a slave in the white house by elizabeth dowling taylor

In “A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison,” Paul Jennings recalls his life with the Madisons. Jennings that his freedom, too, was possible.Īlthough the author takes us on an extended journey of the Madisons’ home life and family dynamics – some of no importance to the life of Paul Jennings – she does introduce us to a man who not only knew how to read and write, but may have helped slaves to escape, either through forging documents or by assisting them to leave in other ways. Jennings being exposed to other ideas, a different way of life, and also to free blacks. Taylor points out the possibilities of Mr. Jennings was selected to be Madison’s footman at the White House during both of Madison’s terms. In her book, “A Slave in the White House,” Taylor attempts to give the reader the sense of what it might have been like for Paul Jennings, who at the age of ten became James Madison’s footman. His mother was one of Madison’s slaves, and the granddaughter of a Native American.

His father is believed to have been an English trader. Paul Jennings was born a slave on President Madison’s estate in Montpelier, Virginia, in 1799. Paul Jennings, author of the first White House memoir, “ A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison,” in 1865, could not have foreseen the feelings his grandchildren and great-grandchildren would experience. Add to that, the fact that the first African-American president was now in office these descendants could easily have felt an overwhelming sense of the foreign and indescribable. Entering the White House, where their ancestor - a former slave - served President James Madison, must have been a surreal moment for them all. 24, 2009, Paul Jennings’ descendants arrived at the White House for a private tour.

A slave in the white house by elizabeth dowling taylor