Paul Jennings (slave)

Paul Jennings was a personal servant, as a young slave, to President James Madison during and after his White House years. After buying his freedom in 1845 from Daniel Webster, Jennings is noted for publishing in 1865 the first White House memoir. His book was A Colored Mans Reminiscences of James Madison, described as a singular document in the history of slavery and the early American republic.

Jennings was born into slavery at Montpelier in 1799 his mother, who was AfricanNative American, was held by the Madisons. She told the boy his father was Benjamin Jennings, an English trader. The mixedrace slave as a child was a companion to Dolleys son Payne Todd. He began to serve James Madison as his footman and later was trained as his body servant. At the age of 10, Jennings accompanied Madison and his family to the White House after the statesmans election as president. In his 1865 memoir, he noted that the East Room was yet unfinished from the first construction, most of the Washington streets were unpaved, and the city was a dreary place in those years.

Source: Wikipedia