Charles A. Beatty was born on May 22, 1852, in Washington, D.C.¹An 1888 list of White House Greenhouse and Grounds employees listed his start date on staff as March 1885.² Beatty was sometimes listed as a laborer or florist, meaning that he likely cared for the flora and fauna onsite as well as arranging bouquets for daily decoration and formal events at the White House. By 1900, census data and newspaper articles list his position as “fireman,” suggesting that he shifted to a role maintaining the fireplaces and furnaces on site.³ A 1903 article in the Washington Times Herald praised Beatty, “The night fireman of the White House and Executive office heating apparatus” for saving longtime worker Jerry Smith after he became trapped between floors on the new White House elevator.⁴ The final mention of Beatty’s work on staff was the 1910 Census; he may have worked there beyond that date, but he disappears from city directories for several years after. Beatty reappears in 1919 as a watchman at the Government Printing Office.⁵ Beatty died on October 16, 1923, and was buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C.⁶

There are discrepancies in the sources related to his birth; this biography relies on his death certificate. Charles A Beatty in the Washington, District of Columbia, U.S., Death Certificates, 1874-1931, District of Columbia Public Library; Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C. Deaths, 1874-1945, Ancestry.com. See also Charles A Beatty in the 1900 United States Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 159; Page: 19; Enumeration District: 0029, Ancestry.com.
James A. Watt to Colonel John M. Wilson, List of Greenhouse and Grounds Employees, August 23, 1888, National Archives and Records Administration from White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/the-working-white-house-list-of-workers; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory (Washington, D.C., 1886), 199.
Charles A Beatty in the 1900 United States Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 159; Page: 19; Enumeration District: 0029, Ancestry.com; Charles A Beatty in the 1910 United States Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Precinct 3, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T624_150; Page: 11a; Enumeration District: 0043; FHL microfilm: 1374163, Ancestry.com.
“Old Jerry in the White House Lift,” Times Herald (Washington, D.C.), February 9, 1903, pg. 4.
Charles A Beatty in the 1910 United States Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Precinct 3, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T624_150; Page: 11a; Enumeration District: 0043; FHL microfilm: 1374163, Ancestry.com; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory (Washington, D.C., 1919), 252.
Charles A Beatty in the Washington, District of Columbia, U.S., Death Certificates, 1874-1931, District of Columbia Public Library; Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C. Deaths, 1874-1945, Ancestry.com.

Birthplace

Washington, D.C., USA

Glenwood Cemetery

Related Worker: Jeremiah Smith
Valets, Lady's Maids, and First Family Attendants, Housekeeping and Laundry, circa 1873 – 1903