White House Historical Association

Patrick Higgins

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"Patrick Higgins," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/321.
Position
Grounds Laborer
Years in President's House
circa 1855 – 1857
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
White
Presidencies
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
Biography
Patrick Higgins was born in Ireland around 1823.1 Sometime prior to 1855, he moved to the United States. It cannot be confirmed at this time, but it is likely that Patrick Higgins worked at the White House as a gardener. He appears on the 1855, 1857, and 1859 official registers of federal government employees as a laborer for the public grounds in Washington, D.C., which included the White House Grounds, Lafayette Park, and the grounds of the Capitol. Higgins was listed alongside several other laborers who are confirmed to have worked at the White House under head gardener John Watt.2 Unfortunately little else is known about him at this time.3
  1.  “Patrick Higgins” in the 1860 United States Federal Census, accessed via Ancestry.com https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/records/10554487?tid=&pid=&queryId=74c177a5-29f7-4e54-a198-67c4b3c0c2cf&_phsrc=ZfK149&_phstart=successSource
  2. 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; 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; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth of September, 1859 (Washington: William A. Harris, 1859), Pg. 98.
  3. There appears to have been several people by the name Patrick Higgins living in Washington, D.C., around the middle of the nineteenth century, which makes it challenging to discern further details about his life.
Birthplace
Ireland
Unclear from Context
Related Worker
John Watt
Gardens, Grounds, and Flower Shop, 1853 – 1861