Patent Office Located at Seventh and F Street, across from the Post Office, the Patent Office had been visited by Abraham Lincoln and his son Robert when Mr. Lincoln was a congressman and seeking to patent his invention for moving boats over river shoals. British novelist Anthony Trollope called it… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

The State Department The State Department was located in a smaller and unimpressive brick building just North of the Treasury Building along Pennsylvania Avenue. (It was torn down after the Civil War to accommodate a north wing for the Treasury Department.) The President was more likely to visit Secretary of State William H. Seward at… […]

Treasury Department The Treasury Building was located just east of the White House — where Pennsylvania Avenue makes a right turn on its path from the Capitol to the White House. The building used during the Civil War was the third one that the Treasury Department occupied on the site — the first two had… […]

Elihu B. Washburne (1816-1887) “Watchdog of the Treasury,” Elihu B. Washburne was the Illinois Congressman (Whig, Republican 1851-69) and Galena attorney who supported Mr. Lincoln’s drive for Senate in 1854 and headed the congressional investigation of General John C. Frémont. He served as chairman of the… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Benjamin F. Wade (1800-1878) Nicknamed “Bluff Ben,” Benjamin F. Wade was a Senator from Ohio (Whig, Republican, 1851-69). Support for him within the Ohio delegation at 1860 Republican Convention split the state’s vote and furthered animosity between himself and Governor Salmon Chase, which originally had developed when… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Lyman Trumbull (1813-1896) Illinois Senator (Democrat, then Republican, 1855-73) Lyman Trumbull grew estranged from President Lincoln at the outset of the Civil War. Trumbull pushed for stronger Confiscation Acts than Mr. Lincoln liked, but the President approved of… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Charles Sumner (1811-1874) Senator from Massachusetts (1851-74, Free Soil, Republican), Charles Sumner served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was a supporter of President Lincoln’s war policies, but pushed him to end slavery. His vigorous support for… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) “The Great Commoner,” Thaddeus Stevens was a Pennsylvania Congressman (Whig, Republican 1849-53, 1859-68) and Radical Republican who often pressed President Lincoln on war and emancipation policies. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee throughout the Civil War, he pushed tariff and tax policies to… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864) Congregational minister and Congressman from Illinois (Republican, 1856-64), Owen Lovejoy died in March 1864. His support of emancipation infuriated Lincoln’s more conservative backers in Illinois, but in Congress, he supported President Lincoln’s moderate policies. Lovejoy was described by President Lincoln as the… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

James H. Lane (1814-1866) James H. Lane, known as “Bloody Jim” and “Grim Chieftain,” was a Senator from Kansas (Republican, 1861-66). He participated in the defense of Washington after the fall of Fort Sumter in 1861—coordinating protection of the White House with David Hunter and Cassius M. Clay. Presidential aide John Hay recalled in his […]