White House Historical Association

Ellis J. Sampson

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"Ellis J. Sampson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/760.
Position
Butler
Years in President's House
1929 – 1933
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidency
Herbert Hoover
Biography
Ellis J. Sampson was born in 1891 in Charlottesville, Virginia.1 Sampson served as a Mess Attendant 3rd Class in the Navy Department in 1918 and later worked as a butler to Herbert and Lou Hoover at their S Street home in Washington, D.C. during Hoover’s tenure as secretary of commerce.2 After Hoover was elected president, he brought Sampson to the White House to serve as head butler.3 In the role, Sampson oversaw a team including assistant butler Leon Thompson, butler Phillips Brooks, and later longtime butler Alonzo Fields.4 Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt transferred Sampson to the War Department when they moved into the White House in 1933; he worked as a messenger there for many years.5 Ellis Sampson died in 1961 and was buried at Rose Hill Cemetery.6
  1. Ellis James Sampson 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: 060, Ancestry.com; Ellis James Sampson in the Virginia, U.S., Department of Military Affairs Records, 1876-1947, Library of Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; Organization cards of the Virginia Dept of Military Affairs, Ancestry.com.
  2. Oral History Interview with Katurah and Phillips P. Brooks, September 1, 1970, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
  3. Christmas 1930, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1930, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Xmas List 1931, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1931, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; White House Employees, 1932, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1932, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
  4. Oral History Interview with Katurah and Phillips P. Brooks, September 1, 1970, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
  5. Alonzo Fields, My 21 Years in the White House (New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1960), pg. 43-44; Ellis J. Sampson in 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00572; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 1-556, Ancestry.com; Ellis J. Sampson in 1950 United States Federal Census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 2525; Page: 7; Enumeration District: 1-1209.
  6. “Ellis Sampson, 69, Retired Butler,” Evening Star, May 12, 1961, pg. 20.
Birthplace
Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Rose Hill
Related Workers
Encarnación Rodriguez
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, circa 1923 – 1933
Leon Thompson
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, Transportation, Ushers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, 1929 – 1933
Phillips P. Brooks
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, Housekeeping and Laundry, 1929 – 1959
Alonzo Fields
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, 1931 – 1953