Domestic employees worked at people's homes. In the early twentieth century, even families of moderate means hired one or two domestic employees.

Most domestic employees in the South were African American. They worked and lived under two systems: segregation, which separated the black and white races; and paternalism, in which the employer cared for the employee in return for dedicated service. McFaddin employees took care of the family, house, grounds, and automobiles.

• Butler or downstairs maid - answered door, served meals, cleaned downstairs and front porch, polished silver
• Upstairs maid - cared for upstairs rooms and clothing of the ladies in the house
• Cook - prepared three meals a day plus special occasions
• Yardman - maintained grounds and cemetery plot
• Chauffeur - drove, kept vehicles clean and running, cleaned carriage house
• Laundress - washed and ironed laundry
• Nursemaid - cared for young children in the house

Domestic employees made the most of their limited free time, shopping on their afternoons off and, when possible, attending church on Sunday. "We used to have a big meal every Sunday." - Cecelia Smith, maid

"He listened to the radio, smoked that pipe. In the summertime he sat out there on the front porch."-James White, recalling his uncle, cook Louis Lemon.

McFaddin employees got off for at least part of the day on June 19, or "Juneteenth," the day that Texas African Americans celebrated the emancipation of Texas slaves in 1865. They often held a barbecue on the beach at McFaddin Ranch.

In the early 1900s, domestic employees often "lived in" where ther worked. Accommodations varied from rooms in carriage houses or small backyard structures to rooms inside main houses.

McFaddin employees could stay in the carriage house rent-free. Other employees "lived out" in black neighborhoods in town. Chauffeur Tom Parker and his wife Albertine built a home on Cable Street in 1924.