a 
 far greater degree than the moderns. The disposition which 
 prevails now is a proneness to scrutinize second causes and in- 
 termediate agencies, and to stop with them, and not to ascend 
 to Him who sitteth beyond the veil of visible things, and reve- 
 -rently to refer events to His guiding and controlling will. 
 
 But there are times when we must recognize the action of Him 
 in whose hand our breath is. To speak of one such when He 
 touches the inner shrine, where the flame of life is nourished ; 
 when he puts forth his hand and feels amid the heart-strings and 
 snaps the silver cord, or lays his finger on the brain, the home 
 of thought, and extinguishes the vital spark. Then we are 
 roused from that obliviousness of God which constant contact 
 with sensible objects is so apt to foster, and we realize that lie 
 is a God at hand, and not afar off. 
 
 The event we are met to signalize is of that kind. He whose 
 fall we so deeply feel, over whose bier we mingle our tears, was 
 
43 
 
 suddenly removed, and while science seems baffled in assigning 
 the secondary cause which produced his death, we must look up 
 with awe and reverence, and refer his removal to God, and we 
 are constrained to imitate the psalmist, and say : " I was dumb, 
 I opened not my mouth : because thou didst it." 
 
 1st. We open not our mouth in the spirit of complaining. 
 To justify our complaint we should be able to say that God had 
 injured us, and taken from us something which belonged to us. 
 But the fact is all souls are His, and He orders the circumstances 
 under Avhich souls come into this world and the time of their 
 stay, and the period of their departure. We often regard 
 fathers and children, sisters and brothers, as ours, and so in a 
 sense they are in virtue of temporary relations, which God has 
 ordained, with the warning that they must soon be dissolved ; 
 but they are His by a complete ownership which rests on creation 
 and preservation. Surely then, when He resumes His own, we 
 cannot open our mouths in the way of complaining. 
 
 2d. We cannot open our mouths in the way of remonstrance. 
 To warrant this we must have some reason for thinking that the 
 Lord has marred some worthy design and spoiled some plan 
 which deserved to be completed. 
 
 But what are our plans? Defective throughout. What is 
 our foresight? Limited and erroneous. What are our expecta- 
 tions? Illusory and unwarranted. But God's plans are far- 
 reaching, and adjusted in wisdom and goodness, and though 
 some of his dealings may be shaded with the deepest mystery to 
 us now, yet we may be assured that when they are read in the 
 light of eternity we shall see love, wisdom and rectitude shining 
 in every part of them, and we shall discover no point where we 
 could suggest an alteration. We shall discern his goodness as 
 plainly in those events which now shade our hearts with grief as 
 
f 
 
 in those -which, cheer us with present joy. It behooves us then 
 to acquiesce fully in this dispensation or! Heaven. But while 
 we do so we may estimate our loss in this event, and each one 
 who knew the departed can do so for himself better than I can 
 do it for him. 
 
 Citizens! you know" how worthy this man was of your warm 
 affections and your exalted regard. The many faces which are 
 clouded w r ith sorrow to-day, show that in his intercourse with his 
 fellow r citizens his noble qualities established a claim on their 
 hearts which they spontaneously confess, and that his memory 
 will be enshrined imperishably there. 
 
 Soldiers ! in that coffin lie the inanimate remains of him in 
 whom you recognized all the qualities which adorn the soldier, 
 and whose renown shed lustre on those who shared with him the 
 perils of the field and the toils and privations of the campaign. 
 
 And ye of his household! you saw him in those nameless and 
 countless transactions which fill up the outlines of life — saw him 
 in those hours when the last remnants of reserve were thrown 
 off and the heart beat freely, and therefore in addition to those 
 characteristics which elicited the admiration of others, you s:iw 
 the gentle, tender qualities which evoked the most devoted love, 
 and you found an object around which the heart's tendrils could 
 cling with increasing tenacity. But I must not desecrate your 
 sorrow by any attempt here to characterize it. Let me pray 
 that He who has removed the earthly object of your love may 
 become the Heavenly centre of affection to you all, and that He 
 may so lift the light of his countenance upon you as to cheer 
 you in this desolating bereavement. 
 
Major General Samuel R. Curtis* 
 
 BY JOHN H. CRAIG. 
 
 The moments of the dying year 
 
 Were sadly waning to a close ; 
 The hero lay upon his bier, 
 
 In death's serene and deep repose. 
 Life's sacred duties nobly done, 
 His high career of glory run, 
 Had filled the measure of his fame, 
 And on the shining scroll of honor set his name. 
 
 His fearless heart, that dauntless led 
 
 The front of battle, now was still; 
 And bowed in death th3 lofty head 
 
 That bowed to none but Heaven's will. 
 His words of high command no more 
 Shall mingle with the crash of war ; 
 Nor duty's voice, nor glory, call 
 Him to the fields where heroes for their country fall. 
 
 His sword, undrawn, beside him lay ; 
 
 His hands were folded on his breast ; 
 And mute around his lifeless clay 
 
 Stood those that knew and loved him best; 
 The hearse was waiting at the gate ; 
 Within, his house was desolate ; 
 And through the land afar and near, 
 The nation mourned for him who pressed the warrior's bier. 
 
 The echoes of the minute gun, 
 
 The rollings of the funeral bell, 
 On saddened hearts that felt as one, 
 
 Like strokes and shocks of sorrow fell. 
 Through streets arrayed in funeral gloom, 
 With banners draped, and muffled drum, 
 And ladened hearts, and solemn tread, 
 They bore him to the silent city of the dead. 
 
 maassaataasasassa 
 
46 
 
 Beneath the bleak and wintry skies, 
 
 Upon the earth's cold frozen breast, 
 With mourn fill hearts, and swimming eyes, 
 
 They laid the warrior down to rest- 
 In tones subdued they sadly said 
 The burial service o'er his head, 
 And left him sleeping in the grave, 
 Wrapt in the still and solemn fame that shrouds the brave. 
 
