White House Workers

Valet and butler · Served 1901–1909 · Born 1879, Washington, D.C. · Age 22 in 1901

Hired in 1901 after his father, a D.C. police officer, got to know the president on his rides in Rock Creek Park. He started out minding and serving the youngest Roosevelt children, even umpiring Quentin's baseball games, and became the president's personal attendant. He later served T.R. at Sagamore Hill, was with him the night he died in 1919, and became one of the first Black agents of the Bureau of Investigation, forerunner of the FBI. Read the full biography

Maids to Edith Roosevelt · Served ca. 1901–ca. 1909 · Born in Ireland

Four Irish-born maids named on a staff list from the Roosevelt years. Edith Roosevelt brought three maids and a cook with her from Oyster Bay, and some of these women may have been among them. One was the sister of Usher Patrick McKenna. Their surnames have not been found. Full entries: Anna, Annie, Mary, Rose

Head housekeeper · Served ca. 1899–ca. 1901 · Born 1872, Tennessee · Age 29 in 1901

As head housekeeper she ran the domestic staff alongside the steward, earning $25 a month under McKinley. She was still in the job when the Roosevelts moved in and left within about a year. Read the full biography

Butler · Served ca. 1905–1913 · Born about 1882, Virginia · Age about 23 in 1905

Served meals and looked after the family and their guests from about 1905, staying on under Taft. In 1913 he moved to the War Department as a messenger. Read the full biography

Laundry applicant · Applied 1903

Wrote to Edith Roosevelt in 1903 asking for work. The president's secretary told the steward to keep her in mind for the next opening in the laundry, but no record yet confirms she was hired. Around ten women worked in the White House laundry in these years, and almost none of their names survive. Read the full biography

Head butler · Served ca. 1901–ca. 1909

Head butler through T.R.'s presidency and the man who held the keys to the wine stores. Almost everything known about him comes from the social secretary's memoir and from testimony at T.R.'s 1913 libel trial. Read the full biography

Assistant cook · Served ca. 1900–1914 · Born 1854, West Virginia · Age 47 in 1901

An assistant cook for about fifteen years whose cooking won over three presidents. T.R. and Woodrow Wilson favored her chicken, hoecakes, griddle cakes and waffles, and newspapers blamed her for some of Taft's weight. She left in 1914 after eloping with a neighbor. Read the full biography

Steward, presidential yacht Sylph · Served ca. 1901–ca. 1908

Steward aboard the presidential yacht Sylph throughout T.R.'s presidency, and often called on for work at the White House. T.R. wrote him a warm letter of recommendation in 1908. He is probably not the same man as Coachman Charles H. Lee. Read the full biography

Steward, later messenger · Served 1901–1911 · Born about 1857, Charleston, South Carolina · Age about 44 in 1901

T.R. knew him from the New York governor's mansion in Albany and brought him to Washington in 1901. As steward he shopped the city markets daily for the household and saw the children to and from school, and he lived in the White House basement, where his son Roswell became Quentin's friend. He was the last person to hold the title of White House steward. Read the full biography

Footman · Served 1897–1910 · Born 1872, Washington, D.C. · Age 29 in 1901

Hired by McKinley, he stayed on for the Roosevelts and looked after the family's pets. In 1903 he got the pony Algonquin into the White House elevator to visit a sick Archie upstairs. He was a guest at Theodore Roosevelt Jr.'s wedding in 1910. Read the full biography

Steward · Served 1885–1889, 1893–1902 · Born 1855, Erie, New York · Age 45 in 1901

Grover Cleveland's steward from Albany, he managed food, furnishings and supplies for Cleveland and McKinley and had an office in the White House basement. Soon after taking office, T.R. replaced him with Henry Pinckney. Read the full biography

Laborer, then doorkeeper · Served ca. 1903–ca. 1911 · Born 1873, Massachusetts · Age about 30 in 1903

Hired in 1903 to take on the many jobs Jerry Smith was giving up, he was a doorkeeper by 1909, greeting and escorting guests. He moved to the Bureau of Statistics in 1911. Read the full biography

Messenger, doorkeeper and butler · Served ca. 1870–1908 · Born 1836, Alexandria, Virginia · Age 65 in 1901

