George S. Vincent

On July 2, 1903, a newspaper article announced that the White House had hired four new ushers: George S. Vincent, Charles E. Tharin, Patrick E. McKenna, and Irwin H. Hoover.¹ As ushers, Vincent and the others greeted guests, escorted them through the White House, helped manage other workers within the household, and acted as security. They answered to Chief Usher Thomas E. Stone. 

Little else is known about Vincent, as he appears in no other known records from the White House. However, the newspaper article announcing his appointment as usher noted that both Charles Tharin and Irwin Hoover were promoted from other positions within the household but said nothing about McKenna or Vincent, which suggests they did not work at the White House prior to July 1903. There was a man named George Vincent living in Washington, D.C. around this time. The 1920 Census includes a man by that name who was born in Maryland around 1856 and working in D.C. as a laborer for the government, though it does not say which branch or agency of the government.² This could be the same Vincent who worked as an usher at the White House.