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Armory
Armory The Armory was one of the places to which the President frequently walked from the White House for diversion as well as official business. Early in the war, President Lincoln took a walk and discovered the open doors of the Armory unguarded. As the President later reported the incident to… Abraham Lincoln’s White House […]
McClellan Headquarters
McClellan Headquarters When he headed the army, George McClellan maintained a separate headquarters in the home of Charles Wilkes at 19th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Offices were maintained on the first floor and living quarters on the second. Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >
Navy Department
Navy Department A few weeks after he took office, President Lincoln was prevailed upon by the commandant of the Navy Yard to attend the wedding of his daughter. The President met his social obligation, but the commandant, Franklin Buchanan, did not meet his. Shortly thereafter, Buchanan… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >
Thaddeus Stevens
Thaddeus Stevens “There are some interesting analogies between the careers of Thaddeus Stevens and Abraham Lincoln,” noted Stevens biographer Ralph Korngold. One is that while both detested slavery, both were guilty — Stevens in 1821, Lincoln in 1847 — of appearing in court on behalf of a slaveholder against a fugitive slave… Mr. Lincoln and […]
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner President-elect Lincoln proposed comparing heights but a stiff-backed Senator Charles Sumner. Mr. Lincoln later recalled: “Sumner declined to stand up with me, back to back, to see which was the tallest man, and made a fine speech about being the time for uniting our fronts against the enemy and not our backs. But… […]
Quincy, Adams County, October 13, 1858
Quincy, Adams County, October 13, 1858 “Six days after Galesburg, the candidates met again at Quincy, a town in west-central Illinois that at one time had been Douglas’s home district. Adams County was regarded as ‘Democratic, though not overwhelmingly so,’ Located in the disputed central Illinois area, it was a crucial battleground… Mr. Lincoln and […]
Alton, Madison County, October 15, 1858
Alton, Madison County, October 15, 1858 Sangamon Valley resident Francis Grierson later recalled the Alton debate on October 15, 1858: “Crowds were pouring into Alton. For some days people had been arriving by the steam-packets from up and down the river, the up-boats from St. Louis bringing visitors with long, black hair, goatees, and stolid, […]
William de Fleurville (1807-1868)
William de Fleurville (1807-1868) William de Fleurville (also known as “Florville”) was a Haitian-born businessman who met Mr. Lincoln in New Salem in 1831. After Mr. Lincoln helped him attract clients in that community, Fleurville moved to Springfield where he eventually opened barbershop across from the State House and served… Mr. Lincoln and Freedom >
Reflections on Lincoln and Freedom by Lewis E. Lehrman
Reflections on Lincoln and Freedom by Lewis E. Lehrman President Abraham Lincoln”s hand was shaking. New Year’s Day festivities on January 1, 1863 began at 11 A.M. The hundreds of hands Lincoln shook at the White House left the nation’s chief executive with a tremor he could not afford…. Mr. Lincoln and Freedom >
The Winder Building Annex
The Winder Building Annex The Winder Building Annex to the War Department was located across 17th Street; it was the five-story headquarters of General Winfield Scott and later General Henry W. Halleck, the offices of Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs, as well as the Army Ordnance Department and several other… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >