George
Cite this Page
"George," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/199.
- Positions
- Valet
- Coachman
- Years in President's House
- 1829 – 1837
- Legal Status
- Enslaved Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- Andrew Jackson
- Biography
- George was born in 1800 to Andrew Jackson’s enslaved cook, “Old Hannah.” (1) He later accompanied President Jackson to the White House in 1829 as his valet and carriage driver. In this role, he would have dressed and groomed Jackson, traveled with him, and tended to his needs throughout the day. (2) According to scholar Callie Hopkins, he likely slept in the president’s bedroom “on a pallet next to his bed, so that he was accessible any time Jackson needed him.” (3) On one occasion in 1835, George intercepted a White House intruder. According to a letter sent to Andrew Jackson Donelson from an acquaintance, “A blackgaurd attempted to get into the Presidents chamber at two Oclock last night. Earl & George made a prisinor of him & put him for safe keeping into the fillys stable but the fellow not liking his quarters broke out at the back window and made his escape.” (4)
When Jackson returned to his plantation in Tennessee in 1837, so did George. George was married to an enslaved woman named Amanthus; she lived on a plantation near The Hermitage in Tennessee. According to historians at The Hermitage, when his wife’s owner moved to Memphis in the 1840’s, “the Jacksons hired George out to a Donelson relative there so he could be near her.” (4) George was present at Jackson’s death bed on June 8, 1845 at The Hermitage. (5) Information about his later life and death remains unknown. (6) - (1) “Enslaved Families,” The Hermitage, https://thehermitage.com/learn/slavery/enslaved-families/.
(2) “Enslaved Families,” The Hermitage, https://thehermitage.com/learn/slavery/enslaved-families/.
(3) Callie Hopkins, “The Enslaved Household of President Andrew Jackson,” White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/slavery-in-the-andrew-jackson-white-house.
(4) Earl mentioned in this quote was Ralph Earl, an artist and friend of Andrew Jackson that lived in the White House, “Letter from George Gibson to Andrew Jackson Donelson, April 18, 1835, The Hermitage, https://thehermitage.com/blogs/posts/unsolved-mysteries-the-great-white-house-break-in-of-1835; “Unsolved Mysteries: The Great White House Break-In of 1835,” The Hermitage, April 18, 2024, https://thehermitage.com/blogs/posts/unsolved-mysteries-the-great-white-house-break-in-of-1835.
(4) “Unsolved Mysteries: the Great White House Break-In of 1835,” The Hermitage, April 18, 2024, https://thehermitage.com/blogs/posts/unsolved-mysteries-the-great-white-house-break-in-of-1835.
(5) Callie Hopkins, “The Enslaved Household of President Andrew Jackson,” White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/slavery-in-the-andrew-jackson-white-house.
(6) In late 2024, a peer reviewed report confirmed the location of a cemetery on The Hermitage grounds where twenty-eight enslaved people were likely buried. It is possible George is one of these individuals. “Enslaved Cemetery,” The Hermitage, accessed January 15, 2025, https://thehermitage.com/enslaved-cemetery. - Birthplace
- Tennessee, USA
- Related Association Content
- https://www.whitehousehistory.org/slavery-in-the-andrew-jackson-white-house