Native American People Photography By Edward Sheriff Curtis

Edward Curtis was born near Whitewater, Wisconsin. Curtis' father, the Reverend Johnson Asahel Curtis (1840–1887), was a minister and an American Civil War veteran. Rev. Curtis was born in Ohio. Rev. Curtis' father was born in Canada, and his mother in Vermont. Edward's mother, Ellen Sheriff (1844–1912), was born in Pennsylvania; and both her parents were born in England. Curtis' siblings were Raphael Curtis (1862-c1885), who also was called Ray Curtis; Eva Curtis (1870-?); and Asahel Curtis (1875–1941)
Around 1874 the family moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota. Curtis dropped out of school in the sixth grade. He soon built his own camera. In 1880 the family lived in Cordova Township, Minnesota, where Johnson Curtis worked as a retail grocer.