Daniel Webster
Cite this Page
"Daniel Webster," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/707.
- Positions
- Chauffeur
- Coachman
- Years in President's House
- 1913 – 1933
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Biography
- Daniel Webster was born in January 1868 in Washington, D.C. (1) His father had a cart and wagon, and taught him about horses from a young age. Early in his career, Webster drove coaches and cabs for Washington, D.C. 's Willard Hotel and the Metropolitan Police. Webster then joined the White House staff in 1913. (2) He was detailed as a White House coachman from the Quartermaster Corps in the War Department. Webster was the last coachman on staff at the White House, driving presidents in horse-drawn brougham and victoria carriages while dressed in full livery, including a silk top hat and longcoat with brass buttons. (3) In 1928, his role shifted. According to a newspaper article based on an interview with Webster: “Realizing sooner or latter (sp.) carriages would be replaced by autos he [Webster] learned to drive a car and is now chauffeur for the auto replacing the carriages. He says, not withstanding the fact he has spent his life about horses, he prefers to drive a car.” (4)
Indeed, Daniel Webster navigated the evolution of transportation adeptly and remained on staff as a chauffeur. (5) In both of these roles, his primary duty was driving White House housekeepers like Ellen Riley and Ava Long to local shops and on errands as needed for the household. (6) He also would “on occasion pinch hit for the presidential driver.” (7) Webster retired from the White House in 1933 during the Hoover-Roosevelt transition; further information about his life after the White House is limited. (8) - (1) Daniel Webster in the 1920 United States Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T625_211; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 359, Ancestry.com; Daniel Webster in the 1900 United States Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 158; Page: 32; Enumeration District: 0010, Ancestry.com.
(2) Ibid; Daniel Webster in the 1910 United States Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Precinct 11, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T624_149; Page: 13b; Enumeration District: 0234; FHL microfilm: 1374162, Ancestry.com; “Ex-White House Coachman Recalls Horse-and-Buggy Days,” Washington Post, August 23, 1943, pg. B1.
(3) “Forced to Give Way By Changing Times,” The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), February 1, 1928, pg. 2; “White House Coachman Daniel Webster Driving President Theodore Roosevelt's Brougham, 1928,” The Henry Ford, https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/271465; “Ex-White House Coachman Recalls Horse-and-Buggy Days,” Washington Post, August 23, 1943, pg. B1.
(4) “White House Carriages Rescued by Cheatham,” The Washington Post, May 14, 1928, pg. 2.
(5) In 1929, he was also listed in Hoover staff records as a garage housekeeper, so his duties may have included general cleaning, upkeep, and maintenance of the garage, as well as driving the automobiles. Employees on Duty at the Executive Office, 1929, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1929, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory Vol. LXXIV (R. L. Polk and Co., 1929), 1628.
(6) Employees of the White House Garage, January 8, 1931, Presidential Papers, Subject File, The White House-Garage Correspondence, 1930-1933 and Undated, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; “Forced to Give Way By Changing Times,” The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), February 1, 1928, pg. 2.
(7) “Ex-White House Coachman Recalls Horse-and-Buggy Days,” Washington Post, August 23, 1943, pg. B1.
(8) Ibid. - Birthplace
- Washington, D.C., USA
- Related Workers
- Ava LongHousekeeping and Laundry, 1929 – 1933
- Ellen A. RileyHousekeeping and Laundry, 1926 – 1929