George DeBaptiste

One of the presidential households we know the least about is that of William Henry Harrison. Not only is documentation scarce but he also only served as president for one month before passing away on April 4, 1841. As a result, only a handful of individuals have been identified as working at the Harrison White House. 

George DeBaptiste was a Black man born to free parents George and Jane DeBaptiste circa 1815 in Richmond, Virginia.¹ Around 1837-1838, he moved to Madison, Indiana, where he trained as a barber and worked on shipping vessels between Indiana and Ohio; these diverse skills proved advantageous for his future. During his time in Madison, he also worked as a station agent or “conductor” with the Underground Railroad, a secret network that helped enslaved people escape to freedom.² Soon after, DeBaptiste met General William Henry Harrison—likely through his shipping work on the Ohio River—who hired DeBaptiste to serve as his valet throughout the presidential campaign of 1840; it is unlikely that Harrison knew of DeBaptiste’s abolitionist work. Newspapers reported later that “During all this time it was the business of Mr. DeBaptiste to look after the personal wants of the General, who obeyed the behests of his bright and intelligent servant in all matters relating to personal comfort and health.” William Henry Harrison defeated incumbent President Martin Van Buren and moved into the White House in March 1841, where George DeBaptiste continued to work as his valet. As valet to the president, DeBaptiste likely attended Harrison’s Inauguration on March 4, 1841. Little is known about DeBaptiste’s few weeks of work in the White House, though many obituaries share that he was present at Harrison’s untimely death a few weeks after Inauguration.³ 

In his post-White House years, George DeBaptiste became a prominent abolitionist and conductor on the Underground Railroad, working with abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and John Brown. He died in 1875 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.⁴