William Florville - Haiti Observer Blog

A little-known fact about Abraham Lincoln is one of his best friends was a Haitian businessman, William Florville. Florville was Lincoln's personal barber for 24 years. They met in New Salem in 1831, and later Florville moved to Lincoln's home state of Illinois, operating Florville's barbershop across from the governor's mansion. Lincoln and Florville bonded around fish tales and traded jokes.

Florville's barbershop became an informal men's club, and it was remarked that ". . . only two men in Springfield understood Lincoln, his law partner William H. Herndon and his barber, William Florville." Florville, in one instance, took care of Lincoln when he had fallen ill, and in another, asked Lincoln for help with a property title problem. Lincoln had difficulty in getting the matter settled, and Florville was not afraid to prevail upon Lincoln to get the issue resolved sooner than later. As a result of Lincoln's friendship, Florville prospered with considerable land holdings.

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