Domestic Servants

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Domestic Servants in the late 19th & early 20th Century

U.S. Census records and papers found in the Tudor Place Archive indicate that later 19^th century servants such as cook Margaret “Maggie” Carraher (1849-1932) and kitchen maid Ellen Barnett were Irish immigrants. Maggie Carraher was born in Ireland in 1849 and emigrated to the United States in 1868 when she was nineteen years old. She was employed as the cook at Tudor Place from 1880 to 1888 and again from 1905 until 1911. Photographs of Maggie taken by Britannia Kennon’s grandson Armistead Peter Jr. survive in the Tudor Place Archive.

Staff size increased around the turn of the 20th century. By that time, Britannia was well into the eighth decade of her life and at least two of her adult grandchildren lived with her at Tudor Place.

Following Britannia Kennon’s death in January 1911, grandson Armistead Peter Jr. became the owner of Tudor Place. Armistead, his wife Anna and son Armistead Peter 3rd set about modernizing the house in 1913. The renovation included a new servant call system and the installation of modern bathrooms, electricity, and steam radiator heating for the comfort of the family and staff. The second floor of the West Wing became dedicated living space for domestic servants.

When the family moved back to the house in December 1914, they also brought a number of servants from their previous residence on Q Street and others from a property in upstate New York inherited in 1912 from Mrs. Peter’s mother.

By 1918, the ratio of staff to family members at Tudor Place was 4:1. Mr. and Mrs. Peter employed twelve servants, ranging from the cook and kitchen maid to a chauffeur, butler and a personal secretary. Here are some of the domestic servants employed at Tudor Place in the early 20th century:

John Luckett

Gardener. During the Civil War, Luckett self-emancipated from a site in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was hired by Britannia Kennon as the gardener in March 1862 when slavery was still legal in the District of Columbia. Luckett remained at Tudor Place for over 44 years until his death in 1906. Luckett tended the gardens and also taught Britannia’s four grandsons how to hunt, fish and garden. He never lived on the Tudor Place property but rather maintained his independence by living with his family on Capitol Hill.

Annie O’Connor

Cook. Ms. O’Connor had previously worked for Mr. and Mrs. Peter at their Q Street house. She came with them to Tudor Place and remained until 1920.

Beatrice Punch

Kitchen Maid. Beatrice was hired in 1917 and replaced a longtime kitchen maid who held the position for five years.

Mary F. Duvall

Lady’s Maid and occasional Nurse. Miss Duvall was previously hired to care for Mr. Peter’s grandmother Britannia Kennon during one of her bouts of ill health in the early 20^th century.

Joe Little

Chauffeur. Joe was hired by the Peter family in 1913 to drive and maintain the Pierce-Arrow touring car purchased by Armistead Peter Jr. The second highest paid servant on staff, he was the second generation of his family to work in service. His father Joe Sr. had been the coachman for Mrs. Peter’s mother at her New York residence and Joe had started his career as a footman in the same household. He was dismissed in the summer of 1919 for impertinence but remained in Washington working as an automotive mechanic.

Lewis B.B. Oliver

Personal Secretary/Business Manager. Lewis began working as Armistead Peter Jr.’s personal secretary in 1918. He had previously worked as a local bank clerk. He remained at Tudor Place until 1931 as Mr. Peter’s personal secretary where he handled the household accounts, correspondence, bookkeeping, and other business and personal matters

Jacob Taub

Butler. Taub was hired in late October 1918 after a previous butler contracted the Spanish Flu. Taub was a Polish immigrant who lived off-property with his family and traveled with the Peter family when they spent summers at another residence in upstate New York.

Margaret Burns

Household Maid/Parlor Maid. Margaret had a long tenure at Tudor Place, working for the Peter family from 1914 until 1932. In 1923 she was promoted to Parlor Maid. Born in County Sligo, Ireland, she returned there for a visit in 1932 and ultimately ended up marrying and remaining. She corresponded with Mr. Peter for many years after she left his employment and died in 1962.

Mary Redden

Chambermaid. Mary traveled with the family when they went to their farm in upstate New York each summer. Born in Ireland in 1875, she came to the United States when she was eleven years old in 1886.

Sadie Murphy

Maid. Sadie had also previously worked for the Peter family at their house on Q Street and then was employed casually on an as-needed basis at Tudor Place up until 1922, living off property.

Charles Taylor (1884-unknown date)

Gardener. Charles Taylor had a lengthy tenure at Tudor Place working from June of 1912 through 1944. Although his official position was gardener, he was more of a “handyman” and completed repairs to the house and other odd jobs such as taking up the carpets and repairing the furnace, in addition to overseeing the garden and grounds of the estate.

Tom Baker

Laborer. Tom assisted in garden and undertook seasonal tasks such as shoveling the walks when it snowed. Tom first came to Tudor Place in 1912 as an occasional laborer and became a regular member of the staff in 1914. He remained until 1930 when ill health prevented him from work.

Blanche Johnson (unrecorded-1962)

Laundress, cook, kitchen maid and cleaner. Blanche was a black woman who worked at Tudor Place beginning around 1920, but perhaps earlier. In 1928 she lived nearby in the 1600 block of 33rd Street NW. She received wages from the Peter family, according to archival records, for at least 20 years and did a lot of different work around the house. Blanche’s stepmother, Lucy Johnson, worked for Britannia Wellington Peter Kennon, the second owner of Tudor Place, at an unspecified earlier time. Armistead Peter Jr. described Blanche as a woman who “knows what is what, and she does not fail to express her opinion.” (September 3, 1938. “Diary: Armistead Peter Jr,” Papers of Armistead Peter Jr. Tudor Place Archive. MS14 B73 F21).