Curtin was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Sources vary as to his birth date. Some list April 22, 1815;[3][4] others list April 22, 1817.[5] Curtin's gravestone uses the 1815 date.[6] His parents were Roland Curtin Sr., a wealthy Irish-born iron manufacturer from County Clare, and Jane (née Gregg) Curtin, the daughter of U.S. SenatorAndrew Gregg. Along with Miles Boggs, Curtin's father established Eagle Ironworks at Curtin Village in 1810.
Curtin's family was prominent in Pennsylvania politics and in the American Civil War. He was the great-grandson of James Potter, the vice president of Pennsylvania, and was the grandson of Andrew Gregg, a prominent Pennsylvania politician. He was the uncle of John I. Gregg and cousin of David McMurtrie Gregg, both Union generals in the Civil War. His cousin was Colonel John I. Curtin.
After law school, Curtin began practicing law. He first entered politics during the 1840 election, campaigning for Whig presidential candidate William Henry Harrison.[8]
With the collapse of the Whig Party, Curtin switched to the newly formed Republican Party and successfully ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 1860. At the same time, he helped Abraham Lincoln win the Republican nomination for president.[8] A large crowd attended Curtin's inaugural ceremonies on January 15, 1861.[9]
Curtin was a strong supporter of President Lincoln's policies in the Civil War, and Curtin committed Pennsylvania to the war effort.[8] Curtin organized the Pennsylvania Reserves into combat units, and oversaw the construction of the first Union military camp for training militia. It opened in an agricultural school nearby Harrisburg as Camp Curtin on April 18, 1861, and more than 300,000 men were drilled there during 4 years. In the years that followed, Curtin became a close friend and confidant of Abraham Lincoln, visiting the White House several times in order to converse about the status of the war effort.[10]
Following the Battle of Gettysburg, Governor Curtin was the principal force behind the establishment of the National Cemetery there. Through his agent, David Wills, Curtin persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to attend the dedication of the cemetery. Governor Curtin was sitting with Lincoln on the platform on November 19, 1863, when Lincoln delivered his famed Gettysburg Address.[10]
In his first term, Governor Curtin suffered a severe breakdown from the stresses of war. Secretary of State Eli Slifer handled governmental affairs during the increasingly frequent periods when Curtin was incapacitated. President Lincoln offered the governor a diplomatic position abroad, but he chose to run for reelection in 1863.[10]
To coordinate Union war efforts, Curtin convened the Loyal War Governors' Conference on September 24 and 25, 1862, in Altoona. This event was one of his most significant contributions to the Union war effort. He formed the Pennsylvania State Agency in Washington, and another branch in Nashville, Tennessee, to provide support for wounded soldiers on the battlefield and returned home. He also founded the state-funded Orphan's School to aid and educate children of military men who had died for the Union cause.[10]
On May 30, 1844, Curtin was married to Katharine Irvine Wilson (1821–1903), a daughter of Dr. William Irvine Wilson and Mary (née Potter) Wilson.[12] Together, they were the parents of:[10]
Mary Curtin (1845–1927), who married George Fairlamb Harris.[12]
^Bezilla, Michael; Gette, Luther (2017). Branch Line Empires: The Pennsylvania and the New York Central Railroads. Railroads Past and Present. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 26. ISBN978-0-253-02958-4.
.jpg)
.png){kind=small}
