James O. Curtis (shipbuilder)

James Otis Curtis (November 1, 1804 – March 3, 1890) was an American shipbuilder who built ships in Medford, Massachusetts (upriver from Boston).

Background

Included in the vessels built by James Otis Curtis's shipyard were at least 9 American Clipper Ships:
* 1850 Shooting Star, 900 tons Old Measurement (extreme clipper)
* 1851 Telegraph, 1078 tons Old Measurement (extreme clipper)
* 1852 Phantom, 1174 tons Old Measurement
* 1852 Whirlwind, 960½ tons Old Measurement (extreme clipper)
* 1853 Eagle Wing, 1183 tons Old Measurement
* 1853 Wild Ranger, 1183 tons Old Measurement
* 1854 Ocean Express, 1697 tons Old Measurement
* 1854 Ocean Telegraph, 1495 tons Old Measurement (extreme clipper)
* 1856 Flying Mist, 1183 tons Old Measurement

Shipbuilding was one of the two big businesses at Medford in the mid 1800s. Thatcher Magoun's shipyard, where James Otis Cutis did his apprenticeship, was the oldest and largest of the 10 yards. In 1845 one-quarter of all shipwrights in Massachusetts were employed in the Medford shipyards. The yards clustered along 1 mile of the Mystic River riverfront, and James yard was off Swan Street. The yards drew upon the ready supply of local timber until the local woods were depleted. Ships were then built from timber cut down and floated south from the hardwood forests of New Hampshire. Each ship was built from fifteen or more species of wood carefully pieced together where the special properties of each would do the most good.

James was the son of James and Desire (Otis) Curtis. He was born on November 1, 1804 at Scituate, Massachusetts. In 1820, at the age of 15, he went to Medford to begin an apprenticeship as a shipwright at the shipyard of Mr. Thatcher Magoun. In 1834 the firm of Curtis and Co. was formed together with Paul Curtis. In the next 5 years they were to build 9 vessels until their partnership dissolved in 1839. Carrying on business on his own James then built another 78 vessels in the next 30 years until retiring from shipbuilding in 1869. Paul also continued building ships on his own at Medford until 1852, later moving his shipyard to Chelsea and East Boston.

A civic-minded gentleman James took great interest in schools, the Medford Branch Railway, and served as a member of the Spot Pond water commission which supplied Medford's water. James was to serve the town of Medford in many capacities. He was the moderator of town meetings for 3 years, a selectman for 7 years, an assessor for 2 years, and in 1836 for 1 year a representative to the Massachusetts general court. He was a trustee of Tufts College (now Tufts University) from 1856, and had been president of the Monument National Bank of Charlestown from 1871.

James died on Monday Mar 3, 1890 at Medford leaving a widow Adeline Wait Curtis who he had married in 1826. They had two children: George in 1827 and Mary Genette in 1831.

References

• The New England Historical and Genealogical Register Volume XLIV 1890, Dean, John Ward – Editor, Heritage Books Inc., 1997, Pg 420
  http://books.google.com.au/books?id=9U6qXPSwqOQC&pg

• Medford - Images of America, Summarco, Anthony Mitchell, Arcadia Publishing, 1999, Pg 85 (including photograph of James O. Curtis)
  http://books.google.com.au/books?id=70AXu_wz93gC&pg

• Sailors in the Holy Land: the 1848 American Expedition to the Dead Sea and the search for Sodom and Gomorrah, Jampoler, Andrew C.A., Naval Institute Press, 2005, Pgs 30-31
  http://books.google.com.au/books?id=aeQLAQrva5AC&lpg

• History of the Town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts from its first settlement in 1630 to the present time 1855, Brooks, Charles, James M. Usher publisher, 1855
  http://books.google.com/books?id=in-5Ueuwn0wC&dq