Mayor Edwin U. Curtis, 1895, undated

The thirty-first mayor of Boston, Edwin Upton Curtis, who served from 1895 to 1896, was born March 26, 1861, in Roxbury. His father, an ex-alderman of Boston, was one of the picturesque characters of the city, always wearing a blue coat with brass buttons. Mr. Curtis graduated from Bowdoin College, and was admitted to the bar. Entering politics early, he held several offices, serving as city clerk of Boston, secretary of the Republican City Committee, mayor of Boston, assistant United States treasurer at Boston, collector of customs for the Port of Boston, and also as a member of the Metropolitan Park Commission. In his inaugural he advocated the importance of special financial provision for educational buildings and facilities, the desirability of a board of election commissioners, the policy of having special examinations of the city's financial system and resources, and the making of provisions for public parks and other needs. All election machinery was placed in the control of a board of election commissioners, composed of four men, two from each great political party. His whole administration was characterized by a regulation of expense.

Taken from "Boston's 45 Mayors from John Phillips to Kevin H. White," City Record, Boston, 1979.