Currie
Cite this Page
"Currie," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/113.
- Position
- Coachman
- Years in President's House
- 1800 – 1801
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Unclear from Context
- Presidency
- John Adams
- Biography
- Currie served as a coachman for President John Adams and First Lady Abigail Adams, likely at the President’s House in Philadelphia as well as at the White House. Only his first name is known. In a letter written by John Adams’s nephew and private secretary, William Smith Shaw on June 1, 1800, he states, “Currie proves himself to be an excellent driver and an extremely obliging and excellent coachman–the two footman do as well.” He started working for the family in the summer of 1800, while they still employed another coachman named Joshua Jackson. However, Joshua passed away in October 1800, and Currie continued to work for the family. Additional details about Currie’s life are scarce.1
- “William Smith Shaw, to Abigail Adams,” June 1, 1800, Adams Family Correspondence, volume 14, https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-04-14-02-0147#sn=10; “Abigail Adams to John Adams,” November 11, 1800, Adams Family Correspondence, volume 14, https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-04-14-02-0202#sn=11.
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Unclear from Context
- Related Worker
- Joshua Jackson
- Related Association Content
- https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-households-of-john-adams