{{Short description|American lawyer and politician (1815–1894)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Andrew Gregg Curtin | image = Andrew Curtin2 (cropped).jpg | caption = Curtin between 1855 and 1865 | order = | office = 15th Governor of Pennsylvania | term_start = January 15, 1861 | term_end = January 15, 1867 | lieutenant = | predecessor = William F. Packer | successor = John W. Geary | title2 = Member of the<br />U.S. House of Representatives<br />from Pennsylvania's 20th district | term_start2 = March 4, 1881 | term_end2 = March 3, 1887 | predecessor2 = Seth Hartman Yocum | successor2 = John Patton | ambassador_from3 = United States | country3 = Russia | term_start3 = October 28, 1869 | term_end3 = July 1, 1872 | predecessor3 = Cassius Marcellus Clay | successor3 = James Lawrence Orr | president3 = Ulysses S. Grant | birth_date = {{nowrap|{{birth date|1815|4|22}}}} or<br />{{nowrap|{{birth date|1817|4|22}}}} | birth_place = Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and given age|1894|10|7|77 or 79}}}} | death_place = Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, U.S. | party = Whig, Republican, Democratic | spouse = Katharine Irvine Wilson | profession = Politician, lawyer | signature = Signature of Andrew Gregg Curtin (c. 1815–1894).png | module = {{Infobox designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Pennsylvania | designation1_date = October 9, 1950 | designation1_free1name = Location | designation1_free1value = Bellefonte }} | children = 5 }} '''Andrew Gregg Curtin''' (April 22, 1815{{spnd}}October 7, 1894) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 15th governor of Pennsylvania<ref>"[https://www.newspapers.com/image/325157119/?terms=%22David%20Rittenhouse%20Porter%22&match=1 The Governors of Pennsylvania]." Mount Union, Pennsylvania: ''The Mount Union Times'', January 27, 1911, p. 1 (subscription required).</ref> during the American Civil War,<ref>"[https://www.newspapers.com/image/322144341/?terms=%22Andrew%20Curtin%22&match=1 A Famous War Governor: Andrew Gregg Curtin, Known as the Soldiers' Friend]" (obituary). Indianapolis, Indiana: ''The Indianapolis Journal'', front page (subscription required).</ref> helped defend his state during the Gettysburg campaign, and oversaw the creation of the National Cemetery and the ceremony in which Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address.
==Early life and education== Curtin was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Sources vary as to his birth date. Some list April 22, 1815;<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=iqN2AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1479 Guide to Congress]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiZMAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA527 The Encyclopaedia Britannica]</ref> others list April 22, 1817.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9dvYAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA475 American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection]</ref> Curtin's gravestone uses the 1815 date.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/find-a-grave-prod/photos/2003/135/6647_1053104156.jpg |title=Curtin's gravestone |access-date=March 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328200914/https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/find-a-grave-prod/photos/2003/135/6647_1053104156.jpg |archive-date=March 28, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His parents were Roland Curtin Sr., a wealthy Irish-born iron manufacturer from County Clare, and Jane (née Gregg) Curtin, the daughter of U.S. Senator Andrew Gregg. Along with Miles Boggs, Curtin's father established Eagle Ironworks at Curtin Village in 1810.
Curtin's family was prominent in Pennsylvania politics and in the American Civil War. He was the great-grandson of James Potter, the vice president of Pennsylvania, and was the grandson of Andrew Gregg, a prominent Pennsylvania politician. He was the uncle of John I. Gregg and cousin of David McMurtrie Gregg, both Union generals in the Civil War. His cousin was Colonel John I. Curtin.
