The son of Union Major General Samuel R. Curtis, Henry Zarah Curtis was born in Ohio. He migrated to the Nebraska Territory in late 1860, where he started the Daily Telegraph, the first daily newspaper in Omaha. Curtis continued to operate the paper until the summer of 1861, when he sold it and joined the Union army. In August 1861, Curtis was commissioned a captain and assistant quartermaster; in November he became assistant adjutant general and was promoted to major in 1862.
On October 5, 1863, Curtis was killed in action at Baxter Springs, Kansas, by Confederate guerrillas led by William Quantrill.
Curtis is buried in the Curtis family plot in Keokuk, Iowa.
Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31733
