(09-03-2014 12:50 PM)loetar44 Wrote:  

(09-02-2014 10:27 PM)RickBeaver Wrote:  I've often wondered what would have happened in the Peterson house if there had been a conspirator rooming there. What if Henry Safford would have been connected to it? So many high government officials in one place! Yikes!

James Tanner, a disabled soldier who was a War Department clerk, lived in the house next door to the Petersen home. He wrote that the house was strictly guarded. Soldiers stood guard at the front door and were posted on the roof to keep the growing crowds at bay. While doctors cared for the president the Petersen family and some of the boarders spent the night in the basement.

Thanks for that info loetar44, I've often wondered about the security around that place at the time.

(09-02-2014 08:32 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  I use the word "phantoms" to indicate persons who said they witnessed the death of Lincoln, or who were made a witness by others, but in reality were not there (in the death chamber at Petersen's) at all. What to think about the following three individuals?

(1) James Wormley (owner and operater of the Wormley Hotel in D.C.) was widely reported in 1865 to be at the bedside of Abraham Lincoln when he died. His presence at Lincoln's deathbed was cited in numerous obituaries and articles , however, I did not find any corroborating documentation of this presence.

(2) "Tributes to Abraham Lincoln", a compilation of newspaper articles, says: Gen. O'Beirne is the only man living who was present at the death of Lincoln. He waa sent to the house as provost-marshal by Secretary of War Stanton. Also here I did not find any corroborating documentation.

(3) Salmon P. Chase is pictured on a lot of deathbed scenes as witness but I doubt he was ever there at all. I thought he was only included so that beside family all branches (executive, legislative and judicial) might be represented.

I'm searching for a list of all (proven) persons who were at Lincoln's deathbed. Persons who are not mentioned once but at least twice in seperate documentations. Is such a list existing? And where can I retrieve (or download) that list? Or have someone such a list and willing to share? Thanks.

While I have yet to locate clear and convincing fist hand evidence of the presence of James Wormely at the deathbed, I would like to point out the following:
1. James had been noted as a "nurse" of famous men of the 19th century in Washington having been called to the bedside of Daniel Webster, John Calhoun, Clay and others having grown up around them since the early part of the century. His parents had been acquainted with the Madison's, Monroe, Jefferson, Francis Scott Key (who had represented his father Lynch in court in DC in 1815), Richard Cutts, Richard Rush and others.
2. James was a favorite caterer of most of President Lincoln's Cabinet members and would be with them on many occasions during the war.
3. James' restaurant and boarding house on I St. bet. 15th and 16th was the dwelling for General Winfield Scott when he was in DC until 1861.
4. In the late summer of 1861 Gen. McClellan used it as his favorite dining place.
5. Lincoln's secretaries Hay and Nicolay would frequent the restaurant across Lafayette Square from the White House both during and after Lincoln's administration.
6. James was reportedly called in to nurse Lincoln's sons early in the Presidency.
7. James was actively engaged with Seward in slave freedom efforts.
8. James was a friend and associate of William Slade , Lincoln's White House steward.
9. James' two sons were married during the war to William Slade's two daughters.
10. James was a good friend and supporter of Elizabeth Keckley who were both members of the same 15th Street Baptist Church and who attended the wedding of James' niece in 1868.
11. James was asked by Assistant Treasury Secretary Harrington to lead the "colored" section of the Lincoln funeral procession.
12. James catered the wedding of Robert Lincoln in September of 1868 also attended by Mary Lincoln and her other son.
13. Thereafter James was at the bedside of William Corcoran the financier and he was present at the deathbed of his good friend Charles Sumner.
14. James was called to the deathbed of the dying President Garfield and was called upon to prepare many of the President's meals during his dying days at the White House.
As I said while there is still no direct proof uncovered it would seem that if anyone were called to be with the dying president, it would have been James Wormley. The resentment of people of color was most prevalent in those days and there was rarely an effort to include people who were not "white" in representations of important events. Even in the subsequent descriptive articles about his presence men like Charles Sumner complained that the deathbed images of the day specifically excluded James even though he had been present.

Welcome to the forum, Donet. Thanks for sharing all this fascinating info! I just wonder - wouldn't have it made "the news", i.e. been reported by others if one "people of color" attended the deathbed? Or do you think that this v.v. would rather have been avoided to spread?

Don, I second Eva's welcome. In the past I have looked for independent corroboration that Mr. Wormley was at the deathbed. I have always drawn a blank.

(11-13-2015 09:44 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Welcome to the forum, Donet. Thanks for sharing all this fascinating info! I just wonder - wouldn't have it made "the news", i.e. been reported by others if one "people of color" attended the deathbed? Or do you think that this v.v. would rather have been avoided to spread?

Thank you for your interest and welcome. My guess is that he was perceived by the media of the time as merely a "nurse" therefore not of the same public stature as the others clamoring for attention.
I was always curious about this detail and have not been able to confirm from any contemporaneous source other than the ones mentioned. I do know and can confirm his well-known persona to all of those surrounding the President and find it almost inconceivable he was not called in to the Peterson House which was just a few blocks from James' home and businesses. The only factor which gives me pause is that his long-time friend Seward had also been wounded that night and whose home was in closer proximity to Wormley. The fact that he was personally much closer to Seward is the one factor which would make me have second thoughts about his presence at Lincoln's deathbed and that would only be because of their much more intimate relationship.

Thank you for your reply and assessment. What you question regarding Seward seems a valid point to me. Quite some people have checked on Seward (first), haven't they?

(11-23-2015 06:02 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thank you for your reply and assessment. What you question regarding Seward seems a valid point to me. Quite some people have checked on Seward (first), haven't they?

I believe so. I had not done a great deal of research on the issue but they were close before and after the assassination. It is likely that during the war years there was little incentive to record the activities of men of color, even men as well regarded as James Wormley. It seems that during Reconstruction much more attention was given to him in the national media.
I am now spending most efforts searching for the nexus which gave James that "leg up" in the DC society. It turns out that his family was well regarded by a number of the members of leadership from 1814 through the mid-19th century. James grew up knowing the Presidents, their cabinet members and high society. While James had a unique personality and gift, it had to help that he dealt on a daily basis with the elite of the city.

Was it not in the Wormley House where the Compromise of 1877 ending Reconstruction in the South was ironed out?

Yes, it was, Bill. I think it was even called the Wormley Agreement. Interesting story. Several years ago, Surratt House Museum did a small exhibit on James Wormley as part of a larger exhibit on Washington, DC history. There were several well-known and well-respected black restaurateurs in DC before and during the Civil War. Another one with interesting history is Beverly Snow, who is tied to one of the first anti-black riots -- this one in August of 1835, that is referred to as the August-Snow Storm. Francis Scott Key was one of the lawyers in the subsequent trial.

Also, please read the good history here: http://www.whitehousehistory.org/wormley-hotel Look under the photos and you'll see a familiar credit name.

Mr. Graves, I'm sure you have seen this: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/...-200202A22 Are you by any chance the gentleman who owns this collection?

(11-24-2015 03:27 PM)Wild Bill Wrote:  Was it not in the Wormley House where the Compromise of 1877 ending Reconstruction in the South was ironed out?

Yes. In the media it was called the Wormley Compromise. Some scholars are claiming that the agreement was actually accomplished elsewhere but there is no dispute that a meeting was held in the rooms of one of the attendees and the compromise was discussed and that thereafter they enjoyed a wonderful meal. The hotel was one of the most exclusive in the city at the time and was the scene of many elegant events which were attended by the various Presidents and their administrations along with prominent members of Congress, international dignitaries and some of the nation's most successful businessmen.