Red Room There were three public parlors on the first floor of the White House. The Red Room — with a new red carpet installed by Mrs. Lincoln — was used by the President and his wife as the family parlor and a place to entertain close friends, especially after dinner. Mary Todd Lincoln’s historically-minded […]

Vestibule and Corridor From the North Portico of the White House, all visitors entered a vestibule and then a hallway which served many purposes — as an occasional playroom for Lincoln’s children, as a coat room for visitors, as a music room for social events. Tad once kicked a ball into a mirror in the […]

William S. Wood William S. Wood was the Interim Commissioner of Public Buildings at the beginning of the Lincoln Administration. Before the Civil War, Wood had been a hotel manager and a railroad official. At the suggestion of New York Senator William… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

John Watt John Watt was a talented gardener and dishonest head groundskeeper. Mary Todd Lincoln protected Watt from the accusations of others about his expense padding, just as he abetted her in misallocation of public funds. He quickly ingratiated himself with Mrs. Lincoln through his agreeable demeanor and daily bouquets. He accompanied the First… Abraham […]

William O. Stoddard (1835-1925) Assistant Secretary (1861-1864) William O. Stoddard sometimes accompanied the President to weapons tests. He was appointed “Secretary to the President to sign land patents” on July 15, 1861 after working as editor of the Central Illinois Gazette, serving first in the Interior Department. One of his original…” Abraham Lincoln’s White House […]

Thomas Stackpole Thomas Stackpole was a doorkeeper outside of the President’s office and a White House watchman. He served under President James Buchanan, for whom he was a guard before his promotion to doorkeeper. Mrs. Lincoln wrote that he was “a most worthy man and an especial friend of the President” and indeed he was […]

Rebecca R. Pomroy (1817-1884) Rebecca R. Pomroy was a widowed army nurse who served at the White House in February and March 1862 when Tad and Willie were sick and Mrs. Lincoln was overcome by grief at Willie’s death.   Pomroy was first recruited when chief army nurse Dorothea Dix went to the White House […]

Thomas Pendel (1824-unknown) Thomas Pendel was the White House guard who replaced Edward McManus as chief doorkeeper in 1864. He enlisted in the Metropolitan police in the early 1860s and was later assigned to the White House. He often watched over Tad Lincoln, who called him “Tom Pen.” Pendel took care of Tad the night […]

John Parker John Parker was the Presidential bodyguard who arrived late to work on the night of April 14, 1865 and left to go to Ford’s Theater after the President. He was a carpenter and machinist before serving briefly in the Army at the beginning of the Civil War. As a Washington policeman, he had […]

Edward Duffield Neill (1823-1893) Assistant secretary to President Lincoln (1864-65), Edward Duffield Neill was an ordained Presbyterian minister and dedicated historian. At the beginning of the Civil War, Rev. Neill served as chaplain to a Minnesota regiment and later as an army hospital chaplain in Philadelphia… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >