Marie V. Barbiery

Marie Barbiery was born in Tennessee in 1872.¹ Sometime prior to 1899, she moved to Oneida County, New York.² It is currently unclear when she began working at the White House, but she was employed there as the head housekeeper by 1899. A newspaper article from January of that year provided an in-depth examination of the household under President McKinley and explained that Barbiery worked closely with Steward William T. Sinclair to oversee the domestic staff and manage events. “These two,” said the article, “are practically responsible for everything.”³ She earned $25 per month in her role.⁴

Barbiery still held this position in 1901 under President Theodore Roosevelt.⁵ She likely ceased her work at the White House in 1902 because that year she began working as a nurse, housekeeper and secretary for Lydia C. Payne, the wife of the postmaster general.⁶ By 1903, she was listed in a register of federal government employees earning $40 per month in an unspecified job.⁷ 

In 1907, Barbiery married a man named Thomas Dewdney and took his last name.⁸ Marie Dewdney passed away on July 23, 1945 and was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.⁹