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individual’s first name, their owner’s full the commissioners’ records probably
or last name, and their owner’s signature came from one of these locations in
on payrolls and timesheets from 1794 to southern Maryland.
1800. One such timesheet contains the
name “N Jacob George Fenwick.” The H GOING LOCAL H
“N” in front of the name indicates that
the worker was enslaved. Jacob was his Many slave owners who appear in the
first name and George Fenwick was his surviving [construction] documentation
owner. With only a first name, it is came from southern Maryland, specifically
difficult to learn more information about Prince George’s, Charles, St. Mary’s, and
Jacob. However, some details can be Calvert Counties. Each of these counties
extracted from just a name, such as a had convenient access to the Potomac
location and genealogical information River, making it easy to transport
about the slave owner. According to enslaved people upriver to work on feder-
additional records, it appears George al construction projects like the White
Fenwick also hired out another enslaved House. Some slave owners in northern
man—Orston—for federal construction Virginia also supplied enslaved labor to
projects. By using available genealogical Washington, D.C. Because the capital
information about Fenwick, it can be This payroll from August 1795 shows the payroll for enslaved sawyers city did not have a large population at the
determined that he was born sometime working at the President’s House – Simon, Jerry, Jef, Charles, Len, onset of the initial construction, the
before 1749 in St. Mary’s County, Dick, Bill, and Jim. Enslaved workers were typically noted in the commissioners hired out enslaved people
Maryland. He died in Washington, D.C. payrolls with an “N” of “Negro” to indicate their status. from a variety of slave owners in
on October 26, 1811. According to the – National Archives and Records Administration Maryland, Virginia, and the District of
1800 census, the year White House con- Columbia. Since the commissioners were
struction concluded, Fenwick lived with three enslaved individuals at wealthy landowners themselves, it is likely they communicated with
his Georgetown home. Based on this information, it might appear that other landowners to create a network of enslaved labor.
Fenwick did not own many enslaved individuals. His 1811 will, While available genealogical information reveals more about the
however, paints a different picture. slave owner than the enslaved workers, sometimes it is possible to glean
additional pieces of information about the lives
of the enslaved. This is currently the case with
the Brent sisters: Eleanor, Elizabeth, Mary,
Jane, and Teresa. These women each appear in
records related to the commissioners’
proceedings. A receipt dated July 7, 1796, from
a cobbler named Delphey lists each of the Brent
sisters and the shoes made for their enslaved
people. According to this receipt, Eleanor fitted
Charles and David; Elizabeth fitted Gabe and
Henry; Jane fitted Silvester; and Teresa fitted
Nace for new shoes. This receipt provides an
example of the terms of the short-term contract
agreements for the enslaved. While the
commissioners were responsible for providing
payment to slave owners like the Brent sisters
for the labor of their enslaved people, the slave
owners were responsible for providing the
clothing. The example of the Brent sisters
shows how slave owners fulfilled the clothing
obligation of their contract with the
commissioners. Most enslaved people working
on federal building projects probably did not
have many items of clothing. Receiving a new
pair of shoes during construction must have
This oil painting called A Vision Takes Form was completed by artist Peter Waddell for the White House been incredibly valuable.
Historical Association in 2007. Waddell depicts the White House construction as it may have appeared in 1796.

According to surviving documentation, at least nine presidents either
According to the will, George Fenwick left four city lots in the new
city of Washington and significant tracts of land in Prince George’s brought with them or hired out enslaved individuals to work at the
County, Maryland, and St. Mary’s County, Maryland, to his sons. He White House: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe,
also left his wife, Margaret, “my dwelling plantation in St. Mary’s Co., John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler,
called ‘Swamp Island’ and lots before mentioned; also half of all my James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor. – FAQs, the White House
negroes.” The direction to leave his wife “half” of his enslaved people Historical Association
suggests that he owned a considerable number of enslaved individuals.
In addition, Fenwick stated that his land in Prince George’s County
contained 287 acres, while his St. Mary’s County plantation consisted H ARCHITECT JAMES HOBAN H
of 400 acres. The amount of acreage listed in this will suggests that White House architect James Hoban also hired out his enslaved
Fenwick was involved in tobacco farming, one of the most lucrative workers. Payrolls listing carpenters working on the President’s House
crops in southern Maryland for the time period. The intensive nature from 1794 to 1797 list four enslaved individuals belonging to Hames
of this crop typically required large amounts of enslaved labor to Hoban: Ben, Daniel, Harry, and Peter. This record is one of the few
cultivate and harvest. Therefore, this information suggests that Fenwick instances of enslaved people working as craftsmen. Ben, Daniel, and
was likely a wealthy plantation owner. The Jacob and Ortson listed in
Harry each made the same wage as white adolescents apprenticed to the

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