Clara Tharin
- Position
- Lady’s Maid
- Years in President's House
- 1897 – 1901
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Presidency
- William McKinley
- Biography
Clara Tharin was born in Switzerland in 1864 and moved to the United States in 1885.1 She worked as Ida McKinley’s lady’s maid, a role she reprised at the White House in 1897. In the position, she helped the first lady dress, traveled alongside her, and assisted with her daily needs– a particularly important role as Mrs. McKinley had epilepsy. Meanwhile, Clara’s husband, Charles Tharin, worked as a watchman and valet to President William McKinley.2
After President McKinley’s 1901 assassination, newspapers reported: “Mrs. Charles Tharin, who has been Mrs. McKinley’s maid for several years… since the funeral has looked after Mrs. McKinley’s effects in the White House preparatory to having them sent to Canton.”3 Her husband, Charles, remained on the White House staff in the years that followed, but there is no documented evidence of Clara Tharin doing the same. Details about her life beyond 1901 are scarce.4
- Clara Tharin in the 1900 United States Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 159; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 0032, Ancestry.com.
- “Safeguarding the President's Life,” Los Angeles Evening Express, August 18, 1900, pg. 2. Carl Sferrazza Anthony, Ida McKinley: The Turn-of-the-Century First Lady through War, Assassination, and Secret Disability (Kent State University Press, 2013), pg. 66.
- “Mrs. McKinley’s Maid Arrives,” The Inter Ocean (Chicago), September 24, 1901, pg. 1.
- “Topics of the Day at the Federal Capital,” Courier-Post (New Jersey), March 2, 1904, pg. 9.
- Birthplace
- Switzerland
- Unclear from Context
- Related Worker
- Charles E. TharinUshers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, Valets, Lady's Maids, and First Family Attendants, 1897 – 1905