Little is known about who may have filled the housekeeper’s position at the Octagon. Based on period accounts of other Washington matrons, it is possible that this position saw frequent turnover and that Ann Tayloe, hired a white woman to help oversee the running of her complex household. The Tayloes’ housekeeper may also have been an African American – perhaps one of the older women who appeared among the listings of slaves brought to the Octagon from Mount Airy.
