William Bilbo
William Nicholas Bilbo (circa 1822–1867) was an American attorney, journalist, and entrepreneur. He lived in Tennessee until 1864, when he moved north. Bilbo is best remembered for helping Secretary of State William H. Seward lobby for passage of a constitutional amendment banning slavery. Lawyer, journalist, and entrepreneur in Tennessee Born in Wilson County, Tennessee, Bilbo became a prosperous lawyer in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was among the leaders of the Know-Nothing Party. He also worked as a journalist with the Nashville Gazette, and was briefly the proprietor of the paper. Bilbo purchased a large amount of coal country, and persuaded a group of New York financiers to help establish a coal mining company in Tennessee, called the Sewanee Mining Company; Bilbo then sold his land to the company at a profit. Bilbo was apparently a loyal member of the Confederacy until 1864, when he suddenly moved north. He knew Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State (William H. Seward) from their days in the Whig Party. Lobbyist for Thirteenth Amendment Via Seward, Bilbo offered his lobbying services to Lincoln, on behalf of congressional approval for the Thirteenth Amendment, which ultimately banned slavery throughout the United States. With Seward's approval, Bilbo went to