Abel E. Long

Information about Abel E. Long’s early life is limited at this time. He attended Catholic School in Buffalo, New York.¹ According to Buffalo city directories, Long was employed as a machinist between 1905 and 1908 for the Pierce-Arrow Motor Company.² 

When William Howard Taft became president in 1909, he hired Long as one of the first White House chauffeurs at the recommendation of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Company to drive a Pierce limousine, earning $100 per month. President Taft preferred cars to horses, and he began to retire the White House stables to create the first White House garage.³ Long worked alongside Taft’s first chauffeur, George H. Robinson who was known as a fast and reckless driver. In contrast to Robinson, Long was a cautious and restrained driver.⁴ Long also drove President Taft while the president visited the summer White House in Beverly, Massachusetts. In July 1909, Long married a woman named Bessie McCausland Moran in Beverly and the pair resided in an apartment above Taft’s garage there.⁵ Despite his cautious driving, the following summer, Long again accompanied the president to Beverly where he was involved in a car accident. While driving First Lady Helen Taft and her sisters, a boy jumped into the road and Long hit the child with his front fender. In the aftermath of the accident, Long was commended for his quick response. He was able to divert the vehicle for a less severe outcome. He also scooped up the injured child, named Wilfred Crowell, and drove him to Salem Hospital. Crowell was not seriously injured and the first lady visited him in the hospital.⁶ As Taft prepared to leave the White House in 1913, he wrote a note to Long: “Before I get out of office I want to record Mrs. Taft’s and my satisfaction with your service as chauffeur during the past four years. We have found you to be an expert driver and a courteous and willing employee, and I am glad to commend you to all with whom you seek employment.”⁷ Long continued to work briefly for President Woodrow Wilson. During the spring of 1913, he taught Wilson’s daughters, Jessie, Eleanor, and Margaret to drive. He left White House employment in June 1913 and returned to Buffalo.⁸ In 1919, he appeared in the city directory as an auto tester.⁹ He died later that year in Buffalo, New York on November 21, 1919.¹⁰