Louisa

Information about Louisa’s early life remains unknown. In 1833, President Andrew Jackson purchased Louisa from the household of Colonel William Hebb in Washington, D.C. Other members of her family were also purchased by Jackson, including her sisters, Gracy Bradley and Rachel, her brother, Peter, and her mother, Nancy Hebb. Louisa and her family 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 Gracy Bradley and Louisa. The recollection from Dorris indicates that at this pastry chef’s direction, Andrew Jackson purchased Louisa and family members. 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 Jackson’s adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jr. and his wife, Sarah Yorke Jackson, to move to the White House.³ Louisa and her sister Gracy Bradley also went to live at the White House. While Sarah served as White House hostess, Louisa was a nurse to Sarah’s children. After Jackson’s presidency ended in 1837, Gracy and Louisa reunited with their family at The Hermitage.⁴ According to The Hermitage, Louisa married a man named Smith Williams and they had three children, Joseph, Ruben, and Harriet.⁵ Details about her later life and death remain unknown.

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