 When the rebellious South arose, 
 
 And, in her pride of power, hurled 
 Her challenge in the face of those 
 
 Who kept in trust for all the world, 
 The great Republic of the tree — 
 The hope and pledge of Liberty — 
 He left the place of peace, and chose 
 The post of death between his country and her foes. 
 
 Far in a Southern frontier wild, 
 
 Of tangled brakes and wooded steeps — 
 Where many a heart in death was chilled, 
 
 And many a nameless hero sleeps — 
 From morning light till evening shade, 
 While crossed was many a bloody blade, 
 His spirit ruled the battle-storm 
 That swept and swayed the forest shade in fierce alarm. 
 
 From dawn again, till darkness hid 
 
 The ghastly battle-field at night, 
 His sword, like lightning, hashed amid 
 
 The thunders of that stormy fight ; 
 And when at last the hero stood 
 Victorious on that field of blood, 
 And, like the light, the foe had fled, 
 Immortal Fame stooped from the stars and crowned his head. 
 
 He kept his trust of high command, 
 
 With faith and valor to the last, 
 Till peace was purchased for the land, 
 
 And treason's hour of pride was past. 
 Our homes to save, he fought and won, 
 While grief and death were in his own ; 
 Nor paused his fallen son to mourn, 
 Until a rescued land rejoiced at Peace' return. 
 
au»uimi.B«mwnn 
 
 47 
 
 The iron-way that yet shall bind 
 
 The Eastern to the Western sea 
 Will bear the impress of his mind 
 
 And his proud monument shall be — 
 But ah ! though history writes his name 
 On the enduring roll's of fame 
 His silent grave and darkened hearth, 
 In sadness seem to say : " It is the end of earth." 
 
 The end of earth ; and can it be 
 The good and brave can ever die ? 
 
 The end of earth for such as he ! 
 The very graves in which they lie 
 
 Are hallowed spots and holy shrines, 
 
 Where fame immortal burns and shines ; 
 
 Whei-e Time shall come, and with him bring 
 Earth's gratitude and homage as an offering. 
 
 A high example never dies ; 
 
 Heroic actions perish not ; 
 Triumphant o'er the tomb they rise, 
 
 Potent, endurable as thought — 
 The brave live in their deeds again, 
 Their fame dwells on the lips of men 
 Forever, and their names sublime 
 Are lofty inspirations to all coming time. 
 
 From the Keokuk (Iowa) Gate City, Jan. 1, 1807. 
 
 Yesterday the last sad rites were paid to the honored dead. 
 The day opened brightly enough, but grew clouded early, and a 
 bleak, cold wind swept the streets, making the day one of the 
 most disagreeable of the season. The procession formed shortly 
 after twelve o'clock on Main and Fifth streets, and moved to 
 the residence of the deceased. The order was as nearly as prac- 
 ticable that heretofore announced. First, the Military band, 
 with a music to which in life the gallant dead had been so used. 
 
48 
 
 Then the various societies of Odd Fellows ; the Knights Temp- 
 lar ; the hearse, with the pall-bearers ; the horse of the General, 
 led by his Orderly; the family of the deceased : Masonic bodies; 
 Military organizations ; the Fire Companies ; Mayorand Council; 
 members of the various professions, and citizens. 
 
 From the residence the procession moved up High to Third, 
 down Third to Main, up Main to Seventh, up Seventh to the 
 Chatham Square Church, where it halted and where the funeral 
 services took place. Chatham Square Church was densely fdled 
 with people. The solemn and impressive Burial Service of the 
 Episcopal Church was performed by Rev. II. W. Woods, of St. 
 John's Church. Then he delivered a brief address, making fit 
 utterance of the teachings of the hour and the event. 
 
 This concluded, the remaining rites devolved upon the Knights 
 Templar. Of this Order there was the full Encampment here, 
 and several from abroad. Their funeral service was an impres- 
 sive close to the impressive services preceding. The rites of the 
 Church were joined with those of one of the Establishments of 
 Humanity ; each centuries old, and each after its solemn manner, 
 expressing the suggestive lessons of mortality gathered from 
 those centuries, and expressing the soul's hope as well ; herein 
 Faith and Charity agree ; whether it be Church or the Order of 
 Humanity, they stand at the grave with like convictions and like 
 hopes. 
 
 From the Church, after the conclusion of the services there, 
 the procession moved to Fifth, thence to Main, and out Main to 
 the Cemetery. There was an immense procession, that would 
 have been much larger but for the intolerably cold weather. 
 Noticeable in the ranks, were the Blue coats of those veterans of 
 the war for the Union, who thus honored one whose patriotism 
 was a controlling element of his life, and under whose gallant 
 
49 
 
 and consummate generalship, many of them had marched to hard- 
 won and glorious victories over the enemies of the Government. 
 Minute guns were fired during the afternoon. At the grave, as 
 announced, where a large crowd assembled, the closing ceremo- 
 nies were conducted by the Knights Templar. Near by where, 
 since the war began, in which he did so early and continued and 
 valuable service, he had laid a gifted and lovely daughter, and a 
 brave son, whose meritorious service had awakened the admira- 
 tion of our people, as his untimely and lamented death had 
 excited their profoundest sorrow and sympathy — near by these 
 was he laid, third bitterest loss of a so grievously suffering mother 
 and widow. 
 
 Then the crowd came away, and to the stillness of the Ceme- 
 tery was left the mortal remains of the State's ablest General, 
 and one of the country's noblest sons. 
 
