Moses Ashley Curtis

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 13 dated events in the chronology →

During their lifetime

1. June 1835 The diocesan convention meets in St. Matthew's for the second and last time The Episcopal convention met at St. Matthew's in Hillsborough in June 1835 while Bishop Ives was in Europe for his health; by 1890 it had not returned, though Hillsborough was chosen again several times. Newly ordained deacon Moses Ashley Curtis arrived on June 4 and preached that night, probably his first sermon, from the chancel he would later serve for many years as rector. People: William Mercer Green, Moses Ashley Curtis, Walker Anderson Place: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, HillsboroughSearch the index · Joseph W. Murphy, A Sermon-Sketch of the History of St. Matthew's Parish, Hillsboro, N.C. (1900), scan p. 37
2. by June 24, 1841 Hillsborough's female seminary engages Moses Ashley Curtis as superintendent The trustees of the Hillsborough female seminary, among them James S. Smith, Cadwallader Jones, William Cain, Hugh Waddell, Stephen Moore, Nathan Hooker and P. H. Mangum, engaged the Rev. M. A. Curtis as superintendent, kept the same women teachers, and set the next session to open on July 15. People: Moses Ashley Curtis, James Strudwick Smith, Cadwallader Jones, Hugh Waddell, Stephen Moore Place: Hillsborough · Also named: William Cain, Nathan Hooker, P. H. MangumHillsborough Recorder, June 24, 1841, p. 3
3. June 1841 Moses Ashley Curtis becomes rector of St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough Curtis, an Episcopal priest who had taught at the church school in Raleigh, accepted a call to St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough in June 1841. He did his botanical and fungus research from the town while serving the parish. Place: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, HillsboroughSearch the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Curtis, Moses Ashley
4. 1847 Moses Ashley Curtis leaves St. Matthew's for Society Hill, South Carolina Rector and botanist Moses Ashley Curtis moved from Hillsborough to Society Hill, South Carolina, ending his first period at St. Matthew's. Place: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, HillsboroughSearch the index · Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 69
5. February 1857 Moses Ashley Curtis returns to St. Matthew's in Hillsborough After about ten years at Society Hill, S.C., Curtis came back to St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough in February 1857, and stayed until his death in 1872; he was buried in the churchyard. Place: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, HillsboroughSearch the index · Journal of the Forty-first Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in North Carolina (Salisbury, May 1857), St. Matthew's parochial report · Also: NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Curtis, Moses Ashley
6. December 18, 1858 Charles Tew buys land west of Hillsborough for a military academy On December 18, 1858, Charles C. Tew of South Carolina bought from Cad Jones a 61 1/4-acre tract lying between the Greensborough road and the North Carolina Railroad, on what is now the west end of Hillsborough, for a military academy modeled on the Citadel. His advertisements, dated September 15, 1858, had already announced that the school would open at Hillsborough in January 1859. People: Charles Courtenay Tew, John Berry, Moses Ashley Curtis Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: North Carolina RailroadSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: The Commandant's House, National Register nomination (OR0006), p. 4 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, November 10, 1858, p. 1; NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey; Open Orange: Hillsborough Military Academy
7. November 25, 1859 Bishop Atkinson consecrates St. Mary's Chapel The St. Mary's Chapel building in eastern Orange County was consecrated by Bishop Atkinson with the Rev. Dr. Curtis taking part. People: Moses Ashley Curtis Place: St. Mary's Chapel · Also named: Thomas AtkinsonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 293
8. 1869 St. Matthew's replaces its flat roof and builds a recessed chancel Rector Moses Ashley Curtis reported in 1869 that the old flat roof of St. Matthew's had given way to a high open one and the east end had been extended for a recessed chancel, vestry room and organ room. The chancel was lit by a triple stained glass window, and the $1,600 cost came almost entirely from present and former members. People: Moses Ashley Curtis Place: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, HillsboroughSearch the index · Joseph W. Murphy, A Sermon-Sketch of the History of St. Matthew's Parish, Hillsboro, N.C. (1900), scan p. 41
9. 1872 Mrs. Curtis gives St. Matthew's a marble font in memory of her husband After rector Moses Ashley Curtis died in April 1872, his widow gave the church a marble baptismal font as his memorial. Place: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, HillsboroughSearch the index · Joseph W. Murphy, A Sermon-Sketch of the History of St. Matthew's Parish, Hillsboro, N.C. (1900), scan p. 41
10. April 10, 1872 St. Matthew's rector Moses Ashley Curtis dies Moses Ashley Curtis, rector of St. Matthew's for twenty-one years and a botanist of international standing, died at 64. The font and a south window in the church are his memorials. Place: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, HillsboroughSearch the index · Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962 (1963), scan p. 69
11. August 7, 1872 to July 24, 1880 Charles Jared Curtis takes charge of St. Matthew's after his father's death Ordained deacon in St. Matthew's on August 7, 1872, Charles Jared Curtis took charge of the parish his father, Moses Ashley Curtis, had served, became rector on his ordination as priest on December 14, 1873, and stayed until he resigned in 1880. People: Moses Ashley Curtis Place: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Hillsborough · Also named: Charles Jared CurtisSearch the index · Journal of the Fifty-Seventh Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in North Carolina (1873) · Also: Pauline O. Lloyd and Allen A. Lloyd, History of the Churches of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1766-1962

After their death in 1872

Later events: estates and burials, and the buildings, honors and histories that remember them.

1. 1873 The women of St. Matthew's give a stained glass window in memory of Moses Ashley Curtis In 1873 the ladies of the parish gave St. Matthew's a stained glass memorial window to its late rector Moses Ashley Curtis, who had died the year before. Place: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, HillsboroughSearch the index · Joseph W. Murphy, A Sermon-Sketch of the History of St. Matthew's Parish, Hillsboro, N.C. (1900), scan p. 41
2. July 24, 1880 Charles J. Curtis resigns as rector of St. Matthew's Charles J. Curtis, who had followed his father Moses Ashley Curtis in charge of the parish, resigned on July 24, 1880, and held his last service on August 8. Visiting clergy and a lay reader carried the services until Joseph W. Murphy took charge the next July; the Orange County Observer reported him arrived and preaching by Sunday, July 10, 1881. People: Moses Ashley Curtis, Joseph W. Murphy Place: St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Hillsborough · Also named: Charles J. CurtisSearch the index · Joseph W. Murphy, A Sermon-Sketch of the History of St. Matthew's Parish, Hillsboro, N.C. (1900), scan p. 42 · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 28, 1881, p. 3; Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 16, 1881, p. 3