Mary Lincoln Extra Credit Questions

[Angela]

Well, she frequently visited The Marble Palace ever since her first visit to NY.

[Susan Higginbotham]

Good try, Gene, but according to my source that's not it. The answer is not one store but rather a name for the spot in New York City where she liked to shop.

Was it Broadway?

[RJNorton]

Angela and Susan, you are both winners as you have correctly named a street and a store in the area whose name I am looking for.

But nobody has gotten the name yet. It was just coming to prominence when Mary was First Lady.

There was a specific name for this shopping area in New York. There is even a Wikipedia article whose topic is this prime shopping district in the city.

[Angela]

Thank you for the hint, Roger - I was looking at the earlier shopping trips and just realized that many of the places were still under construction in the 1850's in that area.
Is it what was later called "Ladies' Mile"?

[RJNorton]

That's it, Angela. Kudos! In Mary Lincoln's Dressmaker: Elizabeth Keckley's Remarkable Rise from Slave to White House Confidante author Becky Rutberg describes one of Mary's shopping trips and writes, "...Mrs. Lincoln bought several pairs of draperies for the White House at her favorite spot, the Ladies' Mile in New York, where the most fashionable and expensive shops in the country were located."

Susan and Angela, you both win a free 15 minute shopping spree in the Ladies' Mile. Just tell the clerks you got this question right and hope they cooperate with the forum prizes.

[Angela]

I am so in for this! Susan, want to make a run the most awesome pumps they got?
Thank you, Roger!

[Anita]

On one of Mary Lincoln's vacations during the White House years, she stayed here. Where is this located ?

   

[Susan Higginbotham]

I am so in for this! Susan, want to make a run the most awesome pumps they got?
Thank you, Roger!

I'll let you have free rein in the shoe department. I could use some dresses!

[Gene C]

Long Branch, NJ

[Anita]

Yes Gene, it's the Mansion House in Long Branch, NJ. Mary stayed there from Aug. 16-23, 1861. Willie and Tad were with her along with Hannah Shearer and Elizabeth Grimsley. Robert Lincoln and Hay stayed in an attached cottage. There's a historic marker http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=46931

Long Branch has quite a Presidential history. "Long Branch hosted presidents before and after Garfield, including Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, and Woodrow Wilson. There is a “Church of the Presidents” in Long Branch, where all seven worshipped, and “Seven Presidents Beach” is named in honor of their visits." https://garfieldnps.wordpress.com/2012/0...-garfield/

Gene, your prize is a hot dog of your choice at the Windmill or Max's in Long Branch. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/33501

[Gene C]

Thanks Anita, I think I will enjoy that prize more than a run through the shoe department.

[Thomas Kearney]

They make great chilli cheese dogs! Can't beat that and a weekend at Monmouth Park!

[Dave Taylor]

Yes Gene, it's the Mansion House in Long Branch, NJ. Mary stayed there from Aug. 16-23, 1861. Willie and Tad were with her along with Hannah Shearer and Elizabeth Grimsley. Robert Lincoln and Hay stayed in an attached cottage. There's a historic marker http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=46931

Long Branch has quite a Presidential history. "Long Branch hosted presidents before and after Garfield, including Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, and Woodrow Wilson. There is a “Church of the Presidents” in Long Branch, where all seven worshipped, and “Seven Presidents Beach” is named in honor of their visits." https://garfieldnps.wordpress.com/2012/0...-garfield/

Gene, your prize is a hot dog of your choice at the Windmill or Max's in Long Branch. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/33501

Coincidentally, Long Branch also became a summer home for the members of the Booth family later in life. Joseph Booth, the youngest of the Booth children bought a house in Long Branch, and his mother and sister, Rosalie, lived there with him during the summers for the rest of their lives.

Dr. Joe Booth had some legal troubles with his neighbors at Long Branch because he put up a tall and unsightly fence on his property. Apparently he was tired of people visiting the ice cream shop next door and then staring into his windows as they ate their ice cream in their cars. The neighbors hated how the fence blocked the view of the ocean and took him to court. He fought with them for years about it and someone apparently got so mad at him that they rang his bell one day and threw a brick. His sister Rosalie was the one who opened the door and just barely missed having her head caved in by the brick:

[Anita]

Dave, thanks for the sharing the story about Dr. Joe Booth, sister Rosalie and their connection to Long Branch. Rosalie must have been terribly frightened. I read on Bothiebarn that Rosalie died a month after the brick incident.

[RJNorton]

Elizabeth Keckly reported the content of many conversations between Mary and Abraham. One day she reported Mary said to Abraham:

"I wish you had nothing to do with that man. He cannot be trusted."

To whom was Mary referring?