Born and raised in Kankakee County, Curtis attended DePauw and Northwestern Universities before assuming control of his father's store in Grant Park.

Edward C. Curtis was born in Yellowhead Township, Kankakee County, Illinois, on August 12, 1865.

[1] Curtis was a Republican from a young age and was nominated for the Illinois House of Representatives on behalf of the party in 1894.

Two years later, he was re-elected and then was unanimously elected Speaker of the House, making him the youngest to hold the position to this point.

Curtis was an advocate for a constitutional convention, first proposing it in 1907 and then introducing a resolution in every session until it was approved in 1917.