William Webb

One of the presidential households we know the least about is that of Zachary Taylor. Documentation is scarce, as most of his personal papers were lost when Union soldiers occupied his family’s plantation in Louisiana during the Civil War. Furthermore, Taylor’s tenure as president was short, as he died in office less than two years into his term, meaning he produced fewer records to begin with. As a result, only a handful of individuals have been identified as working at the Taylor White House. Records are even more scarce for the enslaved workers in President Taylor’s household. One of them was likely William Webb. 

Information about Webb’s early life is limited. He was born sometime in the early 1830s to Jane Webb, an enslaved servant of Army officer (and future president) Zachary Taylor.¹ When William Webb was a boy, he and his mother, along with several other enslaved workers, accompanied Taylor to various Army outposts around North America and worked as his servants. Army regulations at this time provided wages to officers to employ their own servants to cook for them, shave them, do their laundry, and perform other remedial tasks; if the servant was enslaved, as was the case with William Webb and his mother, then the officer could pocket the wage themself and use it to provide food and clothing for the worker.² Officers had to file paperwork to receive the wages; the first time William Webb appears on these pay vouchers is in 1841 when Taylor was stationed in Louisiana.³ From that point until 1848, when Taylor was elected president, Webb regularly appeared in Taylor’s vouchers, suggesting Webb served him during this time, including when Taylor fought in the Mexican-American War.⁴ 

Like many of the early slave owning presidents, Taylor brought some of his enslaved workers with him to the White House to serve him and his family and to supplement the free wage laborers. William Webb was likely among them, along with his mother Jane and sister Caroline Webb. Evidence for them working at the White House comes from President Taylor’s will, which he drafted in 1846 but which took effect when he died in 1850. Taylor willed William, Caroline and Jane (and three other enslaved workers) to his wife, First Lady Margaret Taylor.⁵ The fact that William and the others were given specifically to the first lady suggests they worked closely with her or the family and were trusted by her.⁶ One of the six workers mentioned in the will, Charles Porter, is confirmed to have worked in the White House, making it more likely that the others did as well.⁷ 

William’s role in the presidential household is unclear, though historian William Seale asserts he was a “body servant” to President Taylor, accompanying the president wherever he went and assisting in a variety of ways.⁸ This would align with the jobs William likely performed for Taylor while he was in the Army, but President Taylor had another enslaved servant named Charles Porter who served as his valet. 

Little else is known about William at this time.