A White House Connection?

An essay published on February 5, 2020 by Matthew Costello, Vice President of the Rubenstein Center for White House History, reveals the names of two enslaved women who worked at the White House during Monroe’s first administration: Betsey and Eve. Their names match the names of two women sold by Monroe to Florida in 1828 who have been central to our researches. Could Betsy and Eve, the matriarchs of the two principal family lines sold to Florida, have been enslaved servants in the Monroe White House?  The evidence for this connection at this point is only circumstantial, and further research is necessary to increase the probability of this conjecture. In particular, there was another Eve at Highland who could have been the one at the White House.  More can be learned at The Enslaved Households of President James Monroe published by the White House Historical Association. 

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