White House Historical Association

David Moran

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"David Moran," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/330.
Position
Grounds Laborer
Years in President's House
circa 1855 – 1861
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
White
Presidencies
Franklin Pierce
Abraham Lincoln
Biography
David Moran was born in County Wexford, Ireland around 1810. He moved to Washington, D.C. sometime around 1839.1 Moran likely worked at the White House as a grounds laborer. He appears on the 1855, 1857, and 1859 registry of federal government employees, listed as a laborer for the public grounds in Washington, D.C., which included the White House Grounds, Lafayette Park, and the Capitol grounds. Moran was listed alongside several other laborers who are confirmed to have worked at the White House under head gardener John Watt.2 In 1861, after President Abraham Lincoln moved into the White House, Commissioner of Public Buildings Benjamin B. French fired Moran and fellow public grounds laborers John Bowie Mockebee and Michael Connaughton; they were replaced by J.R. Cronin, A.B. Dalton and W.T. Bailey.3 It is unclear why they were let go and replaced, though it was not uncommon for new administrations to implement changes that impacted workers across the federal government. The 1862 Census identifies Moran as a gardener, but it does not specify where he worked.4 Moran passed away on June 8, 1863 in Washington, D.C.5
  1. Daily National Intelligencer and Washington Express (Washington, D.C.), June 9, 1863, pg. 1.
  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. "Appointments by the Commissioner of Public Buildings,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), July 1, 1861, pg. 3.
  4. “David Moran” in the 1860 United States Federal Census, accessed via Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/records/10548324?tid=&pid=&queryId=d8670d49-a6d6-43e7-924e-e068312a0b0f&_phsrc=KCT2627&_phstart=successSource.
  5. Daily National Intelligencer and Washington Express (Washington, D.C.), June 9, 1863, pg. 1.
Birthplace
County Wexford, Ireland
Unclear from Context
Related Workers
John Watt
Gardens, Grounds, and Flower Shop, 1853 – 1861
Michael Connaughton
Gardens, Grounds, and Flower Shop, circa 1855 – 1859
J.R. Cronin
A.B. Dalton
W.T. Bailey