Page:History of the newspapers of Beaver County, Pennsylvania.djvu/91

 THE WESTERN ARGUS. with. James S. Eutan as editor and Jacob Weyand busi- ness manager. The office was burned March 17, 18Y4, and resumed publication on the first of April, with a new outfit. It then becam.e a vigorous exponent of the Republican party, and was regarded as the organ of the Stalwart wing of the party, and a devoted adherent of Col. Quay. In 1879 Smith Curtis bought the interest of James S. Eutan in the paper and became its editor, and W. I. Heed bought Jacob Weyand's interest, and was business manager of the paper. Sm.ith Curtis was born in Sherburne, Chenango county, N. Y., Dec. 21, 1834. His parents were John and Elsie (Jones) Curtis, the former a native of New York and the latter of Connecticut. His father was a mUler and a tanner, and was also engaged in the manu- facture of boots and shoes. His family consisted of ten children, of whom Smith is the fifth. He attended common school in his native county until he was sixteen years old, worked in the mUl and tannery and went to N^ew York, where he clerked in a store two years; then returned to his native county to prepare for college. He attended an academy in Eranklin county one year; then entered Hamilton College, New York, where he spent three years. He then entered Union College, Schenectady comity, N. Y., and was graduated in 1858 with honor. He was a diligent and successful student and was fre- quently chosen as a representative of the college in literary contests. He received a prize for an essay while in Hamilton College. After his graduation he com- menced the study of theology and spent one year at the seminary at Princeton, N. J. He then entered the Union Theological Seminary at New York, from which institu- tion he was graduated in 1861. He then went to Toledo, Ohio. In 1861 he was ordained a minister, by the Con- gregational Association, of Ohio, at Columbus, to be