Daniel
Cite this Page
"Daniel," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/165.
- Position
- Unclear from Context Unclear from Context
- Years in President's House
- circa 1817 – 1821
- Legal Status
- Enslaved Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- James Monroe
- Biography
- Information about Daniel’s birth, life, and death remain scarce. Surviving household accounts show expenses related to shoes and clothing for Daniel identifying him 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 he was and his responsibilities at the White House. (1)
There is an enslaved man named Daniel 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) Daniel appears in an 1819 letter from James Monroe at Oak Hill to Samuel Lane. This Daniel was not at the White House in October that year and the letter refers to him as a “worthless scoundrel.” “Daniel,” James Monroe Highland, accessed August 14, 2025, https://highland.org/enslaved-biographies/daniel/. - Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Related Association Content
- https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-enslaved-households-of-president-james-monroe