Bridget Smith

Limited information is available about Bridget Smith’s early life. She was born in Ireland around 1850 and immigrated to the United States sometime prior to the 1880s. (1) (2) Smith was employed by Chester A. Arthur in New York City during his tenure as collector of the Port of New York, the federal official responsible for overseeing customs operations at the port. (3) She served as a chambermaid and accompanied Arthur and his children to Washington when he became vice president and subsequently president in 1881. (4)

Smith served as a housekeeper at the White House, a position funded through congressional appropriations. In this role, she cleaned and maintained the family's private living quarters. (5)

Smith is documented at the White House through 1884, but likely continued in her position through the end of Arthur’s presidency in March 1885. (6) Arthur later bequeathed Smith a sum of money in his will, suggesting the esteem in which she was held by the Arthur family. (7) Further details about her later life and the circumstances of her death are unknown.