Nicholas Gee

Little is known about Nicholas Gee outside of his work at the White House under President James K. Polk. 

In February 1845, shortly before Polk assumed the office of president, politician John Y. Mason (future Attorney General and Secretary of the Navy under Polk) wrote to Polk to recommend he enlist the services of Nicholas Gee, “a first rate dining room servant, and a most accomplished coachman.”¹ That same month, Polk compiled a list of staff members “to be employed at the President’s House,” but Gee is not among them. Instead, the coachman is identified as Terry, who worked at the White House for Polk at least in 1845.² 

However, we know that Polk did eventually employ Gee at the White House because he is mentioned in the memoir of William Henry Milburn, the Chaplain of the House of Representatives during Polk’s presidency. In his memoir, Milburn mentions that “a colored man named Gee” served as “President Polk’s coachman.” In addition to driving the coach and caring for the horses, Gee also worked “in the gentleman’s dressing-room” at the White House, and would handle “hats, coats, canes, etc.” of male guests. Milburn praised Gee for his ability to return items to their proper owner without ever mixing them up. “His was the most remarkable power of memory I have ever met.”³ Though Milburn mentions that Gee was Black, he does not specify whether he was free or enslaved and “hired out” by President Polk - a common practice in pre-Civil War Washington in which an employer would temporarily hire an enslaved worker but the wages would go to the enslaver.⁴ It is also unknown whether Gee and Terry worked concurrently as White House coachmen - it was not uncommon for presidents to employ multiple coachmen at the same time to serve themselves and their families - or if Polk hired Gee to replace Terry.⁵ 

Thank you to Michael Cohen and the editorial team for the Correspondence of James K. Polk for providing research assistance with this biography.