George Albert Hawkins, known as Albert Hawkins, was born around 1834 in Maryland.¹ Little is known about his early life. Although many newspapers indicate that he was a body-servant to General Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War, Hawkins himself stated that he joined the White House staff as coachman to President Grant in 1869.² In the decades that followed, Hawkins became a staple in the stables. Newspapers called him “the one thing immovable at the White House. And no one wants to see him moved. He is as much a part of the White House as the east room, or the dingy office walls, or the worn-out stair carpet.”³ Hawkins managed the horses in the White House stables, oversaw a team of stablehands, and drove carriages for the president and his family– including to and from Inauguration Day ceremonies.⁴ The “Prince of Coachmen” overheard many private conversations driving presidents and their guests to and from the White House, though he was widely regarded for his secrecy and professionalism. Hawkins was one of the most prominent Black men in Washington, D.C. at the time, so much so that one journalist reported: “Probably no man of his race, except Frederick Douglass, personally knew so many presidents and public men as Albert Hawkins.”⁵ He served several presidents in the role until 1890, when conflicting newspaper accounts state that he was either fired by President Benjamin Harrison or resigned; some reported that Hawkins was removed because of his race, but this does not appear to be true as his successor, William Willis, was also a Black man.⁶ In either case, Hawkins departed from the White House and moved into an office position elsewhere in the federal government.⁷ However, when President Grover Cleveland returned to the White House for his second term, he reinstated Hawkins to the role of coachman for Inauguration Day in 1893.⁸ Around 1894, he left the White House due to failing eyesight; in the years that followed, Hawkins worked for the Pension Office and Government Printing Office.⁹ Hawkins died in 1909 and is buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C.¹⁰

“George Albert Hawkins,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/99835964/george-albert-hawkins.
“Grant’s Body-Servant Dead,” Washington Bee, January 16, 1909, pg. 8, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84025891/1909-01-16/ed-1/seq-8/; "After Twenty-Two Years a New White House Coachman,” Americus Daily Recorder (Georgia), August 10, 1890, pg. 5.
“Harrison’s Horses,” Evening Star, April 13, 1889, pg. 9, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1889-04-13/ed-1/seq-9/.
Smith D. Fry, “Prince of Coachmen,” Iola Register, July 5, 1895, pg. 6.
Smith D. Fry, “Prince of Coachmen,” Iola Register, July 5, 1895, pg. 6.
“Should Be Investigated,” The Evening Mail, July 29, 1890, pg. 2; “Dignified Coachman,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 27, 1890, pg. 7; “Stricken With Paralysis: President Cleveland’s Colored Coachman is the Victim,” Quad-City Times (Iowa), July 26, 1895, pg. 4.
(7) Smith D. Fry, “Prince of Coachmen,” Iola Register, July 5, 1895, pg. 6. There are conflicting reports about where Hawkins moved– some say the Department of the Interior, others the Pension Office.
“Albert Hawkins’ Christmas,” The Philadelphia Times, December 24, 1897, pg. 2.
“Grant’s Body-Servant Dead,” Washington Bee, January 16, 1909, pg. 8, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84025891/1909-01-16/ed-1/seq-8/; “Hawkins Authorized to Wed,” Evening Star, December 23, 1897, pg. 3, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1897-12-23/ed-1/seq-3/. Washington, D.C. city directories list Hawkins as a clerk beginning in 1894; see George Albert Hawkins in the U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995, Ancestry.com.
“George Albert Hawkins,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/99835964/george-albert-hawkins.

Birthplace

Maryland, USA

Glenwood Cemetery

Related Workers: William Willis
Transportation, circa 1885 – 1895; Beverly R. Lemos
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, 1872 – 1890; Tom Smith
Transportation, circa 1881 – 1885

Related Association Content: https://www.whitehousehistory.org/presidents-as-horsemen