White House Historical Association

William H. Beckett

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"William H. Beckett," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/548.
Position
Coachman
Years in President's House
1895 – 1897
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
Grover Cleveland Second Term
William McKinley
Biography

William H. Beckett was born on February 25, 1835 in Washington, D.C.1 Beckett was born into slavery on Joshua Pierce’s Linnaean Hill estate in Rock Creek Park, where he primarily labored in the “garden, greenhouse, and nursery.”2 He became free in 1862 via the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act, which abolished slavery in the capital; a petition filed by his enslaver Joshua Pierce noted: “Wm. H. Becket (sp.)... can read & write well is a good coachman & is now employed in that capacity by the Secretary of State the Honorable W. H. Seward & receives $20 per month.”3 

As a free man, Beckett worked at Linnaean Hill’s nursery for a time, and later used money bequeathed to him by Joshua Pierce to purchase and operate his own wood and coal business.4 Beckett eventually sold this business and became a well-known public coachman, operating his own stand opposite the Lafayette Square Opera House near the White House. 

In 1895, President Grover Cleveland hired William Beckett to serve as his coachman; newspapers reported: “it is believed the President selected him mainly on account of his generally excellent reputation as a man and as a driver.”5 Beckett drove for both Grover Cleveland and his successor, William McKinley, in full livery which included “light melton overcoats” and “silk hats adorned with quiet looking cockades.”6 He also served as treasurer for the Coachman’s Union and Aid Association, an organization made up of Black coachmen in the District of Columbia.7 

In the summer of 1897, Beckett transferred from the White House to the Library of Congress due to health concerns, and he worked there for the rest of his life.8 Outside of work, he was a Mason and an active member of the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, as well as charitable and social organizations such as the Crispus Attucks Relief Association, Eldermen’s Immediate Relief, and the Majola Council of St. Luke. 

After he died on January 25, 1911, his obituary called him “one of the best-known and one of the most prominent citizens” of the District of Columbia.9 William H. Beckett was buried at Columbian Harmony Payne Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Burials there were later disinterred during Metro construction and moved to National Harmony Memorial Park Cemetery in Maryland.10

  1. William Beckett in the 1900 United States Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 160; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 0040, Ancestry.com; William Beckett 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.
  2. “The Life and Death of William Beckett,” Friends of Pierce Mill, https://www.friendsofpeircemill.org/the-life-and-death-of-william-beckett/; “William H. Beckett,” National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/people/william-h-beckett.htm; William H Beckett in the District of Columbia, U.S., Slave Owner Petitions, 1862, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Records of the Board of Commissioners for the Emancipation of Slaves in the District of Columbia, 1862-1863; Record Group: Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury; Serial: M520; Roll: 5, Ancestry.com; “Funeral of Negro Born in Slavery,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), January 30, 1911, pg. 8.
  3. William H Beckett in the District of Columbia, U.S., Slave Owner Petitions, 1862, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Records of the Board of Commissioners for the Emancipation of Slaves in the District of Columbia, 1862-1863; Record Group: Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury; Serial: M520; Roll: 5, Ancestry.com.
  4. “The Life and Death of William Beckett,” Friends of Pierce Mill, https://www.friendsofpeircemill.org/the-life-and-death-of-william-beckett/; “William H. Beckett,” National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/people/william-h-beckett.htm.
  5. “A New Coachman,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), October 28, 1895, pg. 1, Chronicling America, https://lccn.loc.gov/sn83045462; “Condensed Dispatches,” The Tonkawa Weekly (Tonkawa, OK), November 9, 1895, pg. 4.
  6. “Down the Avenue,” The Times (Washington, D.C.), March 5, 1897, pg. 2.
  7. “Coachmen’s Union to Give Ball,” The Washington Post, May 1, 1897, pg. 3; “Death of William Beckett,” The Washington Bee, February 11, 1911, pg. 8.
  8. “The New White House Coachman,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), October 27, 1899, pg. 16, Chronicling America, https://lccn.loc.gov/sn83045462; Untitled, The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), October 17, 1897, pg. 24; Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.:Government Printing Office, 1899, pg. 23.
  9. “Death of William Beckett,” The Washington Bee, February 11, 1911, pg. 8.
  10. William Beckett 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; “William Beckett,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/225952740/william-beckett.
Birthplace
Washington, D.C., USA
National Harmony Memorial Park (formerly Columbian Harmony Payne Cemetery)
Related Workers
Edward H. Brewer
Transportation, 1893 – 1897
Frederick K. Douglass
Transportation, 1897 – 1899