George H. Brown

George Hay Brown was born on December 17, 1839 in Edinburgh, Scotland.¹ His father, David Brown, was a landscape gardener, and when George was fifteen years old he became his assistant and learned the trade.² In 1853, George and his father moved to the United States to seek greater opportunities for their gardening business, settling in Philadelphia.³ In 1858, George Brown moved to Washington, D.C., and began working for the federal government as a gardener; according to some sources, he helped manage the government experimental gardens, which became the U.S. Botanical Gardens.⁴ 

In 1861, when the Civil War began, Brown enlisted in the D.C. militia and served for three months.⁵ He then joined the Army Engineer Corps and was dispatched to New Orleans.⁶ There he met and married Elizabeth Sasccaski.⁷ In 1870 he returned to D.C. and was hired by the federal government as a gardener for the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds. In this capacity he maintained the grounds of the Capitol, White House, and various public parks in the District.⁸ 

In 1902, Brown became the manager of the White House greenhouse complex on the National Mall. The greenhouses, which supplied flowers and plants to the White House, was created in 1902 after the conservatory that stood on the grounds of the White House was demolished to make way for the construction of the West Wing.⁹ In addition to overseeing the complex, Brown also created several new varieties of chrysanthemum flowers that the White House used for decor.¹⁰ Brown helped First Lady Edith Roosevelt select flower arrangements for dinners at the White House.¹¹ A newspaper article from 1904 described Brown as “the official florist” of the White House.¹² Outside of his work, Brown was “a member of the Loyal Legion, a Knight Templar, a past master of Lebanon Lodge, F.A.A.M., and an elder of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.”¹³ He was also reported to be an expert on the poet Robert Burns and a collector of his works.¹⁴ 

George Brown was still managing the White House greenhouses when he passed away in his home in D.C. on November 23, 1909. He was buried at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.¹⁵