White House Historical Association

Henry Hudson

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"Henry Hudson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/399.
Positions
Gardener
Florist
Grounds Laborer
Years in President's House
circa 1867 – 1873
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
White
Presidencies
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Biography
Henry Hudson was born in England around 1831.1 Sometime prior to 1867, he moved to Washington, D.C. That year, he worked as a laborer for the Office of Public Buildings, Grounds, and Works within the War Department. An 1870 newspaper article listed him as a gardener at the White House Conservatory, suggesting he was assigned there throughout this period. Hudson likely propagated and maintained the variety of flowers and plants in the greenhouses, including orchids, roses, ferns, and more.2 Hudson continued to appear as a government laborer on federal registers through 1873.3 Little else is known about his life or subsequent employment.
  1. Henry Hudson in the 1870 United States Federal Census, Year: 1870; Census Place: Washington Ward 7, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: M593_126; Page: 294A, Ancestry.com.
  2. Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1868), 188; “The White House-The Retinue of a Republican President,” The Greeneville Democrat (Ohio), June 1, 1870, pg. 2.
  3. Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1874), 228; Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1872), 226.
Birthplace
England
Unclear from Context