Madame Rapin
Cite this Page
"Madame Rapin," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/131.
- Position
- Housekeeper
- Years in President's House
- 1801
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Presidency
- Thomas Jefferson
- Biography
- Madame Rapin was born around 1757. No information is available about her early life. According to Thomas Jefferson’s 1801 memorandum books, maître d' Joseph Rapin’s wife, unnamed, also joined the White House staff as “Femme de charge,” or housekeeper. Joseph left the White House and returned to Philadelphia six months later–his wife likely joined him.1 According to French diplomat Philippe De Létombe, Mrs. Rapin was forty-four years old in 1801 and did not have any children. He also states, “She would be an excellent housekeeper, able to take the greatest care of the personal and table linen, the silverware, the furniture, and to keep the house in the strictest order.”2 Although her name does not appear in White House records, there is a marriage recorded at Christ Church in Philadelphia on May 15, 1800, between Joseph Rapin and Elizabeth Greble. It is likely Elizabeth Greble is Rapin’s wife.3 There is no available information about her later life or death.
- “Memorandum Books, 1801,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/02-02-02-0011. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Second Series, Jefferson’s Memorandum Books, vol. 2, ed. James A Bear, Jr. and Lucia C. Stanton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997, pp. 1032–1061.]
- “To Thomas Jefferson from Philippe de Létombe, 28 February 1801,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-33-02-0085. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 33, 17 February–30 April 1801, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006, pp. 96–99.]
- “Elizabeth Greble in the Pennsylvania, U.S., Diocese of Pennsylvania Church Records, 1759-1972," Ancestry, Accessed April 1, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62460/records/90643768?tid=&pid=&queryId=d509b5ac-c898-484e-bc7d-b92d106ef08f&_phsrc=OuO71&_phstart=successSource; "Joseph Rapin in the Pennsylvania, U.S. Compiled Marriage Records, 1700-1821," Ancestry, Accessed April 1, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2383/records/53834.
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Unclear from Context
- Related Worker
- Joseph RapinUshers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, 1801