White House Historical Association

Charlotte Jener

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"Charlotte Jener," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/182.
Position
Kitchen Assistant
Years in President's House
circa 1829
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Female
Race/Ethnicity
Unclear from Context
Presidency
John Quincy Adams
Biography
In February 1829, President John Quincy Adams listed the members of his White House staff in his diary, including Charlotte Jener, whom Adams identified as a kitchen maid. She worked alongside Berney the cook, and cook maids Mary Baun and Fanny Thomas.1 Charlotte does not appear in any other of Adams’s diary entries. As such, it is unknown when Charlotte began working at the White House. An inventory of Adams’s household employees taken in 1830 after his departure from the White House does not include Charlotte, indicating she did not follow Adams to Massachusetts to stay in his employ as some of the other White House staff did.2 Nothing else is known about Charlotte at this point.
  1. John Quincy Adams Digital Diary, February 1829, https://www.primarysourcecoop.org/publications/jqa/document/jqadiaries-v36i-1829-02-p129--entry29?navmode=searchresults&doci=18&ss=Kirk|Kirk
  2. John Quincy Adams Digital Diary, June 30, 1830, https://www.primarysourcecoop.org/publications/jqa/document/jqadiaries-v36-1830-06-p465--entry30?doci=19
Birthplace
Unclear from context
Unclear from context
Related Workers
Auguste Bernay
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, circa 1828 – 1829
Mary Baun
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, circa 1829
Fanny Thomas
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, circa 1829
Berney