Robert Gibbs
Cite this Page
"Robert Gibbs," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/325.
- Position
- Grounds Laborer
- Years in President's House
- circa 1855 – 1862
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Biography
- Robert Gibbs was born around 1828 in Scotland.1 Sometime prior to 1855, he moved to the United States. It is likely that Gibbs worked at the White House as a grounds laborer. From 1855 through 1861, he appeared on the official registry of federal government employees, listed as a laborer for the public grounds in Washington, D.C., a job that entailed maintaining the landscapes of public buildings including the White House, Lafayette Square, and the Capitol. Gibbs was listed alongside several other laborers who are confirmed to have worked at the White House under headgardener John Watt.2 Gibbs passed away on June 30, 1862, and was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C.3 Little else is known about his life at this time.
- When Gibbs passed away in 1862, the Evening Star newspaper stated he was thirty-four years old, which would put his birth year around 1828. The 1860 Census, however, lists his birth year as around 1830. See Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), June 30, 1862, pg. 3, and “Robert Gibb” in the 1860 United States Federal Census, accessed via Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/records/10467696?tid=&pid=&queryId=e1ef0c64-e609-4954-b45e-dcc77761ac18&_phsrc=SaP17&_phstart=successSource
- 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; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1861 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1862), 96.
- Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), June 30, 1862, pg. 3; “Robert Gibb” in the U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current, accessed via Ancestry.com, 150443946.
- Birthplace
- Scotland
- Glenwood Cemetery
- Related Worker
- John WattGardens, Grounds, and Flower Shop, 1853 – 1861