George Ticknor Curtis

George Ticknor Curtis (November 28, 1812 – March 28, 1894) was an American historian, lawyer, and writer.

Curtis was very successful as a patent attorney, working for (among others) Samuel F. B. Morse, Charles Goodyear and Cyrus McCormick.

He served as co-counsel for Dred Scott when his case reached the United States Supreme Court in 1857.

[3] Curtis wrote biographies of Daniel Webster (1870) and James Buchanan (1883) as well as a number of legal treatises, including his oft-cited "A Treatise on the Law of Patents for Useful Inventions in the United States of America" (Curtis on Patents).

[4] While not a Mormon himself (he was a member of the Federal Street Church, a Unitarian congregation), Curtis was also a defender of Mormonism, writing pro-Mormon articles for New York newspapers and magazines, most notably the New York Evening Post (July 14, 1887) and The Forum (November 1887).