Today in Wheeling History: June 17—Josiah M. Curtis, Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, dies (1875).
Josiah M. Curtis was born on November 16, 1844, in West Liberty, was the son of General William B. Curtis and Hannah M. Montgomery. After receiving education in common schools and West Liberty Academy, he enlisted as a private in the Twelfth West Virginia Infantry in August 1862. He rose through the ranks and became second lieutenant of Company I in November 1864. In January 1865, he served as aide-de-camp in the Second Brigade, Second Division, Twenty-Fourth Army Corps, where he showed exceptional valor, receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor for retrieving his unit's flag and being among the first to reach Fort Gregg during an assault on Petersburg, Virginia. He concluded his military service in June 1865. Subsequently, Curtis pursued medical studies, graduating with distinction from Miami Medical College in Cincinnati in March 1867. He began a successful medical practice in Besler's Station, Marshall County, until relocating to Moundsville in the autumn of 1874. Tragically, he passed away suddenly on June 17, 1875, due to suspected heart disease, shortly after returning from Bethany College's commencement exercises at his father's house in West Liberty. He was laid to rest in West Liberty Cemetery. (https://rb.gy/13a1g) (https://rb.gy/pmroy)
Josiah M. Curtis was born on November 16, 1844, in West Liberty, was the son of General William B. Curtis and Hannah M. Montgomery. After receiving education in common schools and West Liberty Academy, he enlisted as a private in the Twelfth West Virginia Infantry in August 1862. He rose through the ranks and became second lieutenant of Company I in November 1864. In January 1865, he served as aide-de-camp in the Second Brigade, Second Division, Twenty-Fourth Army Corps, where he showed exceptional valor, receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor for retrieving his unit's flag and being among the first to reach Fort Gregg during an assault on Petersburg, Virginia. He concluded his military service in June 1865. Subsequently, Curtis pursued medical studies, graduating with distinction from Miami Medical College in Cincinnati in March 1867. He began a successful medical practice in Besler's Station, Marshall County, until relocating to Moundsville in the autumn of 1874. Tragically, he passed away suddenly on June 17, 1875, due to suspected heart disease, shortly after returning from Bethany College's commencement exercises at his father's house in West Liberty. He was laid to rest in West Liberty Cemetery. (https://rb.gy/13a1g) (https://rb.gy/pmroy)
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