Presidents and First Ladies Trivia

[L Verge]

Veronica, you really made me work on this one! I'm not sure what "Anniversary" refers to, but I think the part of history is related to our Civil War - specifically the U.S. Navy's role in the first years of the war.

In searching, I finally gave up thinking of "Harriet Lane" as a person (First Lady to her uncle, President Buchanan). That was also the name of a U.S. naval vessel, and it was the flagship for Admiral David Dixon Porter and commanded by Capt. Jonathan "Wainwright" at the time that it fired the first naval shot of the Civil War on April 12, 1861, in the engagements around Ft. Sumter.

At the beginning of its career, however, I believe that the first officer on board that ship was an Edward "Lea," from a very staunch Confederate family who went against his father's wishes and remained in the U.S. Navy when the war broke out. Lea was mortally wounded in fighting at Galveston. Ironically, his father was in Galveston (doing Confederate work) and was allowed to come aboard to comfort his son. Wainwright was also killed during the fighting.

Finally, I found that the ship's name was later changed from "Harriet Lane" to "Lavinia." And, Roger, your comment about "sinking in" can work into the puzzle also since the ship ended up being abandoned after catching fire (can't remember where and when) in the end.

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As for the details re: Julia Dent Cantacuzene Spiransky-Grant in previous question: Julia (1876-1975) was the eldest child of Frederick Dent Grant and Ida Marie Honore and the first grandchild for Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant. She married Prince Mikhail Cantacuzene, a Russian general and diplomat in 1899.

As the wife of a Russian nobleman, she was in a primary position to observe both the Imperial and the Bolshevik positions during the Russian Revolution. She authored three first-person accounts of the Revolution as well as serving as a personal historian for the Russian people during that time.