OGDENSBURG -- The Greater Ogdensburg Chamber of Commerce’s 2016 Christmas ornament is the General Curtis monument.

Every year in March at the Ogdensburg Boys & Girls Club Expo, the chamber hosts a vote for a local historic landmark to be depicted on a collectable ornament which the Chamber offers for sale.

The “General Curtis Monument” was voted this year’s winner. General Newton Martin Curtis was born in DePeyster on May 21, 1835. He was a Union officer during the Civil War and a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.

Upon his graduation from the Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary, Curtis became a teacher, lawyer and the postmaster of DePeyster. The year before the Civil War, he worked as a farmer.

General Curtis volunteered in the Union Army as a captain on May 15, 1861. He fought in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in May 1864 and the Siege of Petersburg. He received a promotion to brevet major general in October 1864 for his actions at the Battle of New Market Heights. His brigade played a key role in the Union victory with their attack against Fort Fisher in North Carolina in December 1864. He was wounded four times when he personally led each assault on the traverses during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher. He received a full promotion to brigadier general of volunteers and awarded the Medal of Honor. He remained in the Army until January 1866. He was only 31 years old at the time.

After the war, Curtis was appointed collector of customs in the district of Oswegatchie in 1866 and then a special agent for the United States Treasury Department from 1867 to 1880. He was in the Department of Justice from 1880 until 1882. He was a member of the New York Assembly (St. Lawrence County, 1st District) from 1884 to 1890.

Curtis was elected as a Republican to the 52nd Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Leslie W. Russell. Curtis was then re-elected to the 53rd and 54th Congresses, holding office from Nov. 3, 1891 until March 3, 1897. He was also Chairman of the House Committee on the Election of the President, Vice President and Representatives in the 54th Congress.

He wrote a book titled “From Bull Run to Chancellorsville,” which was published in 1906. He was also the assistant inspector general of the National Home for the Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.

General Newton Martin Curtis died on Jan. 8, 1910 in New York City and is buried in the Ogdensburg Cemetery. A statue stands in his honor beside the Dobisky Visitor’s Center overlooking the St. Lawrence River. For more information on General Newton Martin Curtis or the history of the City of Ogdensburg, people can go to the City of Ogdensburg’s website at www. ogdensburg.org/history.html.

All the available ornaments are for sale in the Chamber Office (OBPA Building) at 1 Bridge Plaza, Suite 104.

The General Newton Martin Curtis ornament is $18.