Isaac and Mary Scott
    President Wilson House > About The Wilson House > Isaac and Mary Scott

Isaac (1875-1959) and Mary Scott (1882-1968) served the Wilsons at their home on S Street for many years. Isaac Spencer Scott was born and raised in Washington, DC and for 20 years worked as a porter for the Galt & Bro. jewelry store owned by Edith Bolling’s first husband, Norman Galt. In 1908 Isaac married Mary Ashley Sloane of Washington, VA. The Scotts joined the Wilsons’ service at S Street in March 1921 and lived on the 4th floor.

When they departed the White House, the Wilsons were forced to leave Brooks, the White house steward and valet to the President, behind. “How to replace him seemed a real problem,” writes Edith in her memoir. “However fate was kind. I had been able to get a couple I had long known and to whom I here pay a tribute of gratitude and affection … I count them high on my list of this world’s blessings.”

African American woman in Edwardian outfit and hat
Mary Scott ca 1908. (Image courtesy of the Sloane Family)

 

Woodrow Wilson with Isaac Scott in front of S Street home.
Isaac Scott assisting the disabled Wilson at S Street in 1922.

 

In August 1931 after years of service the Scotts purchased their own home at 4434 Hunt Place, NE in the Deanwood neighborhood of Washington, DC. At first the Scotts only spent one night a week at their new home, spending the rest of their time working at S Street. Later they commuted by streetcar to the Wilson House. Isaac and Mary continued in Mrs. Wilson’s service at S Street into the 1950s. Isaac retired first due to poor health. Mary’s niece, Lucy, and her husband the Reverend James Christopher Wyatt moved in with the Scotts on Hunt Place in the late 1950s to help care for the elderly couple. Isaac died on May 30, 1959 at the age of 83. Edith Wilson attended his funeral at the Shiloh Baptist Church and visited the family at their home on Hunt Place afterwards. Mary died on January 15, 1968 at the age of 85. The couple are buried at National Harmony Memorial Park Cemetery in Landover, MD.

All Rights Reserved
Book Now