Emile Jourdan
Cite this Page
"Emile Jourdan," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/434.
- Positions
- Pantryman
- Butler
- Years in President's House
- circa 1870
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Presidency
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Biography
- Emile Jourdan was born in France around 1832.1 There is little documentation related to his career or move to the United States, but in 1870, he is listed in different documents as a waiter and head of pantry in Ulysses Grant’s White House.2 It also appears that his wife worked as a maid to First Lady Julia Grant; her name may have been Louisa Jourdan or Phebe Smith Jourdan.3
- Emil Jourdan in 1870 US Federal Census, Year: 1870; Census Place: Washington Ward 2, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: M593_123; Page: 268A, Ancestry.com.
- Ibid; “The White House-The Retinue of a Republican President,” The Greeneville Democrat (Ohio), June 1, 1870, pg. 2.
- The following article lists a “Mrs. Jourdan” on staff: “The White House-The Retinue of a Republican President,” The Greeneville Democrat (Ohio), June 1, 1870, pg. 2. In the 1870 census, Jourdan is listed living with a Louisa Jourdan, although she is documented as a dressmaker, not a maid to the first lady. It is possible she was his wife, but also could have been a sister or other relative. Later, newspapers report about Jourdan’s divorce from Phebe Smith Jourdan, though it is unclear if they were married during his time at the White House. See “New York News and Gossip,” Evening Star, April 26, 1884, pg. 5.
- Birthplace
- France
- Unclear from Context