F. L. French
- Position
- Doorkeeper
- Years in President's House
- circa 1885 – 1889
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Unclear from Context
- Presidency
- Grover Cleveland First Term
- Biography
F.L. French worked as a doorkeeper at the White House. An Evening Star article reported in May 1889 that French resigned due to illness. However, another article from The Evening World indicated that he was dismissed from the position by President Benjamin Harrison who replaced several members of the White House staff with his own selections. Both articles noted that French was appointed by President Grover Cleveland during his first term in office, came from New York to the White House, and that he was replaced by Augustus M. Sprague.1
Although French appears in these newspaper articles in May 1889 about his replacement, he curiously does not appear in the Official Register of the United States as a doorkeeper at the White House. The other White House doorkeepers were listed along with their salary.- “A New Doorkeeper,” The Washington Evening Star, May 20, 1889, https://www.newspapers.com/image/145345714/?match=1&terms=%22A.%20M.%20Sprague%22%20White%20House; “Changes at the White House,” The Evening World (New York), May 21, 1889, https://www.newspapers.com/image/78644140/?match=1&terms=%22A.%20M.%20Sprague%22%20White%20House.
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Unclear from Context