 The business houses were all closed, and business was suspended 
 during the afternoon. Main street and many private residences 
 were hung with flags appropriately draped. The hearse was 
 decked with the American flag, draped with mourning ; it was 
 drawn by four splendid black horses. The city omitted nothing 
 to show her great estimation of the distinguished dead, her pro- 
 found regret and sorrow at his death, and her sympathy with the 
 afflicted family and relatives. 
 
 From the Cleveland (Ohio) Herald. 
 
 We made mention of the sudden death of Major General Curtis 
 at Council Bluffs. The remains were taken to Keokuk for inter- 
 ment, receiving at Chicago, and other places along the route," the 
 respect due the distinguished dead. 
 G 
 
f 
 
 Keokuk went into universal mourning over the death of one of 
 the most respected of its citizens. The members of the Bar 
 noticed the event with becoming respect, and in a short eulogy a 
 prominent lawyer of that Bar said of General Curtis: "As a 
 member cf this bar he adorned it with his genial disposition and 
 conduct and dignified it with his learning and ability. As a 
 civil engineer (for his learning was very extensive) let that per- 
 formance of his, by which he turned the channel of the Missis- 
 sippi, and saved the harbor of St. Louis, attest to his greatness 
 in that department of science. As a patriot, let his military 
 services in Mexico, and in the rebellion, declare his best eulo- 
 gium." The funeral of General Curtis was a day of great 
 solemnity and sadness in Keokuk. Flags were hung at half 
 mast ; business suspended, and every outward possible token of 
 heartfelt regard was shown. He was buried with Masonic honors, 
 and the ceremonies of the Episcopal Church, and the procession 
 marched to the grave amid the tolling of the bells of the city, and 
 the firing of minute guns. 
 
 From the St. Louis, (Mo.,) Republican. 
 
 The funeral of the late Maj, Gen. Samuel R. Curtis took 
 place at Keokuk, Dec 31st. Business throughout the city was 
 suspended, public and private houses were draped in mourning, 
 flags were at half-mast, and minute guns were fired as the 
 immense funeral cortege moved to the cemetery. The procession 
 was composed of all the civil and military organizations of the 
 place, and was the largest funeral ever seen there. The very 
 impressive funeral service of the Knights Templar was performed 
 at the grave. 
 
51 
 
 From the Keokuk (Iowa) Constitution, Jan. 2d, 1867. 
 
 The funeral obsequies o£ : Major General Samuel R. Curtis 
 took place on Monday afternoon, and was an imposing and solemn 
 occasion. Early in the forenoon flags were draped in mourning 
 and suspended at half-smast from most of the business houses on. 
 Main street; bells were tolled, .and other exhibitions of respect 
 manifested for the illustrious dead. The countenances of our 
 citizens, as they passed along the streets, wore a melancholy 
 sadness that showed plainly they realized the fact that not only 
 had a great man fallen, but that our city had lost one of its most 
 exemplary citizens. As a soldier, statesman and patriot, Keokuk 
 had reason to be proud of General Curtis, and in his death, 
 certainly had cause to mourn. 
 
 At 1 o'cloek p. M., the procession formed according to the 
 programme laid down in Sunday morning's Constitution, and 
 passed down Main street to Fourth ; up Fourth to Concert ; down 
 Concert to Second, and thence to the residence. Here the pro- 
 cession halted till the corpse was placed in the hearse, which was 
 draped in mourning, with the American colors tastefully festooned 
 on either side with black bows, and was drawn by four black 
 steeds, whose harness was trimmed out in mourning, and then 
 resumed its march out High street to Third ; down Third to 
 Main ; out Main to Seventh, and up Seventh to Chatham Square 
 M. E. Church, where it rested. The services at the Church were 
 of a most impressive character, being conducted by the Rev. 
 Henry Woods, respectively as Minister of the Episcopal Church, 
 and as Chaplain of the Knights Templar, assisted by Sir Knight 
 R. F- Bower, and the other members of the order. The Minis- 
 ter officiating took for his text the 9th verse, 39th Psalm — 
 " I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it." 
 
■ ' -9 ' 
 
 52 
 
 The address was one in every respect befitting the mournful occa- 
 sion : brief, l»ut pointed and eloquent. A solemn stillness pre- 
 vailed Avhile the words were uttered that expressed the sentiments 
 with which all hearts were imbued. Each one of the crowded 
 audience seemed to feel that the coffin that stood before them 
 containing the lifeless remains of him who might truly be called 
 one of the noblest of our citizens, was all that was needed to carry- 
 home the lessons of such an hour ! 
 
 The ceremonies at the Church being concluded, the procession 
 again took up its line of march, passing down Morgan to Fifth 
 street ; down Fifth to Main, and thence by the usual route to the 
 cemetery. 
 
 During the march of the procession to the burying ground 
 the bells of the city were tolled, and thirteen guns fired at 
 intervals of three minutes. 
 
 On reaching the cemetery the remains were carried to the 
 grave with befitting ceremony, and the last honors were offered 
 that could be paid to General Curtis. Sorrowful was the scene ! 
 Fair nature, as though in sympathy with the sadness of the 
 hour, seemed to enshroud herself in the garb of mourning! 
 Drearily the cold wind blew across the ground locked by the frost 
 of winter, harmonizing with, as it bore away on its bosom, the 
 sigh, the smothered regrets, of those who knew the deceased but 
 to admire and to love! " Dust to dust ; ashes to ashes" — a 
 few shovels of earth, and all was over! Thus has departed from 
 among us a man whose like we may never see again. As was 
 well said by the officiating Minister in his address, "he needs 
 no eulogy." His life speaks for him as a man ; his public ser- 
 vices and his professional labors are a lasting and splendid 
 monument to his patriotism and his genius. 
 
