The White House Killer Was Not Done.

by

       M. Richard Maxson

       In our previously articles about the killer (AC 12/23/20 and 1/1/21) we discussed the deaths of President William Henry Harrison, President James K. Polk, and President Zachery Taylor. Three Presidents poisoned by water being pumped into the White House. That fact was still not realized at the time and little progress was made on the sourcing and sanitization of running water.

      In 1860, President James Buchanan ordered running river water to be pumped to the second floor of the White House for bathing. Luckily for Buchanan, that work was not completed until his successor and his family moved into the White House.

WILLIE LINCOLN

      Young Willie Lincoln was strong, exuberant, and full of life. Unfortunately, he, like three presidents before him, was likely not strong enough to overcome decades of mismanagement with the White House plumbing system. At the time he and his brother Tad fell ill, water from the tainted spring in Franklin Square was still being used in the White House. The open and festering city canal was still running just one block south of his home. Willie and his younger brother would often climb to the roof of the White House and look out on Union soldiers who were camped along the Potomac River, just a few blocks away. Little did Willie know that those soldiers were often relieving themselves and dumping discarded animal carcasses in that river. That very same water was being piped upstairs to the second floor of the White House, and young Willie and Tad were likely bathing in it frequently. No one was aware of the microscopic bacteria that was entering his body. Tad recovered, but with the death of his brother, was never the same. As with the deaths of Presidents William Henry Harrison, James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor, this was Willie Lincoln’s silent killer.

      Willie's death left deep marks on the Lincoln family. Both parents and young Tad were deeply affected. Lincoln said, "My poor boy. He was too good for this earth. God has called him home. I know that he is much better off in heaven, but then we loved him so much. It is hard, hard to have him die!"; after the burial, he shut himself in a room and wept alone. Mary Lincoln remained in bed for three weeks and was unable to attend Willie's funeral or look after Tad. Elizabeth Keckly said Mary "was an altered woman .... she never crossed the threshold of the Guest's Room in which he died, or the Green Room in which he was embalmed." Abraham Lincoln took solace in caring for and comforting Tad, who remained very ill and was grieving himself for his brother's death. Tad also lost the companionship of his siblings, Bud and Holly, whom Mary refused to allow in the White House anymore.