Thomas McGrath

Little is known about Thomas McGrath’s early life. Government records reveal that he became a naturalized U.S. citizen on June 8, 1815, while living in Washington, D.C.¹ This means he was born in another country, but the documents do not state which one.² Newspaper advertisements from Washington, D.C., make it clear that McGrath operated a nursery near Georgetown from at least 1805.³ Sometime during his presidency, James Madison hired McGrath as gardener at the White House, where he planted many trees and shrubs on the grounds and tended the kitchen garden. McGrath is the first documented person to have held this position.⁴ He may have only worked part-time at the White House since he continued to operate his nursery. For his work at the White House, he earned a salary of $300 per year.⁵ 

On August 24, 1814, when the British military burned the White House, McGrath played an important role in saving the portrait of George Washington that hung in the Residence; according to enslaved footman Paul Jennings, steward Jean-Pierre Sioussat and “Magraw, the President’s gardener, took [the portrait of George Washington] down and sent it off on a wagon,” before British troops arrived at the White House; other recollections of the events indicate McGrath physically broke the frame to remove and save the portrait.⁶ 

McGrath continued working at the White House until June 1819 when he was replaced as gardener by Charles Bizet for unknown reasons.⁷ Beyond that time, information about his life and career is scarce. 

Thank you to the Papers of James Madison, to Hilarie M. Hicks, Senior Research Historian, James Madison's Montpelier, and to Holly Shulman, editor of the Dolley Madison Digital Edition, for providing research assistance with this biography.