From the Mt. Vernon (Ohio) Democratic Banner, Jan. 5, 1SH7. 
 
 We last week made brief mention of the death of Maj. Gen. 
 Curtis, which occurred at Council Bluffs, Iowa, on the 26th ult., 
 from a stroke of apoplexy. The General, in company with 
 Gen. Simpson and Dr. White, had just returned from a journey 
 to a point 305 miles- west of Omaha, on the Union Pacific Rail- 
 road, which work he was examining, as one of the Government 
 Commissioners. The party were proceeding in a carriage from 
 Omaha to St. Johns, Iowa, to take the cars for Chicago ; but in 
 crossing the Missouri river, the ice being weak, the three gen- 
 tlemen concluded to walk over, which was accordingly done. 
 Upon reaching this side of the river, resuming his seat in the 
 carriage, General Curtis became pale and weak, and his eyes 
 closed ; while a gutteral sound issued from his throat, indicating 
 that he was in a paroxysm. The doctor laid him down on one 
 of the seats, and the driver drove rapidly to the residence of 
 Colonel Nutt, a particular friend of the deceased, who lived 
 near Council Bluffs. On the arrival at Colonel Nutt's, General 
 Curtis, apparently dead, was taken from the carriage and placed 
 upon a bed, when Drs. Brown and Bundy were sent for, who, 
 after arriving and examining the body, pronounced that life was 
 extinct. ******* 
 
 From the Mt. Vernon (Ohio; Republican, Jan. 15, 1S67. 
 
 The sudden and sad news of the death of General Curtis, at 
 Council Bluffs, on the 2Gth of December, has recalled to our 
 mind several incidents connected with our acquaintance with him, 
 which may be of interest to his numerous friends in this section. 
 
 When we came to Ohio in 1838, and settled at McConnels- 
 ville, Morgan county, we found General Curtis a resident of 
 
54 
 
 that town. He had been the Engineer in charge of the improve- 
 ment for slack water navigation on the Muskingum, and had 
 under him as assistants several young gentlemen who have since 
 become somewhat distinguished. Among them was John Sher- 
 man, now our Senator in Congress, James Love, now the U. S. 
 District Judge of Iowa, and J. R. Straughn, since a prominent 
 railroad man. Colonel GUKTIS was a decided Whig, and about 
 that time the Democrats came into power and he was removed. 
 He remained a resident of McConnelsville until 1842 or 1843, 
 when he moved to Wooster, and entered upon the practice of the 
 law. There he remained till the Mexican war broke out, when 
 he entered the service and distinguished himself as the Colonel 
 of the 3d Ohio regiment. After the close of the war he settled 
 in Keokuk. Iowa, lie was elected to Congress three times from 
 his District, and when the great rebellion broke out was appointed 
 a Major General, and at once entered into active service. In 
 command of the Western Department he was successful in his 
 efforts to drive the rebels from Missouri and Arkansas. The 
 battle of Pea Ridge will be known as one of the hardest fought 
 and most brilliant Union victories of the war. When the rebel- 
 lion was put down he left the service, and was appointed one of 
 the inspectors by the Government of the Pacific Railroad west of 
 Omaha, and it was while in this service that he was stricken 
 down and died. 
 
 General Curtis was an ardent politician, and in 1841 was the 
 Whig candidate for the Senate in the District of Morgan, Wash- 
 ington and Perry. He stumped the District and made a strong 
 canvass, but the majority on the wrong side was too strong to be 
 overcome. We remember many of the incidents of that campaign. 
 We were present at.a militia review at Sharon, in the east part of 
 Morgan county, when the news came that John Tyler had finally 
 
55 
 
 gone over to the enemy and had vetoed the bank bill. The 
 Democracy were jubilant and the Whigs were rather down in the 
 mouth. The debates and speeches in those days were sharp, 
 pointed, at times personal, but Colonel Curtis was noted for the 
 fairness and generosity with which all his discussions were con- 
 ducted, and he always secured the respect and good will of his 
 opponents. 
 
 We have still a very distinct recollection of the great encamp- 
 ment at Zanesville, in the summer of 1840. At that time we 
 held the very responsible position of Sergeant in the Morgan 
 Guards, a very excellent company of volunteers at McConnelsville. 
 It was our first campaign. The march from McConnelsville to 
 Zanesville, twenty-five miles, the camping out, the reception by 
 Capt. Hazlett's Warren Greens and the Putnam Greys, the two 
 days encampment at Camp Goddard, the deeds upon the tented 8 
 field ; all these may form the material for an article at some 
 future day. Colonel Curtis was the commander of the regi- 
 ment, composed of the companies there assembled, and most 
 splendidly did he perform its duties. It was the remark of all 
 that he was a thorough master of the art, and for years the I 
 grand encampment at Camp Goddard in 1840 was regarded as \ 
 the perfection of that sort of duty. 
 
 Our personal relations with General Curtis have ever been 
 cordial and pleasant. He had true notions of honor, and was 
 always the courteous gentleman. Such men are the stamina of 
 the nation, and when such pass away from earth the people feel 
 that they have lost one who honored them while living, and 
 whose noble deeds will be held in grateful remembrance. 
 
56 
 
 From the Keokuk (Iowa) Gate < ity, Feb. '27, 1M>7. 
 
 [Extract from remarks on the $50O,U00 appropriation to build a canal 
 around ths Des Moines Rapids, Mississippi river :] 
 
 Sixteen years ago, we believe it was, that the writer hereof 
 attended a Rapids Improvement Convention, at Davenport, in 
 which General Curtis stood alone for a canal around the Rapids, 
 backed by two or three delegates from Keokuk, against the 
 entire crowd from Montrose to St. Paul, who were howling in 
 favor of " blowing out the rocky bottom of the Mississippi," 
 led on by Burlington and Fort Madison, out of mere jealousy of 
 Keokuk. We have all learned something since then, and the 
 people of Iowa and the Northwest have lost a good deal, and 
 the Government has thrown away hundreds of thousands of 
 dollars, and the rocky bed of the river rests on its old founda- 
 tions, and now, at last, common sense has prevailed, and the 
 only practicable mode of improving the navigation of the Rapids 
 has been adopted by general consent. 
 
