John Watt

John Watt was born in Scotland around 1824.¹ He was hired by the Commissioner of Public Buildings in 1853, who placed him in charge of the “President’s grounds, conservatory, Lafayette Square, and the grounds south of the President’s House.”² In 1857, Watt oversaw the construction of the White House Conservatory.³ 

He was well known in the world of gardening and horticulture as he presented his peas, onions, and collection of greenhouse plants at the 1857 Horticulture Exhibition and served as chairman of the Washington Horticultural Society.⁴ However, Watt’s time at the White House was marred by controversy. He regularly inflated the cost of his operations and over-charged the government. In 1861, the former commissioner of public buildings, William Woody, accused Watt of disloyalty to the Union cause and misusing expenses.⁵ A short time later, Henry Wikoff, a friend of Mary Lincoln’s, named Watt as the person who leaked a portion of President Lincoln’s annual address to Congress to the New York Herald.⁶ 

Watt left the White House in late 1861, amidst these scandals. However, the timeline is unclear about when exactly President Lincoln dismissed Watt and which incident specifically prompted it. After he left the White House, Watt spent most of 1862 in Europe studying plants for the Department of the Interior.⁷ When he returned in 1863, he enlisted in the Union Army.⁸ 

He continued to work as a private gardener and florist in Washington, D.C., and owned his own greenhouse.⁹ John married Jane Masterson, who is sometimes listed as working at the White House, in 1847.¹⁰ John Watt died in 1892 and is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C.¹¹