Henry B. McKean
- Positions
- Doorkeeper
- Usher
- Messenger
- Years in President's House
- circa 1887 – 1891
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Biography
Henry Benjamin McKean was born in Bradford County, Pennsylvania on September 13, 1831.1 McKean worked as a lawyer prior to the outbreak of the Civil War; during the conflict, McKean served as a lieutenant colonel in the 6th Pennsylvania Volunteers until he was discharged due to injury.2 After the war, he returned to practicing law until he joined the White House staff in 1887.3 There, he worked as a doorkeeper and messenger, meaning that he would have delivered messages, managed access to the White House and the Executive Offices, maintained order, and ushered visitors into the Executive Mansion.4
By 1891, he had transferred to the Pension Office, where he worked until his death on March 22, 1903.5 Outside of his career, McKean was a Mason and an active member of patriotic and veterans’ organizations, including the Sons of the American Revolution and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.6 Henry B. McKean is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.7
- “Ltc. Henry Benjamin McKean,” Find a Grave, https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/55862565/person/312134924923/facts.
- “Distinguished Civil War Veteran Dead,” Times Herald (Washington, D.C.), March 23, 1903, pg. 3; “Union Veteran Dead,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), March 24, 1903, pg. 13.
- Ibid.
- Matthew Costello, “The White House Chief Usher,” White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-white-house-chief-usher; “Colonel Henry B. McKean Dead,” Washington Post (Washington, D.C.), March 24, 1903, pg. 10; Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C: Government Printing Office, 1889), pg. 21.
- Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C: Government Printing Office, 1891), pg. 662.
- “Union Veteran Dead,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), March 24, 1903, pg. 13.
- “Ltc. Henry Benjamin McKean,” Find a Grave, https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/55862565/person/312134924923/facts; “At Rest in Arlington,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), March 26, 1903, pg. 12.
- Birthplace
- Bradford County, Pennsylvania, USA
- Arlington National Cemetery