California Biographies

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


CORNELIUS CURTIN. At the time he came to Madera in 1880 Mr. Curtin found a small 
hamlet, with meager business facilities and little promise for the future. However, with keen dis- 
cernment he detected favorable indications and resolved to identify himself with the town, a de- 
cision which he has had no occasion to regret. On the other hand, the competency which he now 
enjoys has been accumulated entirely since he came to his present location and represents the 
results of his investments and business enterprises here. While his interests have been varied, his 
name is especially associated with the livery business which he conducts and with the raising of 
stock on his stock farm. 

Of eastern birth and Irish parentage, Cornelius Curtin was born in Franklin county, N. Y., 
December 22, i860, and was third among seven children, all but one of whom are still living. 
Two of his brothers, Matthew and Daniel, own and operate farms in Tulare county, the former, 
who was an early settler of California, having been for some time a resident of Yolo county. 
The father, John Curtin, came to the United States from Ireland and settled upon a farm in 
New York, where he remained until his death. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary 
Spillings, was born in Ireland and died in February, 1904, on the home farm in New York at 
eighty-four years of age. The boyhood years of Cornelius Curtin were uneventfully passed in as- 
sisting on the home farm and attending the public schools of the district. He was sixteen when 
he started out to earn his own way in the world. Ambitious to settle in the west, he came to Cali- 
fornia. Almost all of his money had been spent in railroad fare and he had but $5 left when he 
reached Sacramento. Starting out to seek work, he was met by the tax collector, who made him 
pay a poll tax of $2. This beginning did not seem auspicious, but to a young man of energy and 
good health the lack of money is not a discouraging fact. 

On his second day in California Mr. Curtin secured work on a hay press and continued at the 
same place for two months. He then went to Merced county, where he worked as a farm hand 
by the month for two and one-half years. Next he secured employment on a farm in Tulare coun- 
ty and from there in the spring of 1880 came to Madera. For two years he drove a stage from 
Madera to Yosemite. In 1882 he started a livery business on the block where he still remains, 
buying the corner where he has since conducted business. His first building, a frame stable, was 
destroyed by fire in 1886, but he rebuilt the same year and now has a two-story stable, 100x150 feet 
in dimensions, and with sheds besides, the total capacity being over two hundred head of horses. 
The livery is the largest in the county. A full assortment of vehicles is kept, suitable for any 
purpose desired. In addition to the barn Mr. Curtin owns three hundred acres of irrigable 
land adjoining the city on the south and under cultivation to alfalfa and grain, besides which he 
owns a stock ranch in the foothills. 

The family residence, erected by Mr. Curtin, stands on Yosemite street. After coming to Ma- 
dera he married Etta Martin, who was born in Kansas and died in this city, leaving a son, Will- 
iam, a graduate in the June class of 1904, Santa Clara College. In religion Mr. Curtin is a Roman 
Catholic and a contributor to the various charities of his church. He co-operates in all movements 
for the benefit of Madera, including the Board of Trade, which has been a helpful agent in the 
growth of the town. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party, in which he has 
been a prominent local worker, having been for some time a member of the county central com- 
mittee and its chairman for one term.