Benjamin Brown French (1800–1870) was a politician, telegraph business leader, Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Public Commissioner of Buildings in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He was a member of the New Hampshire legislature from 1831 until 1833. He moved to Washington, D.C., where he served as Clerk of the United States House of Representatives from 1845 until 1847 and was appointed Commissioner of Public Buildings. He compiled an album of

salt print The salt print was the dominant paper-based photographic process for producing positive prints (from negatives) from 1839 until approximately 1860. The salted paper technique was created in the mid-1830s by English scientist and inventor He ...

and

albumen print Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens, it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms aro ...

photographs related to construction of the

Capitol Capitol, capitols or The Capitol may refer to: Places and buildings Legislative building * United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C. * National Capitol of Colombia, in Bogotá * Palacio Federal Legislativo, in Caracas, Venezuela * National Ca ...

dome and other sites. He was also involved in the burgeoning

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

industry developed by

Samuel Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After establishing his reputation as a portrait painter, Morse, in his middle age, contributed to the invention of a Electrical telegraph#Morse ...

and others. His journals were published posthumously in edited form as ''Witness to the Young Republic''. The August 30, 1845, issue of the Baltimore ''

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

'' led to the composition of a ballad by French about

Luther Fuller Augustus Fuller, also known as Luther Fuller and John Maynard, was the helmsman of the steamboat ''Erie''. He died on August 9, 1841, at 23 years of age, at the wheel of the ship which was destroyed by fire. He was praised for his heroism for rem ...

who died aboard the steamboat ''Erie''. It was printed on September 5. French was very active in a number of clubs and societies, particularly

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. In the 1850s, he was Grand Master of the Knights Templar of the United States. He succeeded William S. Wood as Commissioner of Public Buildings in the fall of 1861. He was present at

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

's inauguration (and was president of the inaugural ball committee), and is reported to have physically restrained

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...

, who had gained access to the capitol rotunda, and was trying to push through the crowd. French was also present for the

Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg Address is a Public speaking, speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, U.S. president, following the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The speech has come to be viewed as one ...

, and oversaw Lincoln's funeral. He gave the main speech April 14, 1868, at the dedication of the Abraham Lincoln statue at Washington's City Hall. He composed a hymn for the

consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg The Consecration of the Soldiers' National Cemetery was the ceremony at which U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. In addition to the 15,000 spectators, attendees included six state governors: And ...

Amos Tuck French Amos Tuck French (July 20, 1863 – November 15, 1941) was an American banker who was prominent in society. Early life French was born on July 20, 1863, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the son of Ellen (née Tuck) French (1838–1915) and Fran ...

was his great-grandson.

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculpture, sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include ''The Minute Man'', an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his Statue of Abr ...

, the sculptor of the

Statue of Abraham Lincoln See also

* List of sculptures of presidents of the United States * Mount Rushmore * Presidential memorials in the United States {{Abraham Lincoln, state=collapsed Lists of sculptures of presidents of the United States, Lincoln, Abraham St ...

at the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

, was French's nephew. His journals were donated to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

by an heir. His Capitol Hill home had been next to where the library was built. The journals were edited into a book and published as ''Witness to the Young Republic''. Historian

Joanne B. Freeman Joanne B. Freeman (born April 27, 1962) is a U.S. historian and tenured Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University. She has published multiple books as well as articles and op-eds in newspapers including ''The New York Times'', ...

drew extensively upon these journals as a resource when writing her 2018 book, ''The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War''.

References

Further reading