Extra Credit Questions

[L Verge]

To what was he referring when Nathaniel Hawthorne said, "_________may be more justly called the centre of Washington and the Union than either the Capitol, the White House, or the State Department."?

I believe he was referring to the Willard Hotel, where, incidentally, the term "lobbyist" was coined.

Sorry to be so late in responding, but Bill is absolutely correct that Hawthorne was referring to the Willard Hotel, which still continues to be a hub for rather elite in D.C.

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Since we are on the subject of the Willard, which Senator had a free black house servant near the end of his (the Senator's) life who would be charged with grand larceny for stealing less than $100 in silverware and linens from the Willard at the beginning of the Civil War?

Despite the efforts of a prestigious lawyer and pleas from the Senator's wife -- as well as a petition signed by many prominent citizens and sent to President Lincoln -- the accused was found guilty and sentenced to two years of imprisonment and labor at the D.C. Penitentiary. A pardon clerk refused to change the decision and sent it on to Attorney General Edward Bates, who closed the case by scrawling across the front, "not granted." No one is sure whether Lincoln ever saw the petition.

Now, back to the original question of which Senator this servant had worked for: