Curtenius, Peter, d. 1817

Peter Curtenius was born in New York City to Peter Theobaldus Curtenius (1734-1796) and Catharine Goelet (d. 1806). Peter T. Curtenius, a merchant by trade, served as a member of the New York Committee of Correspondence and later as a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Militia of the City of New York and as Commissary General, in charge of purchasing provisions for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He also held the position of New York State Auditor from 1782 to 1796. The family had six children: Peter, Philip (a merchant who died in 1802), Mary, Elizabeth, Jane (who married Elbert Roosevelt), and Catharine (who married Reverend John Dunlap).

Peter Curtenius was appointed Marshal of the District of New York by Thomas Jefferson in 1806. He served in this post until about the end of the War of 1812. During his tenure as Marshal, Curtenius maintained registers of the approximately 1,500 British citizens living in New York. Curtenius also monitored British prisoners of war and oversaw the U.S. District Court, District of New York. He had a wife, Mary Ann, and their son Frederick fought in South America against Spanish rule in the 1820s.

Peter Curtenius died in New York City in 1817.

From the guide to the Peter Curtenius Papers, Bulk, 1809-1814, 1748-1844, (© 2011 New-York Historical Society)