They Knew Lincoln

John E. Washington and Edited by Kate Masur

Reprint of a 1942 book on Abraham Lincoln that has been long out of print.
Features recollections of Lincoln from the African Americans who knew him most closely.
Includes the original introduction by Carl Sandburg.
Features a new introduction about John E. Washington and the publication of the book by a known scholar of Reconstruction and African American history.

They Knew Lincoln

John E. Washington and Edited by Kate Masur

Description

Originally published in 1942 and now reprinted for the first time, They Knew Lincoln is a classic in African American history and Lincoln studies. Part memoir and part history, the book is an account of John E. Washington's childhood among African Americans in Washington, DC, and of the black people who knew or encountered Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln.

Washington recounted stories told by his grandmother's elderly friends--stories of escaping from slavery, meeting Lincoln in the Capitol, learning of the president's assassination, and hearing ghosts at Ford's Theatre. He also mined the US government archives and researched little-known figures in Lincoln's life, including William Johnson, who accompanied Lincoln from Springfield to Washington, and William Slade, the steward in Lincoln's White House. Washington was fascinated from childhood by the question of how much African Americans themselves had shaped Lincoln's views on slavery and race, and he believed Lincoln's Haitian-born barber, William de Fleurville, was a crucial influence. Washington also extensively researched Elizabeth Keckly, the dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln, and advanced a new theory of who helped her write her controversial book, Behind the Scenes,

A new introduction by Kate Masur places Washington's book in its own context, explaining the contents of They Knew Lincoln in light of not only the era of emancipation and the Civil War, but also Washington's own times, when the nation's capital was a place of great opportunity and creativity for members of the African American elite. On publication, a reviewer noted that the "collection of Negro stories, memories, legends about Lincoln" seemed "to fill such an obvious gap in the material about Lincoln that one wonders why no one ever did it before." This edition brings it back to print for a twenty-first century readership that remains fascinated with Abraham Lincoln.

They Knew Lincoln

John E. Washington and Edited by Kate Masur

Editor's Introduction
Foreword by the Author
Introduction by Carl Sandburg
Acknowledgments
Prelude-- Recollections of the Ford Theater Neighborhood

Part One: Those Who Loved Lincoln
Grandmother-- Her Story of the Three C's
The Beginning of the Artist-- "Booth's Annihilation"
Cousin Annie-- Tells about the Keckley and Herndon Books
Uncle Ben, the Preacher-- Cartoon of "Riding around the Circuit"
His Stories of--King Solomon's Wisdom
The Divine Preparation
Aunt Eliza
Aunt Eliza's Death
Aunt Rosetta Wells-- Her Stories of Little Tad Lincoln and the White House
Uncle Buck
Aunt Mary Dines-- The Contraband Singer
Her Stories of Lincoln's Visits to the Contraband Camp-- Their Exercises for Him and His Part in Them
Old Aunt Phobe Bias-- Her Story of the "Big Watch-Meeting" before the Emancipation Proclamation
Uncle Sandy-- His Story of the Ford's Theater Ghosts

Interlude- Slavery in the East

Part Two: Those Who Served Lincoln
William Slade-- Confidential Messenger and Friend
Aunt Rosetta Wells-- White House Seamstress
Cornelia Mitchell-- White House Cook
Peter Brown-- Butler and Waiter at the White House
William Johnson-- Lincoln's First Bodyguard
Solomon Johnson-- Lincoln's Personal Barber

Part Three: Those Who Remembered Lincoln
Aunt Vina-- Her Home and Souvenirs of Lincoln
Her Description of Lincoln's Funeral
Aunt Elizabeth Thomas-- Heroine of Fort Stevens
John Henry Coghill-- Living Witness of Booth's Capture and Death
Her Personal Statement
Tom Gardiner-- How He Knew the Conspirators and Booth's Plans
Personal Statement by Him
William J. Ferguson-- The Only Witness of All the Phases of Lincoln's Assassination

Part Four: The Springfield Revelation
William de Fleurville-- Also Known as William Florville and "Billy the Barber"

Part Five: Elizabeth Keckley
Elizabeth Keckley--Companion and Confidante of Mrs. Lincoln
"Behind the Scenes"-- Story of Mrs. Keckley's book
Mary Todd Lincoln-- Love of the Negro for Lincoln's Wife

Appendix

They Knew Lincoln

John E. Washington and Edited by Kate Masur

Author Information

John E. Washington (1880-1964) was a public school teacher, dentist, amateur historian, and collector of Lincolniana who lived in Washington, DC and Highland Beach, Maryland.

Kate Masur teaches in the Department of History at Northwestern University. She is the author of An Example for All the Land: Emancipation and the Struggle over Equality in Washington, D.C. and the co-editor of The World the Civil War Made.

They Knew Lincoln

John E. Washington and Edited by Kate Masur

Reviews and Awards

"Masur provides an essential introduction to Washington's world in the nation's capital and to his research methodology in creating the original book....Having this work back in print will allow readers to understand sides of Lincoln that informed his thinking about race and will help demystify the mythical Lincoln."--Randall M. Miller, Library Journal

"This long awaited new edition of They Knew Lincoln, with Kate Masur's brilliant scholarly introduction, makes available to researchers at every level a set of perspectives that have long been overlooked or difficult to access. The volume not only sheds light on the interactions between African Americans and President Lincoln; it also reveals nuances in the complexities of African American social structure as it evolved in Washington DC during and after the Civil War. Masur and the Oxford editorial staff are to be commended for this service rendered to scholars as well as to the general public."--Wilson J. Moses, author of Alexander Crummell: A Study of Civilization and Discontent

"Scholars and the general reader are indebted to Kate Masur for making this out-of-print classic available once more. Her invaluable, comprehensive introduction expertly contextualizes John Washington's extraordinary contribution to our understanding of Abraham Lincoln and the ordinary people of color with whom he interacted. This volume is a must-have addition to anyone's Lincoln or Civil War history collection."--Edna Greene Medford, author of Lincoln and Emancipation

"A full understanding of Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War is not possible without the voices of African Americans. As They Knew Lincoln illustrates, Lincoln's story is their story; their story is Lincoln's story. And somewhere within the overlapping historical narratives of their lives is the true story of slavery, emancipation, and Civil War meaning and memory."--Stacy Pratt McDermott, author of Mary Lincoln: Southern Girl, Northern Woman

"In resurrecting Washington's book, Masur advances the hopeful view that adding knowledge, adding perspectives, adding experience to our shared history actually make us all richer." --The Washington Post

"The perfect gift to celebrate the February 12 birthday of President Abraham LincolnEL Masur's insightful, robust introduction to this unique book makes a compelling case that those with everyday interactions with the 16th president shaped his view on slavery and race." --^{he National Book Review}

"Because Washington's book sold out quickly and was never reprinted, 21st-century readers will applaud Masur's heroic efforts in painstakingly researching Washington's life and unearthing the publishing history of his obscure book, which Carl Sandburg termed 'an important human narrative.'...A broad range of readers will consider this reprint an invaluable addition to Lincoln scholarship and to the dignity and possibility of African American history. Essential."--Choice

"A broad range of readers will consider this reprint an invaluable addition to Lincoln scholarship and to the dignity and possibility of African American history." --J. D. Smith, Choice

"I am falling in love with this classic account was written by former Cardozo High School teacher John E. Washington. They Knew Lincoln tells the stories of many African Americans who knew or encountered Abraham Lincoln." - Amanda Alexander, D.C. Public School Chancellor, Cist