White House Historical Association

Henry Brooks

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"Henry Brooks," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/380.
Positions
Fireman
Laborer
Years in President's House
circa 1867 – 1871
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Biography
Henry Brooks was born in Prince George’s County, Maryland around 1811.1 Between 1867 and 1871, Brooks was employed as a furnacekeeper/fireman at the White House.2 The role entailed caring for the White House furnaces, stoking fires throughout the home to warm the first family, and wheeling in wood and coal for use in the house. For some of his tenure, Brooks had an assistant named James H. McGrundy.3 Brooks does not appear on federal registers beyond 1871; the 1880 Census listed his occupation as “laborer,” but does not specify his employer.4 Outside of work, Brooks was an active member of Washington’s African Methodist Episcopal Church. He passed away on February 2, 1892, and was buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C.5
  1. There are large year discrepancies in census data and obituaries; see Henry Brooks in the 1870 United States Federal Census, Year: 1870; Census Place: Washington Ward 1, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: M593_123; Page: 56B; Henry Brooks in the 1880 United States Federal Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: 122; Page: 279c; Enumeration District: 037; Henry Brooks in the U.S., Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1865-1874; ARC Identifier: 566522; Record Group Number: 101; Record Group: Records of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 1863-2006; “Henry Brooks,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/244491995/henry-brooks.
  2. His obituary stated “Mr. Brooks held responsible positions to which he was appointed by Presidents Lincoln, Johnson, and Grant” but no contemporary evidence ties him to the Lincoln administration. See Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1868), 188; Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1870), 216. Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1872), 225; “Death of Mr. Henry Brooks,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), February 4, 1892, pg. 8.
  3. “The White House-The Retinue of a Republican President,” The Greeneville Democrat (Ohio), June 1, 1870, pg. 2.
  4. Henry Brooks in the 1880 United States Federal Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: 122; Page: 279c; Enumeration District: 037.
  5. “Death of Mr. Henry Brooks,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), February 4, 1892, pg. 8.
Birthplace
Prince George’s County, Maryland, USA
Glenwood Cemetery
Related Worker
James H. McGrundy
Trades, circa 1870