Trivial Trivia - taking trivia to new levels

[L Verge]

Sorry, again no. Hint: This beautifiul woman married into politics.

[L Verge]

Hint #2: She was her famous husband's second wife.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Varina Davis?

[L Verge]

No, but this lady was friends with Varina while they were both in Washington society.

[Gene C]

Adele Cutts Douglas ?

[L Verge]

Adele Cutts Douglas ?

A++, Gene! And it's very appropriate that you should win this round since I believe you were the first to ask about the new book, Capital Dames. That's where I got the idea for the question. I already knew that Adele Cutts's father was the nephew of James Madison - hence Dolley was her aunt by marriage; but the book reminded me that her mother was Ellen O'Neal, sister of the infamous Rose O'Neal Greenhow.

[Gene C]

Actually, that was Gencor. It sounds like an interesting book.

http://www.amazon.com/Capital-Dames-Civi...872&sr=1-1

[L Verge]

The vacant chair in Francis Bicknell Carpenter's famous painting of Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet is thought to represent someone who was an "unknown" adviser to the President. Who was this person? Their claim to fame??

[LincolnToddFan]

Was it Frederick Douglas?

[L Verge]

Sorry, but no - not Mr. Douglass.

Hint #1 - Someone you would not suspect of being a Presidential confidante during the Civil War.

[ReignetteC]

William O. Stoddard? Mr. Lincon's "third" secretary.

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I now know the answer above is incorrect because I did some research and found this: http://www.annaellacarroll.com

Anna Ella Carroll

[L Verge]

Your research worked wonders! Congratulations. And, you just took the pressure off of Joe Beckert. I had told him the answer, but swore him to secrecy unless no one else came up with it. It has been killing him to know the answer, but not be able to post it!

Anna Ella Carroll was from a very distinguished Maryland family that believed in females getting a good education. During the decade before the Civil War, she became an outstanding pamphleteer in favor of abolition and also other political issues. She also considered herself a military adviser and claimed that she was the one that found the best approach to capturing the full Mississippi was via the Tennessee River (something about the direction in which it ran??).

There have been two books written on Carroll, both of them historical novels. The only title I can remember is something like Lady With the Sword. Here's another good website on Miss Carroll: http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/educ/exhibit...rroll.html

[Eva Elisabeth]

That was a good and educational question, Laurie! Allow me to add it was also a lady, Elizabeth Thompson, who finally bought the painting for 25,000$ (!) and donated it to Congress. Carpenter, with the help of William O. Stoddard, campaigned for Congress to purchase the painting, but Congress did not appropriate the money. So it remained in Carpenter’s possession until 1877, when Elizabeth Thompson purchased it.
   

[87books]

I recently found a copy of "Anna Ella Carroll and Abraham Lincoln" by Sydney Greenbie and Marjorie Barstow Greenbie, (University of Tampa Press, 1952). Is that the one you're referring to, Laurie?

[L Verge]

I recently found a copy of "Anna Ella Carroll and Abraham Lincoln" by Sydney Greenbie and Marjorie Barstow Greenbie, (University of Tampa Press, 1952). Is that the one you're referring to, Laurie?

I honestly do not remember the name of the second book that I have seen about Miss Carroll. Just like a woman - I remember the name of the one that tended to be a romantic novel!

I can't believe that that many books have been written about her, so the one you found must be it. Thanks.

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I recently found a copy of "Anna Ella Carroll and Abraham Lincoln" by Sydney Greenbie and Marjorie Barstow Greenbie, (University of Tampa Press, 1952). Is that the one you're referring to, Laurie?

I honestly do not remember the name of the second book that I have seen about Miss Carroll. Just like a woman - I remember the name of the one that tended to be a romantic novel!

I can't believe that that many books have been written about her, so the one you found must be it. Thanks.

I've changed my mind - there have been several other books written on the lady. One is entitled Great Necessities, and the author is C. Kay Larson (2004). Could this be our friend and forum member Kate Clifford Larson of Assassin's Accomplice fame?

I had forgotten that there has been a DVD made of her military cause - Lost River. She has a Friends' Group on the Eastern Shore of Maryland who is attempting to shed more light on the controversial Miss Carroll.