Mary Murphy

President John Tyler relied on a mix of free and enslaved labor at the White House. As a result, it can sometimes be difficult to determine a worker’s legal status–one such example is Mary Murphy. 

The only known references of Murphy come from an incident in 1844. According to the National Intelligencer, a “colored woman named Mary Murphy” who was “living at the President’s house, was charged with stealing silver table and teaspoons, the property of the United States.”¹ An investigation was conducted by local justices, and one individual, “Avery” was held on suspicion of receiving stolen property. The article continues, “A colored servant belonging to the president is also implicated in this theft.”² Two individuals faced criminal charges for receiving stolen property – George Avery and Susan Goodyear; however, Murphy does not appear in these court records. Her absence from the proceedings suggests she was never charged with a crime—and if she was a free woman, the city attorney certainly would have prosecuted her for stealing from the President’s House. However, if Murphy was enslaved and hired out to work at the Tyler White House, her owner may have decided to sell her before she faced criminal charges.³ Regardless of her legal status, there is little else known about Murphy or her life beyond this publicized event.