 The name of General Curtis will always be associated, in our 
 mind and in the minds of this community generally, with a 
 canal around the Rapids ; and as the originator, and able and 
 ardent advocate of it, we trust it may be completed, and remain 
 an imperishable monument to his memory. 
 
 Extract from a Letter of Oapt. Wm. T. Burgess, :f<)th Iowa Infantry, to (Jen. 1). 15. Hillis. 
 
 He was kind and generous, and his name will ever occupy a place 
 among the great and good of our land. When in St. Louis, in 
 company with Col. Charles H. Abbott, I called on the General at 
 his rooms in the Planters' House. He received us courteously and 
 kindly, made much inquiry relative to the needs of our regiment 
 and wants of the men. We were ordered to the Department of 
 
57 
 
 Tennessee, to report at Helena ; he went with us to the boats and 
 personally examined them. Finding the one to which we were 
 assigned a rickety old hulk, and unsafe for a trip, he ordered it 
 forthwith repaired, and severely reproved the officer in charge of 
 transportation for such carelessness and indifference to the safety 
 of the men. During our call, the conversation turning upon the 
 situation, hej remarked, with much earnestness and solemnity, 
 " The ordeal through which we are passing is a necessity in 
 the Providence of God ; therefore acceptable, and every one should 
 act as though a great responsibility rested upon him, and be not 
 merely a soldier, but a man, truly a man. We are contending 
 for the maintainance of principles that are no more confined to 
 the good of this country alone, than is the light of the sun." 
 These were his words as near as I remember them. He was no 
 partisan, and in his death Iowa has lost one of her noblest sons, the 
 nation one of her worthiest patriots. Long will he be cherished 
 in the hearts of a generous people for his gallant efforts in the 
 cause of liberty, and his indefatigable labors for the improve- 
 ment of our young State. 
 
 H 
 
B 1 T I A R V . 
 
 [This obituary is the most correct of any published as a biographical 
 sketch of General Curtis. It contains but one of the errors common to 
 other and similar sketches. A reference to the older members of the family 
 of General Curtis, and to the original family record as kept by his father, 
 the late Elder Zarah Curtis, of Licking county, Ohio, shows that the 
 General was born at the family homestead, " near the village of Champlain. 
 New York, on the 3d of February, A. D. 1805."] 
 
 Annals of Iowa, January, 1867. Published by the State Historical Society at Iowa City. 
 
 Died, Dec. 26th, 1866, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, while engaged 
 in official duty, Samuel Ryan Curtis, United States Pacific 
 Railroad Commissioner, and first General of Volunteers from 
 Iowa. He was born in Ohio, February 3d, 1807, and graduated 
 at West Point July 1st, 1831. After a brief service in Arkansas 
 as Brevet 2d Lieutenant in the 7th U. S. Infantry, he resigned 
 to engage as a Civil Engineer, both on the National road and as 
 Chief of the Muskingum River Improvement, in his native 
 State, where he also commanded various military bodies, and 
 engaged in the practice of the law. At the opening of the 
 Mexican war he was made Adjutant General of Ohio, and soon 
 afterwards Colonel of the 3d Ohio Volunteers. In Mexico, he 
 served with distinction, with his regiment, as Military Governor 
 of conquered cities, and on the staff of General Wool. In 1847 
 he removed to Keokuk, Iowa — always afterwards his home. In 
 Iowa he was long Chief Engineer of the Des Moines Improve- 
 ment, and here also he practiced law. From 1850 to 1853 he 
 was Chief Engineer of St. Louis city, where he left a lasting 
 monument of his abilities by connecting Bloody Island with the 
 Illinois shore, thus saving St. Louis from becoming an inland 
 town. Subsequently, he acted as Engineer for various railroads 
 
59 
 
 through Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, and for these companies, In 
 1853, he indicated the line of a Central Pacific Railroad, as 
 subsequently adopted. As an original Republican, he was thrice 
 elected to Congress from the First Congressional District of 
 Iowa, serving in the 35th, 36th and 37th Congress. Here he 
 was prominent in the Lower House, a member of the Committee 
 on Military Affairs, and Chairman of the Committee on the 
 Pacific Railroad. He introduced a bill to construct this road on 
 a plan substantially similar to the routes since adopted. He 
 represented Iowa in the great " Peace Conference," which failed 
 to prevent the greatest of civil wars. 
 
 On the fall of Sumter he left his home, and was one of the 
 first to arrive in Washington, piloting the New York 7th Regi- 
 ment to the city as volunteer aid to its commander. Returning, 
 he wa£ unanimously elected Colonel of the 2d Iowa infantry, and 
 leading his regiment, the first from Iowa to follow the fla^ 
 beyond the State boundary, he seized the line of the Hannibal 
 & St. Joseph Railroad, thus virtually capturing half the great 
 State of Missouri, then in incipient rebellion. Having accom- 
 plished this movement, he hastened to attend the extra session of 
 Congress, called July 4th, 1861, and while in attendance, was 
 present, unofficially, at Bull Run, where he, with others, in vain 
 endeavored to turn defeat into victory. Resigning his seat in 
 Congress, he was made a Brigadier General from May 17th, 1861, 
 and repaired to St. Louis, where, under Fremont;, he organized 
 the " Camp of Instruction," first at Jefferson and afterwards 
 at Benton Barracks. During the disturbance incidental to the 
 removal of Fremont, he was entrusted by President Lincoln with 
 some of the most painful and delicate duties. Under Halleck 
 he first held the important command of the St. Louis District. 
 On December 26th, 1861, five years previous to the day of his 
 
