Curtis, Nancy E. Rowe, b. ca. 1813

In 1819, George Curtis entered the American Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, in Hartford. This seventeen-year-old was from Leeds, situated about 20 miles west of Augusta, in what is now Maine, but at the time was still part of Massachusetts. He was one of twenty deaf-mutes who received the support of the Massachusetts government, and this was the first time the patronage of a state was extended to an institution of benevolence beyond its own borders. Once Maine became a state, legislators had to decide whether or not to continue to provide support for students at the Asylum. In 1825, the Maine legislature appropriated $1000 a year for four years for the education of the state's deaf residents. Of the 200 people officially reported deaf and dumb, only a handful applied for funding, and nine were sent to Hartford. One of those nine was Olive S. Curtis, George's 18 year old deaf-mute sister. As is often the case with congenital deafness, two other siblings were affected as well: Ann and Ebenezer, who both entered the Asylum in 1831. Ann was 18 and Ebenezer was 11.

The Curtis family came to know an even larger family of deaf-mutes from New Gloucester, about 20 miles north of Portland, Maine. There were seven deaf-mute Rowe children, and at least five attended the Asylum. Nancy entered in 1829, at the age of 13; Nathaniel E. also in 1829, aged 12; Benjamin in 1841, aged 18; Lucy A. and Samuel in 1843, aged 15 and 18, respectively. Sister Persis and brother Washington were probably the other two deaf-mute siblings. The families most likely met while in school, and their common affliction created lasting bonds. George Curtis and Nancy Rowe got married around 1840, and several siblings remained in contact long after they left the Asylum.

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