White House Historical Association

Webster M. Adams

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"Webster M. Adams," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/428.
Positions
Doorkeeper
Messenger
Policeman
Usher
Years in President's House
1869 – 1872
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
White
Presidency
Ulysses S. Grant
Biography
Webster M. Adams was born in Ohio around 1832.1 He worked as a chairmaker and painter in his youth prior to enlisting in the Union Army in April 1861 during the Civil War. Corporal Webster served in Ohio’s 21st Infantry Regiment and the 7th Ohio Cavalry Regiment.2 Beginning in 1869, Adams worked at Ulysses S. Grant’s White House. Sources from the era attribute a variety of titles to Adams including messenger, usher, doorkeeper, and policeman. All of these suggest that he was responsible for White House security.3 A local newspaper noted that “he made many friends, by his uniform courtesy and the promptness with which he discharged the duties of his office.”4 While on staff, Adams contracted tuberculosis and died on June 24, 1872. He was buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C.5
  1. The 1869 Official Register of the United States incorrectly states that Webster was born in Pennsylvania. Webster M Adams in the 1850 United States Federal Census, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Findlay, Hancock, Ohio; Roll: 692; Page: 29b; Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1870), 215.
  2. Ibid; Webster Adams in the U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records (Provost Marshal General's Bureau; Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865); Record Group: 110; Collection Name: Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865 (Civil War Union Draft Records); NAI: 4213514; Archive Volume Number: 1 of 3; Webster M Adams in the U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, Historical Data Systems, Inc.; Duxbury, MA 02331; American Civil War Research Database, Ancestry.com; Webster M Adams in the U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, Historical Data Systems, Inc.; Duxbury, MA 02331; American Civil War Research Database, Ancestry.com.
  3. Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1870), 215; Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1872), 225; William H. Boyd, Boyd’s Directory of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria (Washington, D.C., 1870), 2; William H. Boyd, Boyd’s Directory of Washington and Georgetown (Washington, D.C., 1869), 131; “The White House-The Retinue of a Republican President,” The Greeneville Democrat (Ohio), June 1, 1870, pg. 2.
  4. “The City,” The Critic and Record (Washington, D.C.), June 26, 1872, pg. 3.
  5. “The City,” Washington Chronicle, June 25, 1872, pg. 4; “Died,” The Critic and Record (Washington, D.C.), June 25, 1872, pg. 2; “Webster M. Adams,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148036509/webster-m.-adams.
Birthplace
Ohio, USA
Glenwood Cemetery