Betsey
Cite this Page
"Betsey," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/164.
- Position
- Unclear from Context Unclear from Context
- Years in President's House
- circa 1817 – 1821
- Legal Status
- Enslaved Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- James Monroe
- Biography
- Information about Betsey’s birth, life, and death remain scarce. Surviving household accounts show expenses related to shoes and medical care for Betsey, identifying her as part of President James Monroe’s household. However, these records were only kept during Monroe’s summers away from Washington and reveal very little about who she was and her responsibilities at the White House. (1)
There is an enslaved woman named Betsy Sanders associated with James Monroe’s Virginia plantation Highland. It remains unclear whether this is the same individual. (2) - (1) Matthew Costello, “The Enslaved Households of President James Monroe,” The White House Historical Association, February 25, 2020, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-enslaved-households-of-president-james-monroe.
(2) Betsy Sanders was born around 1794 and died after 1860. More information is needed to make a concrete connection. “Betsy Sanders,” James Monroe Highland, accessed August 14, 2025, https://highland.org/enslaved-biographies/betsy/. - Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Related Association Content
- https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-enslaved-households-of-president-james-monroe