Tracing the Trail-March 2024-Part 1

On the Curtis Side

(pictured above Christine Curtis. She is the wife of a possible ancestor, Allen Curtis, born in Alabama and moved to Navasota, TX)

The research team has turned its focus on tracing our ancestors steps from Virginia to Alabama to Texas. We always knew all of our ancestors who were enslaved on the Curtis Plantation in Cahaba, Alabama were not taken to Grimes County, Texas. Thank you again Matildy Curtis for leading us down this path!

Now have definitive proof that, in fact, were left behind and at least one Curtis family would come to Navasota later. A record at Findagrave.com let us to some Curtises buried in a Navasota, Texas cemetery. Checking their names in the records, the were found still living in Alabama at least 13 years after Stephen, his family and others were taken to Texas.

one other discovery is the burial of a Mary Ann Curtis Binford who is also in Oakland Cemetery along with Matildy. Mary Ann was white (a picture of her father appears on the Find-a-Grave website. An interesting find

Why is all of this important, you might ask. For one, the folks that came later may be our ancestors as well. And two, since one family we found buried in Navasota as late as 2007, there is the potential that some Curtises are still in or around Navasota today and they may be able to shed some more light on our ancestors. And for now, three. The white Curtises tell us that this family may be related to Darius Curtis in some way or that other white Curtises came to Navasota, TX or were perhaps even already there!