White House Historical Association

Martha E. Brown

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"Martha E. Brown," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/391.
Position
Maid
Years in President's House
circa 1865 – 1868
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Female
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidency
Andrew Johnson
Biography
Martha Brown was born in Virginia around 1849.1 She worked as a chambermaid in the White House during the presidency of Andrew Johnson. Surviving financial records document her service from December 1865 to January 1868.2 No additional records have been identified that further illuminate her White House career. By 1870, Brown was living in Washington, D.C., where she was employed as a domestic worker.3 She remained in the city at the turn of the twentieth century and continued to work as a servant, according to the 1900 Census.4 A decade later, she had relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, and was working as a cook for a private family.5 By 1930, Brown was recorded as residing in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (6) Martha Brown died on August 24, 1932.7
  1. 1860 United States Federal Census, entry for Martha Brown, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/records/10579669.
  2. Andrew Johnson Papers, Series 10, Financial Records, 1829–1877, Bills, 1835–1868, October, image 167, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss27839.mss27839-051_0376_1142/?sp=167&st=image&r=0.032,-0.042,0.927,0.508,0; Andrew Johnson Papers, Series 10, Financial Records, 1829–1877, Bills, 1835–1868, October, image 199, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss27839.mss27839-051_0376_1142/?sp=199&st=image&r=0.053,0.132,1.002,0.549,0; Andrew Johnson Papers, Series 10, Financial Records, 1829–1877, Bills, 1835–1868, October, image 552, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss27839.mss27839-051_0376_1142/?sp=552&st=image&r=-0.047,-0.072,1.169,0.641,0; Andrew Johnson Papers, Series 10, Financial Records, 1829–1877, Bills, 1835–1868, October, image 629, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss27839.mss27839-051_0376_1142/?sp=629&st=image&r=0.392,0.052,0.57,0.312,0; Andrew Johnson Papers, Series 10, Financial Records, 1829–1877, Bills, 1835–1868, October, image 653, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss27839.mss27839-051_0376_1142/?sp=653&st=image&r=-0.04,0.129,0.738,0.404,0.
  3. 1870 United States Federal Census, entry for Martha Brown, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163/records/259609.
  4. 1900 United States Federal Census, entry for Martha Brown, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/records/33887431?tid=&pid=&queryId=75b25fb5-d650-43e9-ad30-019c8d3c38e9&_phsrc=fQN315&_phstart=successSource.
  5. 1910 United States Federal Census, entry for Martha Brown, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/records/10324245.
  6. 1930 United States Federal Census, entry for Martha E. Brown, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/1948275.
  7. “Martha E. Brown,” Press of Atlantic City (Atlantic City, New Jersey), August 19, 1932, https://www.newspapers.com/image/918180035/?article=21e1ea56-2340-486c-8cad-d11b5ca007a8&terms="Martha E. Brown".
Birthplace
Virginia, USA
Unclear from Context