BO 
 
 death, he assumed, at Rolla, Mo., the command of those troops 
 whose glorious victory at Pea Ridge, as the "Army of the 
 Southwest," first made his name immortal in military history. 
 Brieily, he led this army of from ten to twenty thousand men, 
 through a half-settled, hostile territory, a difficult eight months' 
 march of five hundred miles, winning the glorious victory of Pea 
 Ridge, and many lesser triumphs, and arriving safely on the 
 banks of the Mississippi at Helena, Arkansas, July 14th, 1862, 
 having been promoted Major General in March, 1862. Not 
 resting from his labors, during a brief leave of absence he acted 
 as President of that Pacific Railroad Convention, at Chicago, 
 which actually inaugurated the road now being constructed. He 
 was hastily ordered from Chicago to assume command of the | 
 Department of the Missouri, September 24th, 1862. This 
 command he held for eight months, during the most gloomy 
 period of the war. His position was one of vast responsibility 
 and importance, in which every duty, was discharged to the 
 satisfaction of the patriotic North. His command extended 
 over Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and the 
 Indian Territory, and the armies of the " Southwest," the 
 "Frontier," and of "Southeast Missouri." It included, pro- 
 ably, over 100,000 soldiers, warring with rebels, guerrillas, and 
 Indians. Under him, then, were won the victories of "Cane 
 Hill," "Old Fort Wayne," " Prairie Grove," "Springfield," 
 " Hartsville," " Cape Girardeau," " Ft. Smith," " Van Buren," 
 and skirmishes innumerable. At the end of his eight months 
 administration, he was removed by President Lincoln at the 
 instance of a clique of pro-slavery and rebel sympathising Mis- 
 souri politicians, "not for any fault," but in the vain hope 
 that to remove a true soldier would convert the half-fledged 
 rebels of Missouri to loyalty. This was the mistake of Mr. 
 
61 
 
 Lincoln's political career. The Union party condemned the act, 
 and it prevented Mr. Lincoln's re-nomination from being unani- 
 mous on the first ballot. On January 1st, 1864, Gen. Curtis 
 was assigned to the Department of Kansas, including all of his 
 old territorial command, except Missouri and Arkansas. His 
 troops were few and scattered, fighting guerrillas on the Missouri 
 border, and Indians over the wide domain of the West. 
 
 In the fall of the year he rallied his volunteer troops, about 
 3,000 strong, and the Kansas Militia, as the " Armv of the 
 Border," and in a campaign of fourteen days, assisted by a few 
 troops from General Pleasanton, drove the army of his old 
 adversary, Price, 20,000 or 30,000 strong, three hundred and 
 fifty miles from Kansas City to the Arkansas river, fighting the 
 battles of "Little Blue," "Big Blue," " Westport," "Marias 
 des Cygnes," "Osage," "Chariot," and "Newtonia," This 
 was the last return of Price to Missouri. He suffered a terrible 
 and complete rout, with an admitted loss of over 10,000. 
 
 On February 16th, 1865, General Curtis assumed command 
 of the Department of the Northwest, including Wisconsin, Iowa 
 Minnesota, Dacotah, and all north of Nebraska. This Depart- 
 ment was dissolved July 26th, 1865. In the fall of 1865, the 
 General went far up the Missouri- as Commissioner to treat with 
 the Indians, and in this capacity effected several important 
 treaties. He was also appointed United States Commissioner to 
 inspect the Union Pacific Railroad. He had just completed an 
 inspection of the last thirty-five miles, terminating 305 miles 
 west of the Missouri river, signed the report at Omaha, walked 
 over the Missouri river on the ice, stepped into a carriage in 
 apparent perfect health, and died within half a mile of the river 
 bank. From the residence of his friend, Colonel Nutt, at 
 Council Bluffs, his remains were brought to their last restin° 
 
62 
 
 place in Keokuk, escorted by Gen. J. H. Simpson and Dr. Wm. 
 White, his fellow Pacific Railroad Commissioners, Major L. S. 
 Bent of the Pacific Railroad, Colonels W. F. Sapp and H. C. 
 Nutt of Council Bluffs, and Colonel R. II Hunt, of his former 
 staff. 
 
 Such arc the briefly recited facts of a single life, which 
 developed, would fill volumes of the history of our country. 
 
 His administrative abilities were great, and as an Engineer he 
 was the father of the Pacific Railroad. It had been for years an 
 idea. He gave the idea shape and actual existence. Its accom- 
 plishment was the great object of his public life, and his last act 
 was in its behalf. To-day the locomotive whistles half way from 
 the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, calling in vain for the 
 Pathfinder of civilization, who marked its track over the wide and 
 desolate plains. 
 
 The General who never suffered defeat is laid low. The 
 generous, gallant soldier, the kind, genial friend of all who 
 knew him, sleeps peacefully his last sleep. The soul of a true 
 Christian gentleman has gone from us, let us hope, to dwell, with 
 his martyred soldier son and others dear to him, in unending 
 Heaven. 
 
 " Thus star by star declines, 
 
 Till all are passed away, 
 As morning high and higher shines, 
 
 To pure and perfect day ! 
 Nor sink those stars in empty night — 
 They hide themselves in heaven's own light." 
 
 s. p. a 
 
63 
 
 Opinion of Dr. John F. Sanford. 
 
