White House Historical Association

Richard Curtin

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"Richard Curtin," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/431.
Position
Stables
Years in President's House
1869 – circa 1874
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Unclear from Context
Presidency
Ulysses S. Grant
Biography
Around 1866, General Ulysses S. Grant hired a man named Richard Curtin to work for him in Washington, D.C. after the Civil War. Curtin lived onsite at the Grants’ home on I St. NW and cared for the family’s horses.1 After Grant became president in 1869, he brought Curtin to the White House to serve as a groom/hostler in the stables. In this role, Curtin managed the upkeep of the stables, cared for the horses, and transported them to and from White Haven, the Grant family’s farm in Missouri, and Washington, D.C. as needed.2 Curtin appears in Grant’s correspondence through 1874.3 He may have continued to work for the White House or elsewhere in the government beyond that date. In 1881, Richard Curtin appeared on that year’s government register working with “Horses and Carts” for the War Department in Washington, D.C.4 This source suggests Curtin was born in Ireland, but further information about his life and career is scarce.5
  1. In 1870, Grant wrote: “My horses star[t] for St. Louis to-morrow in care of a man who has lived with me over four years.” See Ulysses S. Grant to William Elrod, October 26, 1870 in John Y. Simon, "The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 20: November 1,1869-October 31, 1870" (1995). Volumes of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/usg-volumes/20; William H. Boyd, Boyd’s Directory of Washington and Georgetown (Washington, D.C.: 1867), 217.
  2. Ulysses Grant to Richard Curtin, April 9, 1873 in John Y. Simon, "The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 24: 1873" (2000). Volumes of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/usg-volumes/8; “The White House-The Retinue of a Republican President,” The Greeneville Democrat (Ohio), June 1, 1870, pg. 2; Ulysses S. Grant to Charles W. Ford, October 26, 1870 in John Y. Simon, "The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 20: November 1,1869-October 31, 1870" (1995). Volumes of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/usg-volumes/20.
  3. Ulysses S. Grant to Nathaniel Carlin, April 14, 1874 in John Y. Simon, "The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 25: 1874" (2003). Volumes of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant. 24. https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/usg-volumes/24.
  4. Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1881), pg. 385.
  5. Several Irishmen named Richard Curtin lived in D.C. at the time, but their listed occupations do not correlate with this individual. See Richard Curtin in the Washington, District of Columbia, U.S., Death Certificates, 1874-1931, District of Columbia Public Library; Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C. Deaths, 1874-1945; Richard Curtin in the 1880 United States Federal Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: 123; Page: 436b; Enumeration District: 067, Ancestry.com.
Birthplace
Ireland
Unclear from Context