Emily Marbury Dent Casey

Emma Dent Casey at age 80 posed for a photo in the Evening Times (Washington, DC)

Library of Congress

Quick Facts

Significance:

Youngest sister of First Lady Julia Dent Grant and Sister-in-Law of President Ulysses S. Grant

Place of Birth:

Saint Louis, Missouri

Date of Birth:

June 6, 1836

Place of Death:

Washington, DC

Date of Death:

April 21, 1920

Place of Burial:

Washington, DC

Cemetery Name:

Oak Hill Cemetery

"I was a very little girl when General Grant first came to our house; in fact, I was not yet seven years old. It was I whom he first met, and years after, when my sister Julia had become his wife, it used to be my teasing boast that I knew him best because I had known him longest." 

Emily ("Emma") Marbury Dent Casey was the youngest sister of First Lady Julia Dent Grant and the sister-in-law of President Ulysses S. Grant. Born and raised at White Haven in St. Louis, Missouri, she told her life story in a short 1908 autobiography entitled "When Grant went A-Courtin'." In her recollections, Emma described her first encounter with Ulysses S. Grant, who visited White Haven for the first time while stationed with the U.S. Army at Jefferson Barracks in 1843. She also lived at White Haven when the Grant family lived at the home from 1854 to 1859. Emma nostaglically recalled her childhood and romanticized slavery at White Haven. At a young age, she was informally gifted four enslaved African Americans from her father, Frederick F. Dent. Henrietta, Sue, Ann, and Jeff grew up with Emma and served her needs while living at White Haven. In 1862, Frederick Dent wrote a bill of sale to Emma and sold these enslaved people to her. Emma also recalled that she was strongly supportive of the Confederacy during the Civil War. "I may say . . . that my own views always agreed with my father's in politics . . . He was always very fond of saying during the war that 'Emmy and I are the only rebels in the house'." 

Emma married James F. Casey of Caseyville, Kentucky, on February 14, 1861. James Casey served as Customs Collector for the U.S. Treasury Department in New Orleans during the entirety of Ulysses S. Grant's presidency. The Caseys had six children, Frederick Dent Casey, Susan Gibson Casey, Louis Dent Casey, Jules Grant Casey, James Finney Casey, Jr., and Emma Dent Casey. When her husband died in 1888, Emma moved to Washington, DC, where she lived with her youngest daugther, who worked for the Food Administration (FDA), until her death in 1920.

In the early 1990s, descendents of Emma and James Casey donated a large collection of artifacts to Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. These artifacts include General Grant's shaving kit, his three-star shoulder strap noting his rank of Lieutenant General during American Civil War, and the original manuscript of "When Grant went A-Courtin'." Many of these artifacts are on display inside the park's museum.