CURTIS, Robert G. (c. 1812-after 1880) and Mercy A. (1818-1907)

Robert G. Curtis, farmer/fisherman, and his wife, Mercy A. Curtis, received several mentions in published and unpublished sources in connection with Ellen White's visits to Topsham, Maine, in the 1840s. According to later accounts by Mrs. M. C. Truesdail and Mrs. Frances Lunt, it was during a vision in the “Curtiss” home in 1845 that Ellen Harmon held aloft their family Bible, weighing 18.5 pounds [8 kilos], “and texts of Scripture were pointed out by her as she turned from leaf to leaf, while her eyes were looking upward, and away from the book.”1EGWLM 818.1

Ellen White recalled how, during a visit to Topsham in 1845, Mercy Curtis was present and participated in the faith healing of Frances Howland. In November 1846 Ellen White's well-known “astronomy vision,” which convinced Joseph Bates of the genuineness of her visions, took place in “Bro. C's humble dwelling” in Topsham, which, according to J. N. Loughborough, was the “house of Mr. Curtiss.” At a conference held in Topsham in September 1849 Ellen White addressed a short testimony to “Sister Curtis” while in vision. According to Mercy Curtis's obituary, both she and Robert “accepted the Adventist faith in 1843, … were among the first to embrace the Sabbath,” and “were firm till the end of life.”1EGWLM 818.2

See: Obituary: “Mercy A. Curtis,” Review, Dec. 12, 1907, p. 31; 1840 U.S. Federal Census, “Robert G. Curtis,” Maine, Lincoln County, Topsham, p. 13; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, “Robert G. Curtiss [sic],” Maine, Sagadahoc, Topsham, p. 9; 1880 U.S. Federal Census, “Robert G. Curtis,” Maine, Sagadahoc County, Topsham, p. 18B; J. N. Loughborough, The Great Second Advent Movement, pp. 238, 257, 258; Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 42, 83; Ms 5, 1849 (Sept. 23).1EGWLM 818.3