White House Historical Association

Florence Johnson

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"Florence Johnson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/377.
Position
Maid
Years in President's House
1865 – 1869
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Female
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidency
Andrew Johnson
Biography
Florence Johnson was born into slavery in Greeneville, Tennessee in 1848.1 Her mother, Dolly, was enslaved by Andrew and Eliza Johnson; her father's identity is unclear at this time.2 According to oral tradition, Andrew Johnson freed those he enslaved on August 8, 1863.3 When Johnson became president following Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, Florence and her brother, William, worked at the White House as paid servants; Florence as a maid, and William as a valet. Johnson also sent Florence to culinary school during his presidency to improve her domestic skills. After the presidency, Florence worked as the Johnson family’s cook.4 Later in life, Florence moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, married Henry Smith, and started a family. She continued to work as a cook and “helped many worthy young persons of her race in their efforts to go through college.”5 Florence Smith died on September 15, 1920 and was buried at Freedmen's Mission Historic Cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee.6
  1. Florence Johnson in the 1870 United States Federal Census,Year: 1870; Census Place: District 10, Greene, Tennessee; Roll: M593_1531; Page: 276A, Ancestry.com.
  2. Some historians have speculated that Johnson’s “fatherly” treatment of Dolly’s children, coupled with slave schedule data indicating that her children were “mulatto,” though she was listed as “black,” point to the possibility that Andrew Johnson himself may have been Florence’s father. See Sarah Fling, “The Formerly Enslaved Households of President Andrew Johnson,” White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-formerly-enslaved-households-of-president-andrew-johnson.
  3. “Slaves of Andrew Johnson,” Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/anjo/learn/historyculture/slaves.htm.
  4. “Slave of Andrew Johnson Defies Father Time,” The Journal and Tribune, December 24, 1922.
  5. Obituary quoted in “Liz, Florence, and Will,” Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/anjo/learn/historyculture/dollys-children.htm; “Negro Woman, Served as White House Maid, Dies Here at Age of 80 Years,” The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), September 16, 1920, pg. 4.
  6. Florence Smith in the Tennessee, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1965, Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958; Roll Number: 115, Ancestry.com; “Florence Johnson Smith,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111687104/florence-smith.
Birthplace
Greeneville, Tennessee, USA
Freedmen's Mission Historic Cemetery
Related Workers
William A. Johnson
Valets, Lady's Maids, and First Family Attendants, 1865 – 1869
Henry Brown
Ushers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, 1865 – 1866
Henry Johnson
Gardens, Grounds, and Flower Shop, circa 1865 – 1869
Related Association Content
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-formerly-enslaved-households-of-president-andrew-johnson