 [Extract from a letter addressed to Mrs. General Curtis, at her request, 
 by Dr. John F. Sanford, the General's family physician, and whom the 
 General had consulted in regard to certain pains which he supposed to indi- 
 cate dyspepsia. Dr. Sanford, after detailing the symptoms of Gen. Curtis' 
 case in life, and also in his sudden death, says :] 
 
 I entertain the opinion, based upon repeated observation during 
 life, as well as from the particular manner and circumstances of 
 his death, that he died in consequence of an Aneurismal tumor 
 of the aorta, or large artery, in the neighborhood of the 
 stomach. This tumor, or enlargement of the great blood 
 vessel, was probably connected with abscess in the immediate 
 vicinity — perhaps in the walls of the stomach — and the cause of 
 the rupture was most likely antecedent inflammation in the sac, 
 induced by prolonged exposure, weakening its walls and ren- 
 dering it susceptible to rupture by the physical exercise and 
 excitement he had undergone immediately before his death. All 
 the features of the case, both in life and death, are reconcilable 
 with this view, and, in fact, it is difficult to account for a death 
 so sudden and so unforseen on any other hypothesis. 
 
 Sincerely hoping, my dear madam, that these views may 
 dissipate, to some extent, the uncertainty connected with your 
 sad bereavement, and afford you even a small measure of mel- 
 ancholy satisfaction, I am most respectfully, and truly, your 
 friend and obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN F. SANFORD: 
 
64 
 
 [The following addresses were received too late for insertion in their 
 proper places :] 
 
 Address of Judge Love, of the D. S. District Court. 
 
 Judge Love responded as follows to the remarks of Mr. 
 Marshall : 
 
 This Court has listened with profound interest to your remarks 
 upon the life and character of General Samuel R. Curtis. 
 Having been long and intimately associated with General Curtis 
 in former years, I am better able than most men to express an 
 opinion of his character as a citizen, and of his sterling worth 
 as a man. The result of my observation is, that I ha7e never 
 known any man whose character took a stronger hold of the 
 hearts of his fellow-men. This is high praise, for it argues 
 the possession of the noblest traits of character and the warmest 
 affections in the man who could thus rule the hearts of other 
 men. A brief reference to some circumstances personally 
 known to myself, will illustrate the truth of what I have just said. 
 
 I first knew General Curtis in the civil engineer service of 
 the State of Ohio. I served under him, with a number of other 
 young men in that service. We were all young and ardent, and, 
 I can truly say, cherished the warmest and most devoted attach- 
 ment to our chief, as an incident which I am about to relate 
 will show. After two or three years' service, General Curtis 
 was removed, on party grounds. It was a period of violent 
 political excitement, and the practice (a bad practice) had grown 
 up of removing all civil officers opposed in sentiment to the 
 dominant party. No cause whatever was alleged for the removal 
 of General Curtis, and, in truth, he was, as a public officer, 
 universally acceptable. The young men under General Curtis, 
 including myself, were all, with one or two exceptions, attached 
 to the dominant party, and opposed, in party relations, to the 
 
■umm^'dhMumiMUMiiiiiiu 
 
 65 
 
 General. Nevertheless, we held a meeting and unanimously 
 passed resolutions condemning, in the strongest terms, the 
 removal of our chief, and denouncing the action of the powers 
 above us. A committee, of which I was myself a member, was 
 raised to present these resolutions to General Curtis, with a 
 letter expressive of our feelings at parting. The committee was 
 instructed to furnish a copy of the resolutions and letter for 
 publication. This coming to the knowledge of our Commissioner 
 of Public Works, he wrote us a letter expressing his disapproba- 
 tion of our conduct in very strong terms, and declaring that, 
 whilst it was his wish to keep us in office, he should nevertheless 
 discharge us all unless we so far repented as not to publish the 
 resolutions and letter in question. This had the effect to intimi- 
 date only one of our number, who withdrew his name. All the 
 rest with one voice declared our purpose to publish, which was 
 accordingly done, with the answer of General Curtis. I men- 
 tion this incident because I know it was a matter of pride with 
 General Curtis, as he often told me, and because it serves to 
 illustrate the warm attachment to the General of all who were 
 associated with him. 
 
 We were all accordingly discharged from the service, and 
 General Curtis engaged in the practice of the law. I was next 
 personally associated with General Curtis in the Mexican war. 
 When we arrived at Camp Washington, near Cincinnati, we 
 found him in command, under the Governor of Ohio, of all the 
 regiments assembling for the war. The General, with his usual 
 zeal, organized and drilled the troops as they came in. The 
 company officers, under the law of Ohio, had the election of the 
 field officers. There was a great majority of the officers politi- 
 cally opposed to General Curtis, and a powerful effort was made 
 to turn the election on party grounds. We, however, of the 
 
Third Ohio, elected General C. Colonel, in spite of the most 
 determined appeals to party feelings and relations. The history 
 of General Curtis during the Mexican war is matter of record, 
 and neither time nor space will allow a detailed statement of 
 what I personally know upon the subject. Suffice it to say, that 
 he served with honor and efficiency, and that General Taylor 
 distinguished him at the close of the term of service of his regi- 
 ment with a high and responsible office at his headquarters. 
 And I can bear personal testimony that General Curtis was the 
 idol of the men of his regiment, with whom he had so long borne 
 the privations and difficulties of the field and camp. This simple 
 fact speaks volumes — above all labored eulogy — of his character 
 and conduct. Wherever there is a man of that regiment, scat- 
 tered over the broad surface of the country, the fame of General 
 Curtis has a defender and advocate. 
 
 Soon after the Mexican war, General C. removed to this State, 
 where his subsequent career is so well known that it were idle to 
 dwell upon the subject. His name has become historical. He 
 has left a reputation among his fellow-men, which will live for 
 ever without spot or blemish. All know how universally he 
 possessed the respect and affection of the people. His death 
 filled all hearts with sorrow. He died as far as I know, without 
 a solitary individual in the State of Iowa who can be called his 
 enemy. When we consider how prone men are to be censorious, 
 if not envious, of those in high stations, we find in the universal 
 esteem of his iellow-men the highest evidence of his exalted 
 worth. 
 
