Thomas Wall
Cite this Page
"Thomas Wall," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/309.
- Position
- Gardener
- Years in President's House
- circa 1851 – 1857
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Biography
- Thomas Wall was born in County Kildare, Ireland, though his year of birth is unknown.1 Sometime prior to 1851, Wall moved to the United States. That year, he was identified in a newspaper as "gardener at the President’s House.”2 The exact terms of his service at the White House are unclear, but he is listed in both the 1855 and 1857 official registers of government employees among laborers for the public grounds of Washington, D.C., which included the grounds of the White House; he is listed soon after John Watt, then-head gardener at the White House.3 As such, it is likely he worked at the White House at least through 1857. Wall passed away on July 10, 1861, and was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C.4
- Thomas Wall’s place of birth is listed as Ireland in the Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1855 (Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson, 1855), 95.
- Daily National Intelligencer and Washington Express (Washington, D.C.), December 19, 1851, pg. 3.
- Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1855 (Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson, 1855), 95, and Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1857 (Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson, 1857), 97.
- “Thomas Wall” in the U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current, accessed via Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60525/records/145030115?tid=&pid=&queryId=693ac5a4-6f24-4f7d-9777-fc868eb76ae2&_phsrc=ZfK147&_phstart=successSource
- Birthplace
- County Kildare, Ireland
- Mount Olivet Cemetery
- Related Worker
- John WattGardens, Grounds, and Flower Shop, 1853 – 1861