John Luckett

Born in Middleburg, Virginia in approximately 1841, Luckett was enslaved on a plantation near Lewinsville, Virginia until he self-emancipated in 1862 and made his way to Washington, D.C. There he was hired as a gardener by Britannia W. Peter Kennon, who that same year had taken up residence in Tudor Place, her family home in Georgetown, and found the gardens to be in poor condition. She employed Luckett for fifty cents per day, enabling him to emancipate his wife Amanda and their children. It is unknown if Luckett had any training in gardening prior to his self-emancipation, but he demonstrated great skill in his work at Tudor Place. He revived and maintained the grounds by mowing the lawns, trimming and shaping the boxwood, and adding new plantings. He propagated sago palm sprouts that had been planted on the south lawn in 1813 and nurtured the young shoots to maturity. After the original palm died in 1927, one from the original genetic stock was planted in its stead. In addition to planting three Persian yellow rosebushes, he also successfully replanted a pecan tree on the south lawn that had grown too large for its original location.

Luckett tended the Tudor Place gardens for 44 years, his work still evident today. He became an integral member of the Peter household, bringing the children into the gardens, teaching them about the plants, and taking the boys on hunting and fishing trips. Despite the Peter’s offer to purchase a home for Luckett and his family in Georgetown, he decided to settle across the city in Capitol Hill among a community of other formerly enslaved African Americans. Luckett died in 1906 and was interred in Columbian Harmony Cemetery (1857-1959) in Washington, D.C.

Photograph of Luckett courtesy Tudor Place Historic House & Garden.