John Cramer
Cite this Page
"John Cramer," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/71.
- Position
- Unclear from Context Unclear from Context
- Years in President's House
- circa 1796 – 1797
- Legal Status
- Unclear from Context
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Unclear from Context
- Presidency
- George Washington
- Biography
John Cramer appears in account books for President George Washington’s household in Philadelphia between 1796 and 1797. His job is unspecified but he earned between $11-12 per month.1
Little other information about John Cramer is known. However, in 1772, a record of indenture lists a John Cramer in Philadelphia. An indentured servant worked for another person for a period of contract before gaining their freedom. This individual was indentured as an apprentice to William Dishong with a term of 4 years and 6 months and was taught “the trade of hosier or stocking weaving.” It is possible this is the same individual that later worked in Washington’s household.2
- “Washington’s Household Account Book, 1793-1797 (continued),” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 1907, Vol. 31, No. 3, 338, https://www-jstor-org.mutex.gmu.edu/stable/pdf/20085390.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default:3538ab8a1197726aa250c965b5bf39cd&ab_segments=&initiator=recommender&acceptTC=1.
- “John Cramer in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Indentures, 1771-1773,” Ancestry, accessed October 30, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4274/records/2245?tid=&pid=&queryId=2dbd80aa-88a6-4a18-8522-a1c3a706a37f&_phsrc=OuO718&_phstart=successSource.
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Unclear from Context