William Slade (valet) explained

William Slade (died March 16, 1868) was the White House usher, which at the time was "one of the highest posts available to a black Washingtonian";^[1] he acted as valet, confidential messenger, doorkeeper, and majordomo to Abraham Lincoln, and remained in charge of the White House after Lincoln died (t. 1861 – 1868).^{[2] [3]}

Career

Previously Slade had kept a boardinghouse in Washington and served as a messenger in the Treasury Department.^[4] When Slade became Lincoln's majordomo, he became trusted by Lincoln with confidential secrets. In his 1942 book They Knew Lincoln, historian John Washington calls Slade the “confidential messenger and confidant” to the President, wherein the President would give Slade private missions to perform and in exchange Slade "kept the closest mouth on all public affairs and would never discuss any of Lincoln’s plans or business with anyone."^[5] After his death, Slade's daughter recorded that her father had destroyed some old documents of Lincoln's.^{[6] [7]} In addition, Lincoln used to test the lines of some of his speeches out on Slade.^[8]

He was an elder of a black church, the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington.^[9] Slade was also an activist within his community. He urged Lincoln to give Washington D.C.'s African American men a say over the officers who were selected for their regiments. He also was active in arguing for the right to vote, and he corresponded with Frederick Douglass about the Johnson White House after Lincoln's death.^[10]

In popular culture

In the 2012 film Lincoln directed by Steven Spielberg, Slade was played by Stephen McKinley Henderson.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Conroy . James B. . Slavery's Mark on Lincoln's White House . 2021-08-18 . WHHA (en-US) . en.
2. "A few members of the White House staff were black, including the messenger-valet-steward William Slade, known as an excellent storyteller; the cook Cornelia Mitchell; and the butler Peter Brown. William Johnson, a valet-cum-barber ... initially worked in the White House stoking the furnace." Burlingame, Michael, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (2008), vol. 2, p. 252; Unedited Manuscript, vol. 2, ch. 25, p. 2722
3. Sweet . Natalie . Summer 2013 . "A Representative 'of our people': The Agency of William Slade, Leader in the African American Community and Usher to Abraham Lincoln" . The Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association . 34 . 2 . 21–41 . March 7, 2020.
4. "In Johnson's place, he appointed William Slade, an African American who kept a boardinghouse in Washington and was serving as a messenger in the Treasury Department. Slade became Lincoln's valet and 'confidential messenger.'" Winkle, Kenneth J., Abraham and Mary Lincoln, Southern Illinois University Press (2011), p. 86.
5. Book: Washington, John . February 7, 2018 . They Knew Lincoln . Oxford University Press . 101 . 978-0190270964.
6. "The daughter of William Slade, who was the presidential valet, reported that her father "had destroyed many old pieces". Pinsker, Matthew, Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home (2003). New York: Oxford University Press, p. 69.
7. "Nicolay dismissed Colfax's story out of hand, but there remains some possibility that there may indeed have been a 'lost' version of the Proclamation, since the daughter of Lincoln's valet, William Slade, remembered that her father 'destroyed many old pieces of paper with notes upon them' for the Proclamation...." Guelzo, Allen C. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America (2004). Simon & Schuster, pp. 291-292.
8. "During the process he would at times read out some lines to his valet, William Slade. 'William, how does that sound?' he kept asking. Lincoln was not so much asking for advice as testing out the sound of the phrase as it rolled off his tongue". Humes, James C., My Fellow Americans: Presidential Addresses That Shaped History (1992). New York: Praeger, p. 73
9. "An elder in the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, Slade served as White House steward and as Lincoln's valet". Thomas A. Horrocks, Harold Holzer, Frank J. Williams, The Living Lincoln (2011). Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, p. 110.
10. Sweet . Natalie . Summer 2013 . "A Representative 'of our people': The Agency of William Slade, Leader in the African American Community and Usher to Abraham Lincoln" . The Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association . 34 . 2 . 21–41 . March 7, 2020.