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The Tote Road came from the Thompson Farm (near the Rollways) to Wilber Creek. There was a deep cut here and the road turned sharply at the bottom. A large hemlock tree about three or four feet through stood at the turn. Ebenezer D. Curtis bored holes in the tree, up and down, and then took a chisel and made a big slot. As the teams came down from the North, they picked mail up and took it to Tawas. On the return trip they brother the settler's mail back and put it in the slot in the hemlock tree. Some winters, Ebenezer D. Curtis snowshoed to Mack City, a lumbering town near Mack Lake, to pick up the mail.
Curtisville, Alcona County: Curtis Twp. was organized in 1881 and named for its first settler, Ebenezer Duncan Curtis; James Simons became the first postmaster of Curtis on June 14, 1881, the office operating until August 23, 1881; the office was restored as Curtisville on December 29, 1897, with cattle dealer Joseph Bell as its postmaster and operated until February 15, 1955. (page: GSM 1899, P.O. Archives)
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CURTISVILLE POST OFFICE
ALCONA COUNTY, MICHIGAN
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Name
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Title
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Date Appointed
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Joseph Bell
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Postmaster
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December 29, 1897
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Joseph Bell, Jr.
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Postmaster
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April 17, 1901
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Joseph Bell
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Postmaster
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May 26, 1903
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Edward J.. Bell
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Postmaster
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June 3, 1910
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Eva Heilig
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Postmaster
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March 20, 1915
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Edward J. Bell
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Postmaster
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May 1, 1919
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Albert Spencer
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Posdtmaster
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March 2, 1922
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John J. McMillan
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Postmaster
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April 13, 1928
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Mrs. Hannah D. Phillips
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Postmaster
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August 22, 1935
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Herbert C. Gordon
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Acting Postmaster
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December 15, 1936
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Herbert C. Gordon
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Postmaster
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January 12, 1937
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Mrs. Pauline M. Byler
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Acting Postmaster
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December 31, 1951
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Mrs. Pauline M. Byler
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Postmaster
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September 18, 1952
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Discontinued on February 15, 1955: mail to South Branch
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Source: U.S. Postal Service Archives
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The post offices were in homes. Those who held the post master or mistress position were: Joseph Bell, Edward Bell, Albert Spencer, Eva Heilig, John McMillen, Hannah Phillips, Mary Ellen Gordon, and Pauline Byler.
Eva Mae (Goodfellow) Heilig: first postmistress in Curtisville
Appointment of Pauline W. Byler as Postmaster, October 1, 1932
Appointment of Undine Phillips at Postal Clerk, October 21, 1933
Appointment of Hannah D. Phillips as Postmaster, October 30, 1935
During the time the Alcona Dam was being built, many of our people used the post office there. The post master was Mary Freeman. The clerk was Laura Gordon Beddy, a resident of Glennie.
In 1947, there was a big blizzard and the roads were impassable for some time. Russell Anthony, our mail carrier, had a pilot from South Branch fly the mail in. Russell tied the mail in bundles and dropped it at each house.
The Post Office Boxes that were last used by the Curtisville Post Office are now in the possession of Robert & Arbutus Milholin and are on display in their family room.
[Portions of the above article was originally published in Curtisville 1866-1976.]
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