Lincoln at Ford's Theatre

[Eva Elisabeth]

Sorry for redundancy - well then, here's a compilation of what Angela found out and Tom Bogar's "American Presidents Attend the Theater".

* An asterix means this event was not mentioned in Angela's fantastic lists, to the other dates I've added the most interesting info (if there was any further). I haven't copied all the sources from Tom's book- so many...but there are sources for all events (on request...).
Statistics: 32 x Grover's, 15 x Ford's (+ 2 unknown place)

Angela,
RE: "Monday, January 25, 1864
"The Magnificent" - please see above, this is the title of the actress, the play was "Gamea".
RE: "Thursday, March 10, 1864
"Richard III" - Lincoln and Grant were announced, but stayed away. Instead see March 11 above.

Kees, please see:
Ford's Theater, February 10, 1865: A. L. + Ulysses S. Grant, + Ambrose E. Burnside


I. Washington Theater

1. Thursday, January 23, 1862
Giuseppe Verdi's "Il Trovatore", Vincenzo Bellini's "I Puritani" (Evening Star, 23 January 1862)
+ Mary + Gen. Irvin McDowell

2. Friday, March 13, 1863
James H. Hackett as Falstaff in "King Henry IV“ (Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress)

3. Saturday, April 11, 1863
"Pocahontas" , "Slasher and Crasher" (Evening Star, 13 April 1863)
+ Tad, + Noah Brooks

(taken over by Laura Keene and reopened on February 1, 1864, but failed after two months)

* 4. February 8, 1864
Laura Keene in "The Sea of Ice/The Wild Flower of Mexico"
- "the Lincoln family"


II. Grover's (= New National Theater)

1. Tuesday, February 24, 1863
(Barney Williams in) "The Lakes of Killarney/The Brides of Glengariff" (N.Y. Herald, 26 February 1863)

2. Wednesday, March 25, 1863
"Hamlet" (N.Y. Herald, 26 March 1863)

* 3. April 22, 1863
Bellini's "Norma"
+ Sumner? (was invited by Mary)

(Grover's closed for renovation till fall)

4. Tuesday, October 6, 1863
"Othello“ (New York Herald, 9 October 1863)
+ Seward, + Stanton

5. Saturday, October 17, 1863
"Macbeth" (Evening Star, 17 October 1863)
+ Mary, + Tad, + W. O. Stoddard, + Seward family

6. Saturday, January 23, 1864
Tom Taylor's "The Ticket of Leave Man“ (Washington National Republican, 22 January 1864)
+ Mary

* 7. January 25, 1864
Victor Sejour's "Gamea" (featuring "The Magnificent" Felicita Vestivali)
+ Mary, + Ch. Sumner

* 8. January 28, 1864
"Gamea"
+ Mary

* 9. January 29, 1864
James R. Planché's "The Brigard"
- "the Lincolns"

10. February 3, 1864
John Brougham's "The Duke's Motto"
- "the Lincolns"

11. Saturday, February 20, 1864
Edwin Booth in "Richard III"

12. Friday, February 19, 1864
"The Iron Chest“;"Katherine and Petruchio" (Daily National Republican, 19 February 1864)

13. Thursday, February 25, 1864
Payne's "Brutus" (Washington Chronicle, 26 February 1864; Daily National Intelligencer, 25 February 1864)
+ Mary

14. Friday, February 26, 1864
Edwin Booth in "Merchant of Venice";"Don Caesar de Bazan" (Washington Chronicle, 27 February 1864)
+ Seward, who gave a dinner in the actor's honor.

15. Wednesday, March 2, 1864
Edwin Booth in "Hamlet" (Washington Chronicle, 3 March 1864)
+ "his family"

16. Monday, March 7, 1864
Edwin Booth in Tom Taylor's "The Fool's Revenge" (Washington Chronicle, 8 March 1864)

17. Friday, March 4, 1864
Edwin Booth in Buwler-Lytton's "Richelieu" (Washington Chronicle, 5 March 1864)
+ "his family", + Seward

18. Monday, March 7, 1864
Edwin Booth in Tom Taylor's "The Fool's Revenge" (Washington Chronicle, 8 March 1864)

19. Friday, March 11, 1864
Edwin Booth in "Hamlet"
"the Lincoln family", + Seward, + Sch. Colfax

20. March 14(?), 1864
"The Seven Sisters/Columbia and her 34 Daughters"
+ Tad (who had already seen it in NY in 1861), in one scene Tad appeared onstage, waving an American flag

21. Saturday, April 2, 1864
Charles Gounod's "Faust" (Washington Star, 4 April 1864)
"the Lincolns", + "the Seward family", + Julia Grant

22. Monday, April 4, 1864
Carl Maria von Weber's "Der Freischütz" (Washington Star, 4 April 1864)
- "the Lincolns"

23. Tuesday, April 5, 1864
"Martha" (Washington Star, 6 April 1864)
- "the Lincolns"

* 24. Wednesday, June 8, 1864
Ludw. van Beethoven's "Fidelio" (Leonard Grover, "Lincoln's Interest in the Theater", National Intelligencer and Washington Star June 8-9, 1864)
- A. L. "alone in his box"

25. Wednesday, June 29, 1864
„Rookwood; or, ***** Turpin, the Highwayman" (Daily National Republican, 30 June 1864)
+ Tad, + Nicolay, + Hay

26. Tuesday, November 15, 1864
„Hamlet“ (N.Y. Herald, 17 November 1864)

27. Monday, December 5, 1864
"Faust" (Washington National Republican, 6 December 1864)
- "the Lincolns", + "the Sewards"

* 28. December 9, 1864
Meyerbeer's "Les Hugenots" (Ward Hill Lamon's "Recollections of A. L.", "Washington National Republican" Dec.9, 1864)
+ Sumner, + Prussian Minister Baron Gerolt

29. January 7, 1865
Daly's "Leah, the Forsaken" (Washington Chronicle, 8 January 1865)
+ Mary, + Tad

30. Tuesday, March 7, 1865
Friedrich von Flotow's "Martha“ (Evening Star, 7 March 1865, 8 March 1865)
+ Mary

31. Wednesday, March 15, 1865
"The Magic Flute“ (Washington Star, 16 March 1865)
+ Mary, + Clara Harris, + Gen. James G. Wilson

32. Tuesday, March 21, 1865
„La Dame Blanche" (Washington Star, 22 March 1865)
- "the Lincolns"


III.a) Ford's Athenum (burned in Dec.)

1. May 28, 1862
Gaetano Donizetti's "La fille du régiment"
- only Mary + a few friends, A. L. stopped briefly in
(Washington Star, May 28, 1862)

III.b) Ford's Theater

2. Friday, October 30, 1863
"Fanchon, the Cricket" (Washington Star, 31 October 1863)

3. Monday, November 9, 1863
JWB in "The Marble Heart/The Sculptor's Dream" (Hay, Letters and Diary)
+ Mary, + Tad, + Nicolay, + Hay

4. Monday, December 14, 1863
Henry IV (Washington Chronicle, 15 December 1863)
+ "his family"

5. Tuesday, December 15, 1863
Henry IV (Hay, Letters and Diary)
+ Nicolay, + