Andrew Johnson and his Slaves

Background History Andrew Johnson may have owned as many as eight slaves. Each slave performed domestic duties. He never sold any of his slaves.

Dolly and Sam Dolly and Sam, half- sister and brother, were purchased at a slave auction in Greeneville, Tennessee in Dolly was about 14 years old and Sam was 12.

Legend or Fact?? It has been told that Dolly asked Andrew Johnson to buy her. She looked around the crowd of buyers and spotted Mr. Johnson. She decided she liked his looks so she went up to him and asked if he wouldn’t buy her.

Dolly and Sam After Johnson purchased Dolly and Sam, Dolly eventually had three children: Liz, Florence, and William.

Sam Sam was known as Johnson’s favorite, probably because of his confident and independent nature. According to Martha Johnson, “Old Sam boast that he was my father’s servant, but the fact is, my father was Sam’s servant.”

Sam Sam was allowed to choose jobs around town, like chopping wood and keep part of the money. Sam was close to Johnson until his death and was one of the few persons that knew where Johnson wanted to be buried.

Slave Quarters No one is sure where the slaves lived, but there are a couple of ideas. They may have stayed in a cabin, about 30 feet from the Johnson Homestead or in a basement room of the main house.

Slave Duties The Johnson slaves performed domestic duties including tasks such as washing and ironing clothes, cooking, cleaning, gardening, caring for horses, caring for Johnson’s wife Eliza while she was sick and working for others around town. Johnson took Florence (Dolly’s daughter) with him to Washington, D.C.

Slave Duties Eliza Johnson taught William (Dolly’s son) to cook and he later became a pastry cook at Weaver’s Grill in Knoxville. He said the Johnson family treated him like on of their own. William cared for Johnson during his last ten days of life.

Freeing of his Slaves According to local tradition, Andrew Johnson, then military governor of Tennessee, freed his personal slaves on August 8, Mrs. Johnson shared the news with the slaves. According to William, “One day Mrs. Johnson called us all in and said we were free now, she said we were free to go or we could stay is we wanted to. We all stayed.”