Monday, April 13, 2009 Nearly every summer evening beginning in
1862, Abraham Lincoln left the White House and rode, either on
horseback or in a carriage, up hill out of the city’s miasmal
air to the presidential summer cottage. Secretary of War Stanton
also occupied a cottage there, on the grounds of the Soldier’s
Home, about three miles northeast of the center of Washington.
The Lincoln family stayed at the peaceful retreat into the fall
before moving furniture and household goods back into the White
House for the winter. On his daily round trip, Lincoln passed
poet Walt Whitman’s house, and the two men frequently nodded at
in greeting. Whitman described Lincoln in his journal and
letters. “June 30, 1863. I noticed him last evening about half-
past 6 . . . . He looks more careworn than usual, his face with
deep cut lines, seams, and his complexion gray through very dark
skin – a curious looking man, very sad.” The Lincolns were in
residence at the White House on April 10, 1865, as the news
spread throughout