White House Historical Association

James Weast

Ask a Historian Download as PDF
Cite this Page
"James Weast," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/486.
Position
Grounds Laborer
Years in President's House
1883 – circa 1888
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Unclear from Context
Presidencies
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland First Term
Biography
James Weast was born in Pennsylvania and later moved to Virginia. Heworked at the White House as a gardener from 1883 until at least 1888.1 He remained in federal service for many years afterward, serving as a grounds laborer through 1891 before becoming a lamplighter, a position he held until 1905. It is unclear whether he also served at the White House in that role.2 Little else is known about his life or career at this time.
  1. “The Working White House: List of Workers,” White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/the-working-white-house-list-of-workers.
  2. United States Department of the Interior, 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.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1885), 336, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Official_Register_of_the_United_States/trBDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22James%20Weast%22; United States Department of the Interior, 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.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1891), 426, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Official_Register_of_the_United_States/FrJDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22james%20weast%22; United States Department of the Interior, 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.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1905), 457, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Official_Register_of_the_United_States/ZhEaAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22James%20Weast%22.
Birthplace
Pennsylvania
Unclear from Context