William Osborn Stoddard (1835-1925) was an American author, inventor, and assistant secretary to Abraham Lincoln during his first term. Stoddard's father was a bookseller, and Stoddard worked in his bookshop while growing up. After graduation, Stoddard was employed in an "editorial position" in 1857 at the Daily Ledger (Chicago); by 1858 he had become editor and proprietor of the Central Illinois Gazette, in Champaign, Illinois. Stoddard knew Lincoln,...