John J. Nolan

John J. Nolan was born in County Meath, Ireland, on October 10, 1867.¹ He immigrated to the United States in 1882 (later becoming a naturalized citizen) and worked for the Central Park Riding Academy in New York City. He later served as coachman to prominent Wall Street broker Frank Hastings, who recommended him to President Grover Cleveland.² 

Nolan is first mentioned as a part of the Clevelands’ personal staff in 1895. In the summertime, he served as private coachman at their Gray Gables estate in Massachusetts; in the winter, he was a watchman at the White House, meaning he patrolled the grounds and provided security.³ In August 1896, he married White House Governess Jennie Schultz-Lander at Gray Gables; the press called it “the climax of a romance of the stable and the nursery.”⁴ 

He likely remained on staff through the end of Cleveland’s second term in 1897, and afterward moved to New York. Both he and his wife, Jennie, worked for etiquette expert Emily Post in the roles of coachman and governess, respectively.⁵ In 1908, the two resettled in Mansfield, Ohio, where Nolan worked in the tire industry. Outside of work, he was an active member of St. Peter’s Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization.⁶ John J. Nolan died on June 27, 1949, and was buried at Mansfield Catholic Cemetery.⁷