William Henry Johnson (valet)

rdf:langString William Henry Johnson (valet)

rdf:langString John E. Washington, They Knew Lincoln

rdf:langString I think Lincoln's constant interest in William Johnson shows us, even more than do some of his greatest public deeds and much heralded acts, the great heart of this man. He had induced Johnson to leave Springfield and accompany him to Washington on a most perilous journey and thereafter never ceased to be interested in him, but continued to assist him in every manner possible.

rdf:langString William Henry Johnson (March 4, 1833 – January 28, 1864) was a free African American and the personal valet of Abraham Lincoln. Having first worked for Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, Johnson accompanied the President-Elect to Washington, D.C. for his first inauguration (1861). Once there, he was employed in various jobs, part-time as President's valet and barber, and later, following strife with others on the White House staff, as a messenger for the Treasury Department at $600 (equivalent to US$18,096 in 2021) per year. He traveled with Lincoln in November 1863 to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. While traveling, Lincoln experienced symptoms of the onset of smallpox. At that time, an epidemic was spreading through Washington, D.C. and Lincoln's son Tad Lincoln had smallpox. Johnson tended to Lincoln and became quite ill by January 12, 1864, when he was admitted to a hospital. Johnson died within the next couple of weeks.