10/27/2026
Today we mourn the passing of our friend and fellow docent. Bill Binzel was an amazing historian, but an even better friend. May he rest in peace.
I'm very sad to report that my friend and colleague, William "Bill" P. Binzel, passed away this morning. Bill has been a staple in the field of Lincoln assassination studies for years. He served multiple terms as the President and Vice President of the Surratt Society and was a volunteer docent at both the Surratt House and Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House Museums. When I first started doing the John Wilkes Booth escape route bus tours for the Surratt Society in 2015, Bill was usually my #2. He would make our pre-tour introductions, make sure we kept on schedule, pay the different sites, and help to keep the participants from wandering off. We had many great times taking folks down the route together. Years after COVID shuttered the Surratt Society's tours, I approached Bill with the idea of starting my own business to revive the experience. Bill was very supportive of my efforts, and even endorsed my venture in the Surratt Society's newsletter. I was fortunate to have him as my number #2 again on one of our tours in April. This is a picture of Bill talking to folks inside the Dr. Mudd house kitchen on that day.
Bill was also a past President and director of the Civil War Round Table of D.C. Here is a short bio about Bill from their website:
"Bill Binzel is a native of southwestern Ohio who has resided in the Washington, DC area for the past forty years. A retired attorney, he spent twelve years on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives, eleven years in corporate affairs in the financial services sector, and ten years with a nonprofit foundation. His undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin is in U.S. History. A lifelong student of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and the Lincoln assassination, Mr. Binzel is also vice president of the Surratt Society (an organization dedicated to the study of Lincoln’s assassination), a docent at the Surratt House Museum in Clinton, MD, and a narrator of the Surratt Society’s twelve-hour bus tours of the twelve-day escape route of John Wilkes Booth from Ford’s Theatre to the Garrett’s farm in Caroline County, VA."
My thoughts are with Bill's wife, Lisa, and the rest of his family during this time. Bill Binzel was a kind and generous man who will be deeply missed.
