Joseph Boulanger
Cite this Page
"Joseph Boulanger," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/198.
- Position
- Steward
- Years in President's House
- 1833 – 1837
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Presidency
- Andrew Jackson
- Biography
- Joseph Boulanger was born in Liege, Belgium in 1791. (1) Extant paystubs in the Andrew Jackson Papers suggest that he began working at the White House as steward for President Jackson in May 1833; he had previously worked for the British minister. (2)
Although many secondary sources posit that Boulanger remained at the White House through the Van Buren, Harrison, and Tyler administrations, it appears that he opened a highly successful French restaurant in Washington, D.C. in January 1837. (3) It was located opposite John Gadsby’s National Hotel. (3) It is likely that he left the White House, rather than juggling these two positions.
In 1845, he applied for the position of White House steward for James K. Polk, but Polk instead employed German worker Henry Bowman. (4) Boulanger died in 1862 and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. (5) - (1) “Joseph Boulanger,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50300936/joseph-boulanger.
(2) See “Andrew Jackson to Joseph Boulanger, May 2, 1833,” Manuscript/Mixed Material, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/maj013125/; “Communicated,” Alexandria Gazette, January 6, 1842.
(3)”American and French Restaurant Nearly Opposite Gadsby’s,” Alexandria Gazette, January 12, 1837, pg. 3; “Communicated,” Alexandria Gazette, January 6, 1842, pg. 3; Untitled article in Alexandria Gazette, July 4, 1855, pg. 2; Ben Perley Poore, Perley’s Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis Vol. 1 (Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers Publishers, 1886), 179.
(4) See Calendar in Correspondence of James K. Polk Vol. 9 Ed. Wayne Cutler (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1996), 485.
(5)“Joseph Boulanger,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50300936/joseph-boulanger. - Birthplace
- Liege, Belgium
- Related Workers
- Unidentified Andrew Jackson Cook 2Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, circa 1829 – 1834
- John PrevauxKitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, circa 1832 – 1833