William H. Bell (servant)

[3] As he grew older, he eventually became a servant in William Seward's Washington home and served for only nine months prior to the attack.

[4] After a long conversation, Powell insisted that only he could bring the medicine to Seward and would not tell Bell why.

[5] However, Bell then ran ahead of Powell as they climbed the stairs to Seward's bedroom.

After Powell attacked Fredrick Seward, Bell ran next door to General Augur's headquarters to get help.

Powell also stabbed George F. Robinson, a guard on duty in Seward's room.

Thinking he had inflicted a mortal wound, Powell exited the house yelling "I am mad!

"[9] After the events of the night of April 14, 1865, at about 2:30 in the morning, Bell was questioned about the assassination attempt inside the Seward home.

It was rare for an African American to testify against a white man during this time period.

Bell noticed that when Powell spoke, he raised his lip and also had a little wrinkle on his jaw.

Bell stated Powell was a muscular man with a tall, broad frame.

In this film, Bell's character simply lets Lewis Powell into the Seward home without a struggle.

[13] In Philip Van Doren Stern's 1939 novel The Man Who Killed Lincoln, Powell said to Bell: "Get out of my way now, Nigger!

Pictured above is the newspaper story from the April 29, 1865, National Police Gazette of Bell picking Lewis Powell (also known as Lewis Payne) out of a police line up at General Augur's headquarters shortly after Powell was apprehended.
Above is the military tribunal room which has been re-staged to look as it did during the 1865 Abraham Lincoln Military Tribunal Conspiracy Trial. The stand where Bell would have testified can be seen in the center of the picture.