Ward Hill Lamon (1828-1893) Marshal for the city of Washington and chief of protocol at White House events, Ward Hill Lamon and Lincoln had a working law partnership before Lamon became prosecuting attorney in 1856. He was with President-elect Lincoln when he snuck into Washington in February 1861 to avoid possible violence in… Abraham Lincoln’s […]

Elizabeth Keckley (1818-1907) Elizabeth Keckley (may be have spelled “Keckly”), known as “Lizzie” or “Madame Elizabeth,” was a former slave who was a seamstress and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln in the White House. Her soft-spoken, upbeat personality, helped calm the President’s wife in moments of crisis. She lost her only son, in battle, in… […]

William Johnson ( – 1864) William Johnson was the barber and bootblack who worked for President Lincoln for a year before accompanying him to Washington. However, there was antagonism toward Johnson, who was black, from the existing White House staff, who were generally lighter skinned or white. President Lincoln sought other employment for Johnson… Abraham […]

Benjamin Brown French (1800-1870) Commissioner of Public Buildings, Benjamin Brown French, succeeded William S. Wood in the fall of 1861. After his appointment French wrote in his diary on September 8: “I was at the President’s and saw Mrs. Lincoln and the President. Mrs. L. expressed her satisfaction at my appointment, and I hope and […]

Charles Forbes Charles Forbes watched Tad on occasion, acted as footman to the presidential carriage, and was driving Mrs. Lincoln from the Soldiers’ Home to the White House on July 3, 1863 when either an accident or sabotage caused her carriage to break apart. In the process, Mrs. Lincoln’s head was badly hurt and she […]

Mary Ann Cuthbert First a maid and seamstress, Mary Ann Cuthbert replaced the personal maid named Ellen who had accompanied Mrs. Lincoln from Springfield. Mrs. Cuthbert later served as chief housekeeper at the White House.   She was charged with confidential assignments for Mary Todd Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln wired Mrs. Cuthbert from Fortress Monroe on […]

William Henry Crook (1839-1915) Washington policeman, William Henry Crook, was assigned as a White House guard starting in January 1865 and remained as a White House employee long after the assassination. He accompanied the First Family when it went to the Richmond front in March 1865. Crook was on duty on April 14, 1865 before […]

Julia Taft The two Taft boys, Bud and Holly, were the constant playmates—and sometime schoolmates—of Willie and Tad Lincoln until Willie’s death in February 1862. When Willie was dying, Bud held a vigil at Willie’s deathbed. “If I go he will call for me,” he told the President when Mr. Lincoln urged Bud to get […]

Leonard Swett (1825-1899) Friend and attorney with whom Lincoln practiced in the Illinois court circuit in the 1850s, Leonard Swett lost the 1856 Republican nomination for Congress to Owen Lovejoy before being elected to the State Legislature in 1858. Swett was a noted criminal lawyer who was one of the originators of the insanity defense. […]

Henry J. Raymond (1820-1869) Henry J. Raymond, editor and owner of the New York Times, was a supporter of Abraham Lincoln and a close friend of both William Seward and Thurlow Weed. He backed Seward in 1860 but helped engineer Lincoln’s renomination at Baltimore Convention in 1864. As an editor, he maintained his editorial… Abraham […]