Valentine Schneck
Cite this Page
"Valentine Schneck," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/454.
- Position
- Gardener
- Years in President's House
- circa 1877
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Unclear from Context
- Presidency
- Rutherford B. Hayes
- Biography
- Valentine Schneck was born in Germany and participated in the failed revolutions of 1848. He later immigrated to the United States, though the exact date is unknown, and by 1877, he was working at the White House as a gardener; his service may have extended beyond this period, although evidence of his life and tenure remains limited. The only information about Schneck’s work at the White House comes from an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published in March 1877. It reports that he obtained the position through his service alongside President Rutherford B. Hayes during the American Civil War.1 As a gardener, Schneck would have been among the staff responsible for maintaining the White House grounds during the early years of the Hayes presidency. No additional documentation has been identified, and little else is known about his life.
- “A Call to Washington,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), March 6, 1877, 4, https://www.newspapers.com/image/60728541/?match=1&terms=White House gardener.
- Birthplace
- Germany
- Unclear from Context