Amos E. Thompson
Cite this Page
"Amos E. Thompson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/426.
- Positions
- Doorkeeper
- Pantryman
- Years in President's House
- circa 1869 – 1872
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Biography
- Amos E. Thompson was born around 1836 in Virginia.1 He worked as a waiter in Alexandria and served in the Union Army during the Civil War before being hired as a servant/assistant head of pantry/doorkeeper at the White House. He is first listed there in the 1869 federal register.2 Thompson died on April 11, 1872 while employed at the Executive Mansion and is buried at Washington Street United Methodist Church Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia.3
- “Amos Thompson,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/147775147/amos-e.-thompson.
- Amos Thompson in 1870 United States Federal Census, Year: 1870; Census Place: Washington Ward 1, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: M593_123; Page: 210B, Ancestry.com; “Amos E. Thompson,” Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/70912320/person/262423993498/facts?_phsrc=Hdy206&_phstart=successSource.
- “Amos Thompson,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/147775147/amos-e.-thompson; “Amos E. Thompson in the U.S., Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914,” Ancestry.com. U.S., Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
- Birthplace
- Virginia, USA
- Washington Street United Methodist Church Cemetery