For nearly four decades he carried confidential messages around Washington on horseback in every season. Thrown and injured in a fall in 1896, he insisted on delivering the president's note before anyone tended to him. Read the full biography

Usher · Served ca. 1903–ca. 1905 · Born 1845, Benson, Vermont · Age 58 in 1903

A Union veteran of the 9th Vermont Infantry and a former New York publisher, he greeted and escorted visitors under Chief Usher Thomas Stone. Off duty, he raised money toward a Lincoln Memorial. Read the full biography

Custodian, messenger and clerk · Served 1908–1950 · Born 1886, Howard County, Maryland · Age 22 in 1908

Started as a janitor in 1908 and became a messenger trusted with confidential presidential mail, rising to chief messenger over eight presidencies. At the holidays he set up a tree hung with peanuts for the White House squirrels. He was an officer of the Chandelier Club, a social club of Black men on the staff. Read the full biography

Watchman, doorkeeper and usher · Served ca. 1891–1911 · Born 1843, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania · Age 58 in 1901

A shoemaker and Union veteran who guarded the doors for twenty years and was a favorite of the Roosevelt children. Let go in 1911, he wrote to T.R. that he had been the last old soldier on duty in the house. Read the full biography

Policeman, usher and doorkeeper · Served ca. 1880–1902 · Born 1832, New York · Age 69 in 1901

A Union veteran and Metropolitan Police officer detailed to the White House around 1880, he became chief doorkeeper in 1896. Ill health led him to transfer out in 1902, and Thomas Stone took his place. Read the full biography

Messenger and barber · Served ca. 1903–ca. 1905 · Born in Tennessee

Listed on the federal payroll as a White House messenger at $900 a year, and identified at T.R.'s 1913 libel trial as the former White House barber. He likely did both jobs. Read the full biography

Messenger, doorkeeper and clerk · Served ca. 1901–1915 · Born about 1860, New Gloucester, Maine · Age about 41 in 1901

T.R.'s coachman at Oyster Bay, he came to Washington when Roosevelt offered him a White House messenger post in late 1901. He stayed into the Wilson years as a clerk. Read the full biography

Messenger, then doorkeeper · Served ca. 1902–1909 · Born 1884, Albany, New York · Age 18 in 1902

As a teenage newspaper runner in Albany he collided in a hallway with William Loeb, Governor Roosevelt's secretary. Loeb later hired him at the White House, where Hans became his doorkeeper, watched for suspicious visitors, traveled with T.R. to the 1905 Rough Riders reunion in Texas, and played checkers with Archie after school. Read the full biography

Electrician, doorkeeper and usher · Served 1891–1933 · Born 1871, Washington, D.C. · Age 29 in 1901

Came in 1891 to wire the White House for electricity and stayed 42 years. He joined the ushers in 1904 and became chief usher under Taft, shaping that post into the head of the household it is today. Read the full biography

Messenger and dog keeper · Served 1907–1927 · Born 1878, Virginia · Age about 29 in 1907

Hired by the Roosevelts in 1907, he ran the family's errands by bicycle and often led the pony Algonquin to school to bring Archie or Quentin home. He cared for presidential pets for twenty years and was a guest at Theodore Roosevelt Jr.'s wedding. Read the full biography

Usher · Served 1904–ca. 1909 · Born 1871, Washington, D.C. · Age 32 in 1904

A pharmacist turned Pullman conductor, he ran the presidential trains for McKinley and T.R. Roosevelt made him an usher in 1904. Afterward he became an immigration inspector. Read the full biography

Usher, doorkeeper and messenger · Served 1870–1910 · Born 1837, Germany · Age 64 in 1901

A cavalry veteran who rose to the rank of major, he served at the White House from Grant's presidency and was doorkeeper to the president from 1885. After stepping down in 1909 he was kept on call for major events. Read the full biography

Usher · Served 1902–1904 · Born in the late 1860s in England · Age mid-30s in 1902

A butler in the home of T.R.'s brother-in-law, William S. Cowles, before becoming an usher in the Entrance Hall. He left in 1904 for New York's St. Regis Hotel, which he eventually managed. Read the full biography

Doorkeeper, usher and clerk · Served 1903–1940 · Born about 1876, Ireland · Age about 27 in 1903

