John Pernier
Cite this Page
"John Pernier," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/125.
- Positions
- Footman
- Valet
- Years in President's House
- 1804 – 1807
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- Thomas Jefferson
- Biography
- John Pernier’s early life is unclear. He was described as a free mulatto, a Creole, and a Spaniard. He is listed on both white and free Black staff lists because of this uncertainty. He worked in the White House as a footman and as a body servant to Meriweather Lewis from 1804-1807. He took the place of previous footman, Abraham Golden. In 1807, Pernier left the White House with Meriweather Lewis when he became governor of the Louisiana Territory. Following Pernier's departure, Robert Dougherty, brother of coachman Joseph Dougherty, filled the position until the end of Jefferson's term.1 Following Meriwether Lewis's death from suicide in 1809, Pernier returned to the East Coast and visited Jefferson’s plantation, Monticello. A letter from John Christopher Suverman to Thomas Jefferson on August 8, 1810, states that Pernier died from apparent suicide after securing a bottle of laudanum. According to the letter he was facing destitution.2
- The White House Workers History Project relies on the U.S. Census Bureau’s updated guidelines for collecting demographic data related to race and ethnicity published in 2024. Adhering to these categories, this project identifies this person as Black or African American; however, there is documentation or other evidence suggesting that they were multiracial or mixed race. It is important to recognize that historical terms such as “mulatto” and “colored” are problematic, as these reflect the document writer’s views and the historical period more than the individual’s preferences or identity. Lucia Stanton, ‘A Well-Ordered Household:’ Domestic Servants in Jefferson's White House,” White House History 17 (Winter 2006).
- Donald Jackson, “On the Death of Meriwether Lewis’s Servant,” The William and Mary Quarterly 21, no. 3 (1964): 445–48. https://doi.org/10.2307/1918455; “John Christoph Süverman to Thomas Jefferson, 5 May 1810,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0321. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 2, 16 November 1809 to 11 August 1810, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 364–365.]
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Unclear from Context
- Related Workers
- Christopher SüvermanTransportation, 1801 – 1802
- Abraham GoldenValets, Lady's Maids, and First Family Attendants, Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, 1801 – 1804
- Robert DoughertyTransportation, 1807 – 1809
- Joseph DoughertyTransportation, 1800s
- Related Association Content
- https://www.whitehousehistory.org/a-well-ordered-household