Byron
Cite this Page
"Byron," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/208.
- Position
- Stables
- Years in President's House
- circa 1832
- Legal Status
- Enslaved Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- Andrew Jackson
- Biography
- Byron was born around 1820. He appears on an 1829 inventory of enslaved people at Andrew Jackson’s plantation, The Hermitage. He was nine years old and was listed with his parents, Aron and Hanah, and siblings Rachel, Moses, and Charlotte. (1)
In April 1832, Byron was mentioned in a letter from the Hermitage’s overseer Graves W. Steele to President Andrew Jackson. The letter describes plans to send Byron, who would have then been approximately twelve years old, to Washington. Byron prepared to travel east alongside a horse trainer named William Alexander and other enslaved boys, Jame and Jessey. The group brought racing colts to the president. In October 1832, President Jackson wrote to his adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jr.: “I will endeavour to send Jame out by William & keep Byron until you & Sarah arrive and returns–They boys are all in good health.” (2) Another letter from Jackson in November states, “Byron and Jame has been on their way home eight days,” as they traveled back to the Hermitage. Jackson also instructed his son to “take Byron in the House & learn him neatness & industry. It remains unclear what Byron’s duties at the White House were, but it is likely he continued to work with the horses. (3)
It is currently unclear whether Byron ever returned to the White House. Further correspondence indicates that Byron continued to work with and train racing horses at the Hermitage. (4) Additional information about Byron’s life remains unknown at this time. - (1) “Inventory of Hermitage Slaves and Property,” The Papers of Andrew Jackson Edited by Daniel Feller, Thomas Coens, Laura-Eve Moss, and Harold D. Moser, Vol VII, 1829, 8, https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=utk_jackson
(2) “Graves W. Steele to Andrew Jackson, April 11, 1832,” The Papers of Andrew Jackson Edited by Daniel Feller, Thomas Coens, and Laura-Eve Moss, Vol X, 1832, 230, https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=utk_jackson.
(3) “Andrew Jackson to Andrew Jackson, Jr., October 21,, 1832,” The Papers of Andrew Jackson Edited by Daniel Feller, Thomas Coens, and Laura-Eve Moss, Vol X, 1832, 536, https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=utk_jackson.
(4)“Andrew Jackson to Andrew Jackson, Jr., June 5, 1834,” The Papers of Andrew Jackson Edited by Daniel Feller, Thomas Coens, Laura-Eve Moss, and Aaron Crawford, Vol XII, 1834, 283, https://trace.tennessee.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/d5f39fd7-8542-4445-874b-5ff62fd02959/content - Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Related Workers
- William Alexander
- Jesse
- JameTransportation, circa 1832
- JesseyTransportation, circa 1832
- Wiliam AlexanderTransportation, circa 1832