Roscius Short

Little is known about Roscius Short’s birth and early life. His parents, William Short Sr. and Louisa Short, as well as his siblings – William Jr., Washington, Jerry, and John – were enslaved by John Tyler and likely worked in several of the Tyler family’s households.¹ 

In 1843, President Tyler wrote to his daughter Elizabeth Tyler Waller: “I am very anxious to have a blacksmith and should be willing to part with Washington but if I can hear of a servant that would suit you… I will purchase him for you – I think that Louisa’s William, would make a good servant and if you choose to try your hand with him you can do so – He is a fine boy – and all of Wm Shorts children have a turn for the House – I will willingly my dear daughter pay the hire of a servant maid for you and I think you would do well to procure one of your Aunt Douglas’s – Either Delilah or Maria would suit you if you could get them. Besides it is no trifling matter to have a nurse who is a good seamstress.”² President Tyler’s reference to all of the Short children receiving a “turn for the House” suggests that they all may have been working in the White House, including Roscius. 

After the presidency, the Short family was brought back to Sherwood Forest, the Tyler family plantation in Virginia. Roscius likely escaped from slavery and signed up in the 1st U.S. Colored Calvary, Company H, rising to the rank of sergeant during the Civil War. Many years later, Roscius mentioned in a recollection that several of his brothers were sold at some point.³ Many years later, “Roscius Shorts” applied for a Civil War pension and lived at the National Soldiers’ Home in Hampton, Virginia. He died on October 22, 1913, and was buried at Hampton National Cemetery.⁴