White House Historical Association

George W. Rundlett

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"George W. Rundlett," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/354.
Position
Fireman
Years in President's House
circa 1859
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Unclear from Context
Presidency
James Buchanan
Biography
George W. Rundlett was born in New Hampshire and is recorded as working for President James Buchanan in 1859 as a fireman.1 Rundlett would have tended the fires in the Executive Mansion and maintained the furnaces. No additional documentation has been identified that confirms the duration of his White House service or provides further details about his life.2
  1. United States Department of State, A Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1859), 98, https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Register_of_Officers_and_Agents_Civil/KZsDAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq="George W. Rundlett".
  2. Another George W. Rundlett appears in the historical record and may be the same individual; however, the birthplace listed on the Census for this man is Massachusetts rather than New Hampshire. He is described in Ancestry as having come to Washington, D.C., around 1858, serving in the Civil War, then remaining in D.C. until his death on June 23, 1873. He was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C.; “George W. Rundlett,” Ancestry website, https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/70973612/person/162165232210/facts?_phsrc=fQN402&_phstart=successSource; “George W. Rundlett,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/190716535/george-w-rundlett. 
Birthplace
New Hampshire, USA
Unclear from Context