Platt Charles Curtis
Platt Charles Curtis was born on December 4, 1836, in Dutchess County, New York, to Walter and Elizabeth Curtis. His father was a veteran of the War of 1812 who died on September 11, 1847. Curtis grew up and attended school in Washington, and by 1860, he was working as a farmer. He owned $1,500 of real estate and $125 of personal property.
He enlisted in the Union army on September 19, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company I of the 150th New York Infantry on October 10. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 9 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes. He was promoted to corporal on November 25, 1863, and to sergeant on March 6, 1865.
He suffered a gunshot wound to the head near Culp’s Farm, Georgia, on June 22, 1864. As he noted, “I was s[t]ruck on the head by a minie ball, which glanced off after grazing the skull-bone. I was stunned by the blow and the blood ran down into my eyes so that I could not see.” He eventually recovered and rejoined the regiment. He remained devoted to the Union. He denounced Peace Democrats for “doing their worst to inaugurate a civil war in the North,” and he “trust[ed] that there is enough loyalty yet remaining there to crush those damnable vipers.” He supported President Abraham Lincoln in the election of 1864. He mustered out on June 8, 1865.
He settled in Brooklyn, New York, after the war, and he married Josephine Field around 1868. They had at least four children: Josephine, born around 1869; Lottie, born around 1876; LeRoy, born around 1881; and Harold, born around 1884. He worked as a drayman, and by 1870, he owned $500 of personal property. By 1880, he was working as a “carman.” He applied for a federal pension in September 1892 and eventually secured one. His wife died on January 11, 1906, “after a brief illness.” By 1910, he was living in Clinton, New York. He died in New York City on July 10, 1915.
DATABASE CONTENT
| (5304) | Curtis, Platt Charles | 1836-12-04 | 1915-07-10 |
- Conflict Side: Union
- Role: Soldier
- Rank in: Private
- Rank out: Sergeant
- Rank highest: Sergeant
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
Documents - Records: 1
- (2845) [writer] ~ Platt C. Curtis Diary
Places - Records: 2
Regiments - Records: 1
- (1138) [enlisted] [I] ~ 150th New York Infantry
Groups - Records: 2
SOURCES
1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; 1890 Veterans Census, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; New York Index to Death Certificates, 1862-1948, available from Ancestry.com; General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, available from Ancestry.com; New York Town Clerks’ Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca. 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815, available from Ancestry.com; The Brooklyn Citizen, 12 January 1906; Platt C. Curtis Diary, DL0582, Nau Collection
