Emerick Johnson
Cite this Page
"Emerick Johnson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/701.
- Position
- Chauffeur
- Years in President's House
- circa 1916
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Presidency
- Woodrow Wilson
- Biography
- Information about Emerick Johnson’s life is limited. The only known references to him working at the White House as a chauffeur come from newspaper articles reporting on a car accident. On September 30, 1916, while driving near Shadow Lawn, President Woodrow Wilson’s summer residence in Long Branch, New Jersey, an automobile hit Johnson’s vehicle from behind. Upon the collision, White House Footman George A. Diggs was thrown through the vehicle’s wooden roof and was left in critical condition. However, Johnson’s injuries were minimal. Wilson’s doctor, Dr. Cary T. Grayson attended to the injuries and both men recovered. The president and first lady were not in the car at the time of the accident.1
- “White House Men Hurt, The Plain Dealer, (Cleveland, Ohio), October 2, 1916, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1075910408/?match=1&terms=%22Emerick%20Johnson%22; “President’s Servants Hurt,” The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland Oregon), October 2, 1916, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1089279924/?match=1&terms=%22Emerick%20Johnson%22.
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Unclear from Context