My guess is that you are referring to James Smithson, who funded the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution. For the life of me, however, I don't know to whom he was related in the Lincoln story. I do know that he was an illegitimate son of a British duke and Elizabeth Macie and that he had his name changed later to his father's original name of Smithson.

It's German composer Otto Nicolai who was one of the founders of the Vienna Philharmonic. I'm assuming that the relative in question was John Nicolay. Although, I wasn't aware that Nicolay had famous German relatives until now.

Steve, you are amazing. Kudos, that is correct!

John Nicolay's family history is amazing as well - I accidentally came to learn. I apologize in advance for a possibility lengthy "out of country history". My experience is that links quite often remain untouched, so I go with "if the mountain won't come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain", and summarize some Wiki info for you here:

The history of The Marquisal, Countal and Baronial House of Nicolay (de Nicolaÿ/Nicolaï, von Nicolay/Nicolai) is a journey through European nobility history (reads like the royal columns in the VIP magazines tabloids at the hairdresser...)

The meaning of name Nicolay also well fits into American history - its root being the Greek name Νικολαος (Nikolaos) which means "victory of the people" from Greek νικη (Nike, actually a Goddess) "victory" and λαος (Laos) "people".

However, it is a European noble family of the Ancien Régime with its roots in the south of France (associated with the French noble classes of the Nobles of the Robe and the Nobles of the Sword) at the early part of the 14th Century. There is evidence, however, to suggest that its origins stretch further back to the growth of the city state of Florence at the beginning of the Florentine Renaissance.

Fido would love the painted arms of the House, the description of which reads:
   
"This most ancient and illustrious Countal and Baronial House belongs to the first nobility of Germany and France and has at different times obtained the highest distinction in the Army, Navy and Diplomatic services".

Overall, family members became highly influential in the spheres of national government, law, the church, academia, military and diplomatic service, as well as the arts.

The earliest known reference to the family de Nicolay begins with Guglielmo, who was born close to Florence, and accompanied Pope Clement V in around 1305, when the Papacy was first established in Poitiers, a city on the Clain river in west-central France (and major university center).

Of the notable members of the German branch of the House of Nicolay, Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (1810-1849) is probably the best-known one. Born in Königsberg, Prussia (where my maternal family originates, too), he became a composer, conductor, and founder of the Vienna Philharmonic, Hofkapellmeister (conductor) at the Berlin Staatsoper and member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Arts. Of his five operas and other compositions, "The Merry Wives of Windsor" is the most popular one.

Steve, you win this video of Vienna Philharmonic playing the overture of The Merry Wives of Windsor at one of the annual New Year's Concerts:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SnFZsz3Ioj8

The location (and home of the orchestra) is the Wiener Musikverein, a concert hall in Vienna
       
- more precisely the "Great Hall", also descriptively called "Golden Hall". Due to its highly regarded acoustics, it is considered one of the finest concert halls in the world, along with Berlin's Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Boston's Symphony Hall. The Great Hall's lively acoustics until today remain a mystery (like the Stradivari violines' sound) as entirely based on the Danish architect Theophil Hansen's intuition.

Where did the term "Jim Crow" originate?

I once did some research on blackface theater and minstrel shows and I think this was one character played by a white actor sometime in the 19th century (first half I think).

(08-19-2017, 06:25 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: I once did some research on blackface theater and minstrel shows and I think this was one character played by a white actor sometime in the 19th century (first half I think).

Absolutely correct, Eva, and the white actor who portrayed Jim Crow is considered by many to be the Father of Minstrelsy in the U.S.

"The Original Jim Crow (Who was Jim Crow?)

"Throughout the 1830s and '40s, the white entertainer Thomas Dartmouth Rice (1808-1860) performed a popular song-and-dance act supposedly modeled after a slave. He named the character Jim Crow. Rice darkened his face, acted like a buffoon, and spoke with an exaggerated and distorted imitation of African American Vernacular English. In his Jim Crow persona, he also sang "Negro ditties" such as "Jump Jim Crow."

"Rice was not the first white comic to perform in blackface, but he was the most popular of his time, touring both the United States and England. As a result of Rice's success, "Jim Crow" became a common stage persona for white comedians' blackface portrayals of African Americans."

I took the above from a website run by the Jim Crow Museum, a part of Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. Just google Jim Crow Museum for more information.

I especially like the primary mission statement of the museum posted below its name: USING OBJECTS OF INTOLERANCE TO TEACH TOLERANCE AND PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE. Not one word of removing or destroying items of the past -- instead, promoting them as educational tools.

We all know that there were a variety of flag designs representing the Confederacy. In 1863, the first Second National Flag was produced and was supposed to be flown over the capitol in Richmond. The flag never made it up the flag pole. Why?

This is an extremely long shot. Might food rioters have prevented it from being raised?

It was used to drape Gen. Stonewall Jackson's casket when his body was laid in state at the capital.

(08-29-2017, 08:26 PM)Steve Wrote: It was used to drape Gen. Stonewall Jackson's casket when his body was laid in state at the capital.

Rogerm - good guess considering the recent info in the Surratt Courier about the Bread Riot in Richmond. However, Steve is correct. That first product of the Second National did drape Jackson's coffin and, I believe, is in the "new" Museum of the Confederacy (which merged with the Tredegar Museum and is now known by a different name -- American Civil War Museum, perhaps ??).

(08-30-2017, 09:26 AM)L Verge Wrote:

(08-29-2017, 08:26 PM)Steve Wrote: It was used to drape Gen. Stonewall Jackson's casket when his body was laid in state at the capital.

Rogerm - good guess considering the recent info in the Surratt Courier about the Bread Riot in Richmond. However, Steve is correct. That first product of the Second National did drape Jackson's coffin and, I believe, is in the "new" Museum of the Confederacy (which merged with the Tredegar Museum and is now known by a different name -- American Civil War Museum, perhaps ??).

I think the museum by Appomattox also linked up.

Now that Roger is back I shall give this another try:
Who lived here (and where)?
   

Very wild guess: Farmington, the home of Joshua Speed.

Good guess, Roger, but I'm sorry to say it isn't

Can you say if it's a home Abraham Lincoln once stayed in?