Curtin attended Bellefonte Academy, Dickinson College, and Dickinson School of Law.<ref name="AGCbioguide"/>
==Career== After law school, Curtin began practicing law. He first entered politics during the 1840 election, campaigning for Whig presidential candidate William Henry Harrison.<ref name=Explore>{{cite web|title=Andrew G. Curtin Historical Marker|url=http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-12A|website=ExplorePAHistory.com|publisher=WITF|access-date=December 4, 2014}}</ref>
In 1855, Pennsylvania governor James Pollock appointed Curtin Superintendent of Public Schools.<ref name=Explore/>
===Governor of Pennsylvania=== [[File:Curtin Smith Arch Philly.JPG|thumb|''Bust of Andrew Gregg Curtin'', a 1912 statue by Moses Jacob Ezekiel on display at Smith Memorial Arch in Philadelphia]] With the collapse of the Whig Party, Curtin switched to the newly formed Republican Party and successfully ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 1860. At the same time, he helped Abraham Lincoln win the Republican nomination for president.<ref name=Explore/> A large crowd attended Curtin's inaugural ceremonies on January 15, 1861.<ref>Sheridan, Leo W. "[https://www.newspapers.com/image/5674855/?terms=%22David%20Rittenhouse%20Porter%22&match=1 Great Crowds Attended Ceremonies of Inaugurals As Capitol Was Filled]." Lock Haven, Pennsylvania: ''The Express'', November 30, 1934, p. 4 (subscription required).</ref>
Curtin was a strong supporter of President Lincoln's policies in the Civil War, and Curtin committed Pennsylvania to the war effort,<ref name=Explore/> which he presumed would be over in a matter of three months.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lowry |first=Nancy |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/pennsylvania/new-castle/new-castle-news/2015/08-01/page-1 |url-access=subscription|title=Mount Jackson Served as Home to Battery B |work=New Castle News |date=August 1, 2015 |access-date=February 4, 2026|quote=The men responded to the call of Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew Curtin, who believed the war would be short—perhaps three months in duration—and would be fought on northern soil.}}</ref> Curtin organized the Pennsylvania Reserves into combat units, and oversaw the construction of the first Union military camp for training militia. It opened in an agricultural school nearby Harrisburg as Camp Curtin on April 18, 1861, and more than 300,000 men were drilled there during 4 years. In the years that followed, Curtin became a close friend and confidant of Abraham Lincoln, visiting the White House several times in order to converse about the status of the war effort.<ref name="phmc"/>
Curtin was very active during the Gettysburg Campaign, working with Major General Darius N. Couch and Major Granville O. Haller to delay Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and prevent it from crossing the Susquehanna River. Major General George G. Meade, a Pennsylvania officer whom Curtin had recommended for brigadier general and command of one of the Pennsylvania reserve brigades in 1861, defeated Lee in the Battle of Gettysburg.<ref name="phmc"/>
Following the Battle of Gettysburg, Governor Curtin was the principal force behind the establishment of the National Cemetery there. Through his agent, David Wills, Curtin persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to attend the dedication of the cemetery. Governor Curtin was sitting with Lincoln on the platform on November 19, 1863, when Lincoln delivered his famed Gettysburg Address.<ref name="phmc"/>
In his first term, Governor Curtin suffered a severe breakdown from the stresses of war. Secretary of State Eli Slifer handled governmental affairs during the increasingly frequent periods when Curtin was incapacitated. President Lincoln offered the governor a diplomatic position abroad, but he chose to run for reelection in 1863.<ref name="phmc"/>
To coordinate Union war efforts, Curtin convened the Loyal War Governors' Conference on September 24 and 25, 1862, in Altoona. This event was one of his most significant contributions to the Union war effort. He formed the Pennsylvania State Agency in Washington, and another branch in Nashville, Tennessee, to provide support for wounded soldiers on the battlefield and returned home. He also founded the state-funded Orphan's School to aid and educate children of military men who had died for the Union cause.<ref name="phmc"/>
Soon after the war, Curtin was elected to the honorary position of a 3rd Class Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States in recognition of his support for the Union during the war.<ref name="phmc"/>
As governor, from 1858 to 1860, Curtin also served as president of the Tyrone and Clearfield Railroad.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Bezilla | first1=Michael | last2=Gette | first2=Luther | title=Branch Line Empires: The Pennsylvania and the New York Central Railroads | date=2017 | series=Railroads Past and Present | publisher=Indiana University Press | location=Bloomington, Indiana | isbn=978-0-253-02958-4 | page=26}}</ref>
===Ambassador to Russia=== After the Civil War, Curtin lost his party's Senate nomination to Simon Cameron, and was appointed Ambassador to Russia by President Ulysses S. Grant.