T.R. reportedly met him at a yacht club near Oyster Bay and brought him to the White House in 1903. For 37 years he sat outside the president's office keeping visitors on schedule. Franklin Roosevelt counted him among his oldest friends. Read the full biography

Messenger, usher and doorkeeper · Served 1890–1905 · Born about 1871, New York · Age about 30 in 1901

A former Senate page hired in 1890 as a riding messenger. He later worked as an usher and left in 1905 for immigration work at Ellis Island. Read the full biography

Usher · Served ca. 1902–ca. 1911

Usher who greeted T.R. at the temporary residence on Jackson Place during the 1902 renovation. In 1908 he sat in as the president's legs while Gari Melchers painted Roosevelt's portrait in riding clothes. Read the full biography

Doorkeeper, usher and messenger · Served 1864–1909 · Born 1824, Washington, D.C. · Age 77 in 1901

Assigned to guard Abraham Lincoln in 1864, he was still on duty 45 years later. He served through the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley and once disarmed an armed man trying to see President Arthur. He died in March 1909, still on staff. Read the full biography

Doorkeeper and clerk · Served 1901–ca. 1931 · Born about 1867, Havre de Grace, Maryland · Age about 34 in 1901

A Pullman conductor whom McKinley appointed doorkeeper in 1901. He kept the post under T.R. and Taft, then worked as a clerk for the president's office until his death in 1931. Read the full biography

Messenger and doorkeeper · Served ca. 1871–1889, 1893–1905 · Born 1838, New Bern, North Carolina · Age 63 in 1901

Born into slavery, he became one of the best-known faces in Washington as the doorkeeper who decided which callers saw the president. He turned Charles Guiteau away several times before Guiteau shot President Garfield. He moved to the Interior Department in 1905. Read the full biography

Chief usher · Served 1901–1911 · Born 1869, Leonardtown, Maryland · Age 32 in 1901

Another Pullman conductor, recruited after impressing McKinley on his trains. He became chief usher in 1902 and ran the front of the house for the rest of T.R.'s presidency. He later directed Prohibition enforcement across the mid-Atlantic. Read the full biography

Usher, doorkeeper, watchman and valet · Served 1897–1905 · Born 1869, Switzerland · Age 32 in 1901

Officially a watchman, he served as McKinley's valet and informal bodyguard. He stayed on as a doorkeeper and joined the ushers in T.R.'s new executive offices. Read the full biography

Coachman · Served ca. 1909 · Born 1881, Culpeper, Virginia · Age 20 in 1901

Coachman and servant to the White House physician, Presley Rixey, he went along on T.R.'s hunting trips and the children's outings. No record yet confirms he was on the White House payroll. Read the full biography

Stable foreman · Served ca. 1900–ca. 1909 · Born 1858, Montgomery County, New York · Age 42 in 1901

Foreman of the White House stables, in charge of the horses, coachmen and grooms. A veteran of the harness-racing circuit, he was said to tell a horse's age by its cough. He left as Taft retired the stables. Read the full biography

Coachman · Served ca. 1901–1909 · Born about 1874, Virginia · Age about 26 in 1901

Drove the president and family in dark blue livery with silver buttons, and moved T.R.'s horses between Washington and Sagamore Hill. He followed Roosevelt to Sagamore Hill in 1909, lived on the property, and worked for the family until 1934. Read the full biography

First groom · Served ca. 1902 · Born in England

English-born first groom, responsible in 1902 for the care of all fifteen horses in the stables. Read the full biography

Coachman · Served ca. 1907

Named in a 1907 newspaper article as the president's coachman. Nothing more is known about him. Read the full biography

Gardener and florist · Served 1882–1932 · Born 1860, Washington, D.C. · Age 41 in 1901

Spent fifty years on the gardens, grounds and conservatory, preparing flowers for White House events, and rose to head of shrubs and trees. Read the full biography

Gardener · Served ca. 1881–ca. 1931 · Born 1868, Washington, D.C. · Age 33 in 1901

Started as a teenage waterboy and rose to foreman gardener at the greenhouses, where he took in a stray dog named Dick as the crew's mascot. Read the full biography

Florist · Served ca. 1903–ca. 1931 · Born 1871, Virginia · Age about 32 in 1903

A government florist who worked on the grounds or in the White House greenhouses for nearly three decades. Read the full biography

