Sophia Peterson
Cite this Page
"Sophia Peterson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/561.
- Position
- Maid
- Years in President's House
- circa 1893 – 1895
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- Unclear from Context
- Presidency
- Grover Cleveland Second Term
- Biography
- In March 1893, as Grover and Frances Cleveland traveled to the White House ahead of Cleveland’s second Inauguration, newspapers reported that they were joined by their servants. The list of employees included chambermaid Sophia Peterson, who seems to have worked for the Clevelands in New York.1 As a chambermaid, Peterson cleaned the private spaces of their home. Two years later, an article about their summer home, Gray Gables, noted that Sophie was one of their household servants working upstairs– this is likely the same woman.2 Further information about her life and career is unknown at this time.
- “Four Years More,” The World (New York, NY), March 3, 1893, pg. 5.
- “Happiness Reigns at Grey Gables,” The Cincinnati Enquirer, August 18, 1895, pg. 17.
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Unclear from Context