Lawrence Smith

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 Lawrence Smith. 

Lawrence was an enslaved worker owned by President Taylor’s son-in-law and private secretary, William Bliss. Bliss (a Colonel in the U.S. Army) lived at the White House during Taylor’s term in office, and it is likely Lawrence Smith did as well, as he appears on several pay vouchers filed by Bliss with the U.S. Army.¹ At the time, Army regulations provided wages to officers to employ their own servants; if the servant was enslaved, as was the case with Lawrence Smith, then the officer could pocket the wage themself and use it to provide food and clothing for the worker.² Officers had to file pay vouchers to receive the wages; Lawrence Smith appears on these pay vouchers from March 1849, when Taylor was Inaugurated, until December 1849.³ The pay vouchers do not specify what job Lawrence Smith performed in the White House. Also included on the vouchers is another enslaved worker named Eliza Smith; the same surname could mean Lawrence and Eliza were related, though this is conjecture. After the final pay voucher in December 1849, Lawerence Smith disappears from the historical record. Little else is known about him at this time.