On July 4, 1878, Jeffersonville's National Democrat noted the passing of Lillie Curtis, 14, orphan. Placed in the home of a farm family, Curtis reportedly killed herself by consuming arsenic. Jacob Curtis and Elizabeth Merideth, with children including a Lilly, appear in New Albany, Indiana, on the 1870 U.S. Census. On February 25 1878, the Evening News reported that veterinarian George Brown of Bartholomew County adopted Ida Curtis, who may have been Lillie's younger sister.