Gardener, greenhouse manager · Served 1870–1909 · Born 1839, Edinburgh, Scotland · Age 61 in 1901

A Scottish-born landscape gardener who managed the new greenhouse complex on the Mall from 1902. He bred new chrysanthemums for White House decoration and helped Edith Roosevelt choose flowers for dinners. Read the full biography

Gardener and florist · Served ca. 1904–ca. 1920 · Born 1858, Washington, D.C. · Age about 46 in 1904

A Washington florist who joined the White House greenhouses after his father retired and worked there about sixteen years. Read the full biography

Head gardener · Served 1886–1931 · Born 1856, England · Age 45 in 1901

English-trained head gardener who chose flowers for state dinners, weddings and funerals and helped stage the Easter Egg Roll. In 1912 he supervised the planting of the cherry trees along the Tidal Basin. Read the full biography

Fireman, florist and gardener · Served ca. 1895–ca. 1929 · Born about 1867, Germany · Age about 34 in 1901

A German-born gardener and florist on the grounds for more than thirty years. He likely helped his nephew, John E. Hiser, find work as a White House engineer. Read the full biography

Gardener and florist · Served 1888–1942 · Born 1872, Washington, D.C. · Age 29 in 1901

Started as a waterboy in 1888, served ten presidents and became foreman of the greenhouses. His specialty was carnations, a lasting presidential favorite. Read the full biography

Florist and gardener · Served 1881–1915 · Born 1860, Washington, D.C. · Age 41 in 1901

Made thousands of bouquets for White House receptions and became foreman of the grounds, overseeing the flower beds until his death in 1915. Read the full biography

Head gardener · Served 1877–1902 · Born 1845, Zurich, Switzerland · Age 55 in 1901

Swiss-born head gardener for 25 years, in charge of the conservatory and every floral display. His post ended in 1902 when the conservatory was torn down for the new executive offices, and he opened his own florist shop. Read the full biography

Gardener · Served ca. 1905–1945 · Born 1880, Washington, D.C. · Age 25 in 1905

Began by growing ferns and orchids in 1905 and spent forty years caring for the grounds, eventually supervising floral decorations. Eleanor Roosevelt praised his work in her newspaper column. Read the full biography

Gardener and florist · Served 1895–1942 · Born 1876, Washington, D.C. · Age 24 in 1901

From a family of horticulturists, he helped plant the Tidal Basin cherry trees in 1912 and designed the presidential wreaths for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He later ran the whole greenhouse complex. Read the full biography

Fireman and gardener · Served 1878–1901 · Born 1848, Switzerland · Age 52 in 1901

Started by tending the furnaces in 1878 and soon moved to the gardens. He died in September 1901, the month T.R. took office. Read the full biography

Florist and gardener · Served 1908–1961 · Born 1885, Maryland · Age 23 in 1908

Joined in 1908 after Foreman Albert Oliphant tried him out and refused to let him go. Over 53 years he arranged White House flowers, bottle-fed Wilson's lambs and brought Mamie Eisenhower roses each day. President Kennedy shook his hand on his last day. Read the full biography

Fireman, florist and laborer · Served 1885–ca. 1910 · Born 1852, Washington, D.C. · Age 49 in 1901

Started in the greenhouses and on the grounds, then became night fireman for the heating plant. In 1903 he rescued Jerry Smith when Smith was trapped between floors on the new elevator. Read the full biography

Engineer · Served ca. 1901–ca. 1953 · Born 1884, Washington, D.C. · Age 17 in 1901

Joined as a teenage engineer and rose to chief engineer, serving nine presidents over more than fifty years. Read the full biography

Painter · Served ca. 1903–ca. 1940 · Born 1873, Washington, D.C. · Age 30 in 1903

The White House's boss painter for decades, credited by newspapers with keeping the mansion white. He also worked on the Washington Monument. Read the full biography

Fireman, then chief engineer · Served 1892–1932 · Born 1867, Maryland · Age 34 in 1901

A former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad fireman who kept the White House fires and rose to chief engineer over forty years. He married Doorkeeper Pat McKenna's sister. Read the full biography

Electrician · Served ca. 1908–1911 · Born about 1870, Morrisville, Virginia · Age about 38 in 1908

Head of the electrical staff at West Point before joining the White House in 1908. In 1911 he eloped with Helen Taft's maid. Read the full biography