Jennings L. Lewis
Cite this Page
"Jennings L. Lewis," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/753.
- Positions
- Grounds Laborer
- Carpenter
- Years in President's House
- 1925 – 1958
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Biography
Jennings Lloyd Lewis was born in Richmond County, Virginia on December 17, 1885.1 Lewis worked as a salesclerk and streetcar conductor in Washington, D.C. prior to joining the White House staff in 1925.2 He started as a laborer and yardman for the National Park Service (assigned to the White House Grounds), but later worked as a carpenter on staff.3 According to an obituary, “Mr. Lewis had become interested in cabinet work and soon began to specialize in custom furniture. Whenever a President wanted a special piece of furniture made, Mr. Lewis was called at his basement shop in the White House.”4
Lewis retired in 1958 and passed away on November 30, 1959; he was buried at Bethany Baptist Church Cemetery in Callao, Virginia.5
- Jennings Lloyd Lewis in the U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the District of Columbia; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 041, Ancestry.com. Some sources place his birthdate in 1884. See Jennings Lloyd Lewis in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Registration State: District of Columbia; Registration County: Washington, Ancestry.com.
- Jennings Lloyd Lewis in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Registration State: District of Columbia; Registration County: Washington, Ancestry.com; “Jennings Lewis,” Washington Daily News (Washington, D.C.), December 1, 1959, pg. 20; “Jennings Lewis, Cabinet Maker at White House,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), December 1, 1959, pg. 21, Chronicling America, https://lccn.loc.gov/sn83045462.
- Jennings L Lewis in the 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00560; Page: 62A; Enumeration District: 1-224, Ancestry.com; Jennings Lloyd Lewis in the U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the District of Columbia; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 041, Ancestry.com; "Roster of White House Employees, Revised, April 1, 1944,"Folder: Investigative Case Files, 1934-1945, Records of the United States Secret Service, 1933-1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York; Employees on Duty at the Executive Office, 1929, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1929, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
- “Jennings Lewis, Cabinet Maker at White House,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), December 1, 1959, pg. 21, Chronicling America, https://lccn.loc.gov/sn83045462.
- Ibid; Jennings Lloyd Lewis, Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138648907/jennings-lloyd-lewis.
- Birthplace
- Richmond County, Virginia, USA
- Bethany Baptist Church Cemetery