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 >

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 […]