 Let the resolutions of the Bar be spread upon the records of 
 this Court, as a testimonial of our respect and esteem for the 
 memory of our departed brother. 
 
67 
 
 Remarks of Col. J. W. Rankin, in the Supreme Court of Iowa, at Davenport. 
 
 I do not wish to detain the Court at this late hour, and, 
 besides, I feel unqualified to accomplish additions to the name 
 and fame of the chief soldier of Iowa, and in time of peace 
 one of its most useful citizens. 
 
 I come, by request of the Bar of my county, to present for 
 record the memory of an old friend, a tried and true friend, and, 
 besides, one of the true men of the State and nation. It was 
 my good fortune to know General Curtis and his excellent family 
 in Ohio, and to be for some time the tutor of his sons. No man 
 ever knew them who did not greatly esteem them. 
 
 In 1848 I came to Iowa as the partner of General Curtis in 
 the legal profession, and from that time forward our relations 
 were truly pleasant. Possessing a most excellent wife, and sur- 
 rounded by children of unusual promise, his house has been 
 
 greatly attractive. 
 
 When the rebellion commenced he entered the service, and his 
 
 example and influence carried into the conflict his two sons. 
 Soon a beloved daughter departed to a better world, and shortly 
 afterwards the gallant, worthy and religious Henry was murdered 
 in Missouri, while in the line of his duty. General Curtis lived 
 to know that the rebellion was prostrated, but his truly noble 
 wife lives to know that husband, son and daughter have gone to 
 join the general assembly in a far off, better world. 
 
 I will not recount the incidents of the General's life, or speak 
 of his great virtues in public or private. Suffice it to say, that 
 a great and good man died, and that a noble example was left to 
 others. And when we, as members of the Bar, think of him, it 
 is my most earnest wish that I, yes all of us, may be improved 
 by his whole life, and be thereby better prepared to mingle here- 
 after with his songs of praise among the stars, or wherever God 
 dwells, with His angellic hosts and His redeemed millions. 
 
68 
 
 Reply of Chief Justice Lowe, of the Supreme Court. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Bar : I am instructed by my associates of 
 the Bench to grant your application to have spread upon the 
 records of this Court the resolutions ir> memoriam of the lamented 
 death of our distinguished brother, General Samuel R. Curtis. 
 It would be strange indeed that this tribute of respect, usually 
 extended to the memory of our worthy professional brethren, 
 under like circumstances, should be withheld from one, hitherto 
 so prominent, not only in the domain of jurisprudence, but who 
 had won for himself honors so bright and honorable in the halls 
 of Federal legislation, — in the field of arms, — and in those great 
 public enterprises which looked to the physical and social adorn- 
 ment of his country, the development of its resources, and which 
 are, in their grander outlines and proportions, the recognized 
 indicia of a high order of civilization. 
 
 To the members of this Court General Curtis was no stranger ; 
 long years have wo known liim well, in public as well as private 
 life ; in the halls of Congress ; in the contests of political cam- 
 paigns ; in the bloody scenes of the battle-field, ever gallant 
 and brave ; on great lines of internal improvement, as a civil 
 engineer and general superintendent, and in the vanguard of all 
 great enterprises ; — so that it can truthfully be said of him, that 
 he was an eminently useful man in his day and generation. 
 
 He was kind, generous and patriotic ; free from all bitterness ; 
 the friend of the masses ; the foe of oppression ; in sympathy 
 with the cause of liberty everywhere ; uttering no uncertain 
 sounds when that cause was assailed ; setting loosely to his own 
 personal interest or safety, when the exigencies of his country 
 demanded his services. 
 
 In his social relations he was cordial and pleasant ; in his 
 
— , i 
 
 69 
 
 domestic life most happy, for he was blessed, in the munificence 
 of a kind Providence, with a help-mate whom to know was to 
 love, and whose heart was ever open as noonday to all the chari- 
 ties of life, and especially to those offices of kindness and comfort 
 which ministered to the happiness of her husband, whose 
 bereavement she now mourns, with a grief so profound that it 
 tells but too evidently how keenly she feels the same, and which, 
 I pray, may be sanctified to us all. 
 
 MM! 
 
CARD. 
 
 From the Keokuk Papers, January 5th, 1867. 
 
 The family and relatives of the late Maj. Gen. Curtis desire, 
 through the medium of the press, to extend their thanks to the 
 friends of the deceased for their kind attention and sympathy in 
 our recent bereavement. 
 
 And especially to his colleagues and fellow Commissioners of 
 the Pacific Railroad, Gen. Simpson and Dr. White, who were 
 with him from the time of his death until his remains were 
 safely deposited with his family; also to the officers of the Union 
 Pacific, the Chicago & Northwestern, the Chicago, Burlington 
 Quincy, and the Toledo, Wabash & Western Railroads, for fur- 
 nishing a special car for the occasion, and to Mr. Pullman for 
 furnishing a sleeping car for the escort. Many thanks are also 
 due to Major Bent, of Omaha, who accompanied the remains, 
 on behalf of the Union Pacific Railroad, to Colonel Nutt, at 
 whose house, in Council Bluffs, the General died ; to Colonel 
 Sapp, also of Council Bluffs, and to Colonel Hunt, late of the 
 General's staff — all of whom acted as an escort to the remains. 
 
 We also thank the soldiers, Masonic Fraternity, Firemen, 
 Societies, and citizens generally, for their attendance and 
 condolence. 
 
ft 
 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 II Ml 
 
 010 732 391