===U.S. Representative=== Curtin later switched to the Democratic Party, and served as a U.S. Representative from 1881 until 1887.<ref name="AGCbioguide">{{cite web |title=CURTIN, Andrew Gregg (1817-1894) |url=https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=C001004 |website=bioguideretro.congress.gov |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=July 9, 2020}}</ref>
==Personal life== On May 30, 1844, Curtin was married to Katharine Irvine Wilson (1821–1903), a daughter of Dr. William Irvine Wilson and Mary (née Potter) Wilson.<ref name="Jordan2004">{{cite book |last1=Jordan |first1=John Woolf |title=Colonial And Revolutionary Families Of Pennsylvania |date=2004 |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com |isbn=978-0-8063-5239-8 |page=858 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arAfWBsvO1gC&pg=PA858 |access-date=July 9, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Together, they were the parents of:<ref name="phmc">{{cite web |title=Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin {{!}} PHMC > Pennsylvania Governors |url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/governors/1790-1876/andrew-curtin.html |website=www.phmc.state.pa.us |access-date=July 9, 2020}}</ref>
* Mary Curtin (1845–1927), who married George Fairlamb Harris.<ref name="Jordan2004"/> * Martha Irvin Curtin (1848–1935), who married Captain Kidder Randolph Breese.<ref name="Jordan2004"/> * Myron Stanley Curtin (1854–1857), who died young.<ref name="Jordan2004"/> * Katherine Irvine Wilson Curtin (1859–1930), who married Moses Dewitt Burnet.<ref name="Jordan2004"/> * Bessie Elliott Curtin (1865–1866), who died young.<ref name="Jordan2004"/>
==Death== Curtin died at his birthplace on October 7, 1894, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and is buried there in Union Cemetery.<ref name=Explore/>
==Legacy== The World War II Liberty Ship {{SS|Andrew G. Curtin}} was named in his honor.
==Notes== {{Reflist|30em}}
==References== * Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}. *{{cite web|url=http://www.isr.bucknell.edu/Collections_and_Borrowing/Special_Collections_University_Archives/Union_County_History/andrewcurtin.html |title=Bucknell University's Biography of Andrew Gregg Curtin |access-date=July 1, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111338/http://www.isr.bucknell.edu/Collections_and_Borrowing/Special_Collections_University_Archives/Union_County_History/andrewcurtin.html |archive-date=September 29, 2007 }} {{CongBio|C001004}} Retrieved on 2009-03-23
==External links== {{commons category}} {{EB1911 poster|Curtin, Andrew Gregg|Andrew Gregg Curtin}} *[https://books.google.com/books?id=vmRKAAAAYAAJ Life and Times of Andrew Gregg Curtin] (biography) *{{Find a Grave|6647|access-date=March 23, 2009}} * [http://www.curtin.org/ Curtin Clan Association Ancestry Centre]
{{S-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=David Wilmot}} {{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania|years=1860, 1863}} {{s-aft|after=John W. Geary}} {{s-off}} {{Succession box| before=William Packer |title=Governor of Pennsylvania | years=1861–1867 | after=John W. Geary}} {{s-dip}} {{Succession box |before=Cassius Marcellus Clay |title=United States Ambassador to Russia |years=1869–1872 |after=James Lawrence Orr}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box |state=Pennsylvania |district=20 |before=Seth Hartman Yocum |after=John Patton |years=1881–1887 }} {{S-end}}
{{Governors and Presidents of Pennsylvania}} {{US House Foreign Affairs chairs}} {{US House Financial Services chairs}} {{US Ambassadors to Russia}} {{Gettysburg figures|state=collapsed}} {{1868 United States presidential election}} {{United States presidential election, 1872}} {{1876 United States presidential election}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtin, Andrew Gregg}} Category:1810s births Category:1894 deaths Category:People from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania Category:American Presbyterians Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Pennsylvania Whigs Category:Pennsylvania Republicans Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Russia Category:Penn State Dickinson Law alumni Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Category:19th-century American diplomats Category:Union (American Civil War) state governors Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Pennsylvania Category:Democratic Party governors of Pennsylvania Category:Republican Party governors of Pennsylvania Category:Burials at Union Cemetery (Bellefonte, Pennsylvania) Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:Governors of Pennsylvania Category:Pennsylvania Democrats Category:Ambassadors of the United States to the Russian Empire Category:United States representatives from Pennsylvania