William H. Johnson

William H. Johnson, born in Maryland, worked as a fireman at the White House during President Abraham Lincoln’s administration.¹ In that role, Johnson tended the furnace and maintained the fires in public rooms as well as those for the president. Little is known about his early life. However, presidential historian John E. Washington reconstructed Johnson’s relationship with Lincoln and his service at the White House from primary sources reprinted in his book. According to Washington, Johnson traveled to Springfield, Illinois, sometime before 1860, where he met Abraham Lincoln under circumstances that remain unclear. After Lincoln’s election to the presidency, Johnson accompanied Lincoln to Washington in 1861 and was described as his first bodyguard. A note written by President Abraham Lincoln on October 24, 1862, provides further evidence of Johnson’s connection to Illinois. In it, Lincoln described Johnson as having “came with me from Illinois and is now a working man, as I believe,” suggesting that the president had personal knowledge of his background and character.² At the White House, Johnson performed a range of duties, including valet, barber, messenger, and handyman. Washington noted that Johnson reportedly clashed with staff members who had remained from the previous administration. As a result, Lincoln helped Johnson secure a clerkship at the Treasury Department in 1861, where he remained employed until his death on January 28, 1864.³ A few years later, in 1867, newspapers published an article describing Johnson’s relationship with Lincoln. The article emphasized that Lincoln’s financial support of Johnson was regarded as an early example of the president’s endorsement of Black citizens.⁴

Thank you to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum for providing research assistance with this biography.