Madame Julien
Cite this Page
"Madame Julien," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/132.
- Position
- Unclear from Context Unclear from Context
- Years in President's House
- 1801
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Presidency
- Thomas Jefferson
- Biography
- In May 1801, Thomas Jefferson hired French chef Honoré Julien to serve at the White House. Julien traveled from Philadelphia to take the job. His unnamed wife was slated to join him if he did well in the position.1 According to Jefferson’s 1801 Memorandum Book, she did join him at the White House. In July, September, and November that year, Julien’s wife was listed with other staff as “Made. Julien,” earning $8.00 per month. Her duties remain unknown.2
- “To Thomas Jefferson from Philippe de Létombe, 26 March 1801,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-33-02-0391. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 33, 17 February–30 April 1801, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006, pp. 449–451.]
- “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.]
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Unclear from Context