John Robertson
Cite this Page
"John Robertson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/482.
- Position
- Gardener
- Years in President's House
- 1882 – circa 1889
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Biography
- John Robertson was born in Scotland and immigrated to New York in the mid-1800s. Starting in 1882, he was employed as a gardener at the White House.1 Robertson remained in this position until at least 1889.2 Beyond his White House service, little else is known about his life at this time, including what became of him after his White House employment.
- “The Working White House: List of Workers,” White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/the-working-white-house-list-of-workers.
- Official Register of the United States: Containing a List of Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military and Naval Service, vol. 1 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883), 370, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Official_Register_of_the_United_States/qbBDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq="John Robertson"; Official Register of the United States: Containing a List of Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military and Naval Service, vol. 1 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1885), 336, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Official_Register_of_the_United_States/trBDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq="John Robertson"; Official Register of the United States: Containing a List of Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military and Naval Service, vol. 1 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1887), 354, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Official_Register_of_the_United_States/H7FDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq="John Robertson"; Official Register of the United States: Containing a List of Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military and Naval Service, vol. 1 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1889), 386, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Official_Register_of_the_United_States/sFY9AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq="John Robertson".
- Birthplace
- Scotland
- Unclear from context