Thomas Spicer Curlett (1847 – May 7, 1914) was a Republican farmer, postmaster and state legislator in

Lancaster County, Virginia Lancaster County is a county located on the Northern Neck in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 10,919. Its county seat is Lancaster. Located on the Northern Neck near the mouth of the Rappahannock R ...

, during Reconstruction.

Early and family life

He was born in Baltimore. His father, John Curlett (died February 17, 1896), was a bank director and philanthropist. He was a student at Loyola College in Baltimore in 1864. On November 4, 1868, he married Susie Spicer (1849-1933) of Lancaster County, who would survive him, as would their son John (1870-1944), who would also serve in the Virginia House of Delegates beginning in 1906 and also act as an oyster inspector.

Career

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, Spicer was a private in Company B of the Maryland Volunteers Eastern Shore Infantry. A photograph of him in uniform sold at auction. On January 6, 1874, he became the postmaster for Litwalton in the Whitechapel district of Lancaster County. Spicer represented Lancaster County in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

from 1875 to 1879, until census reorganization combined it with nearby Richmond County. He represented both counties 1885 to 1887. In 1888-1889 he was one of the principal farmers in the Litwalton division of the county. The ''Chesapeake Watchman'' lampooned his candidacy and denounced his previous affiliation with Republicans. Henry Straughan Hathaway who owned Enon Hall wrote to him denouncing his political affiliation with blacks. Curlett may have returned to Baltimore by 1894 and worked as a salesman, though his wife and son remained in Lancaster County, Virginia. He died on May 7, 1914, in Baltimore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curlett, T. Spicer People from Lancaster County, Virginia Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates 1847 births 1914 deaths 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly