Gracy Bradley

Information about Gracy Bradley’s early life remains unknown. In March 1832, President Andrew Jackson purchased Bradley, then an enslaved teenager, from the household of Colonel William Hebb in Washington, D.C for $400. Jackson purchased Bradley as a wedding present for his adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jr. and his wife Sarah Yorke Jackson. Other members of her family were also purchased by Jackson the following year, including her sisters Louisa and Rachel, her brother, Peter, and her mother, Nancy Hebb. Gracy and her family members were sent to work at The Hermitage, Jackson’s plantation in Tennessee.¹ 

According to a recollection from Mary C. Dorris, a founding member of The Ladies’ Hermitage Association (a private organization that acquired Andrew Jackson’s property in 1889), an unidentified free Black woman was employed at Andrew Jackson’s White House as a pastry chef. Apparently, this individual was a sister of Bradley. The recollection from Dorris indicates that at this pastry chef’s direction, Andrew Jackson purchased Bradley and other members of their family. It remains unclear whether this recollection of the free sister working at the White House is accurate.² In October 1834, there was a large fire at The Hermitage, prompting Andrew Jackson, Jr. and Sarah Yorke Jackson to move to the White House.³ 

Bradley and her sister, Louisa, came with them and worked at the White House for Sarah while she served as White House hostess. Bradley was a lady’s maid and seamstress for Sarah.⁴ After Jackson’s presidency ended in 1837, Bradley and Louisa reunited with their family at The Hermitage. Bradley remained at the plantation with her husband Alfred Jackson and had two children, Sarah and Augustus. Although her husband had the last name Jackson, Gracy and her children went with Bradley. She died in 1887 and was likely buried at The Hermitage.⁵

Thank you to The Hermitage providing research assistance with this biography.