William M. Johnson

William M. Johnson was born in Washington, D.C., on November 7, 1871.¹ He graduated from Columbian College in D.C. (later renamed The George Washington University) with a degree in pharmacy, after which he worked as a pharmacist for ten years.² He then began working for the Pullman Company as a train conductor who assisted guests with their travel and managed operations onboard. Based out of D.C., he managed the trains carrying President William McKinley around the country. After McKinley’s assassination in Buffalo, New York in 1901, Johnson served on the train that carried the president’s body back to Washington, and on the train that took McKinley’s body to Canton, Ohio, for burial. Johnson then served as the conductor on all Pullman train trips for President Theodore Roosevelt, including in April 1902 when Roosevelt attended the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition in Charleston, South Carolina.³ Then, Johnson moved to Chicago where the Pullman company was headquartered.⁴ 

In September 1904, President Roosevelt hired Johnson to be usher at the White House following the resignation of Usher Charles W. Mascord. A newspaper article announced Johnson’s appointment, stating: “Mr. Johnson was the conductor who had charge of a majority of the trips made by the President to different parts of the country, and his service was so satisfactory to the President and Secretary [William] Loeb [Roosevelt’s private secretary] that at the first opening he was given a place on the usher force.”⁵ As a White House usher, Johnson greeted guests, escorted them throughout the Residence, helped manage the president’s schedule, and provided security. During Johnson’s tenure at the White House, there were two other ushers who previously worked for the Pullman company and received their appointment to the White House by meeting presidents in this capacity: Chief Usher Thomas E. Stone and Usher Charles J. Pusey. 

Johnson left the White House at the end of Roosevelt’s presidency and moved to El Paso, Texas, to work as an inspector for Immigration Services.⁶ He spent three and a half years as immigration advisor to the United States consulate in Naples, Italy.⁷ He ended his career as lead immigration inspector in Baltimore, Maryland, and retired in October 1938.⁸ Johnson passed away on April 15, 1939, and was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.⁹