Moses Ashley Curtis

After graduating, he became a tutor for the children of former Governor Edward Bishop Dudley in Wilmington, North Carolina, returning to Massachusetts in 1833 to study theology.

He married Mary de Rosset in 1834, was ordained in 1835 and obtained a post to teach at the Episcopal school at Raleigh, North Carolina.

He became rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Hillsborough, North Carolina in 1841 and in charge of a parish at Society Hill, South Carolina in 1847 before returning to the Protestant Episcopal Church at Hillsborough in 1857.

As a botanist, Curtis explored the southern Appalachian Mountains, embarking on a major expedition in 1839.

He collected lichens for Edward Tuckerman and corresponded with many other botanists, including mycologist Miles Joseph Berkeley to whom he sent many specimens with descriptions and notes.