Henry Zarah Curtis was born in Mansfield, Ohio, in October 1836, the son of future Union General Samuel R. Curtis. He migrated to the Nebraska Territory in late 1860 and started the Daily Telegraph, the first daily newspaper in Omaha, which he continued to operate until the summer of 1861. He then sold the newspaper and joined the Union Army. Curtis was commissioned a captain and assistant quartermaster in August 1861, and in November became an assistant adjutant general. Promoted to major in 1862, Curtis was killed in action at Baxter Springs, Kansas, on October 6, 1863, when Confederate guerrillas led by William Quantrill attacked and destroyed a column led by General James Blunt. He was buried in the Curtis family plot in Keokuk, Iowa.

Carte-de-Visite by J.A. Scholten, St. Louis, Mo.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31733