William Osborn Stoddard (1835–1925) was an American journalist, inventor, and author of memoirs, novels, poetry, and children's books.

[1] Stoddard knew Lincoln, worked hard for his election, and received a government appointment.

"[3] Preparation of a digest of newspaper articles was one of his original responsibilities; it was stopped because, according to Stoddard, "Mr. Lincoln never found time to spend an hour upon laborious condensations."

It is believed that Stoddard personally made the first copy of the draft Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862.

On September 24, 1864, he was appointed United States Marshal for Arkansas; however, in 1865 he resigned for health reasons.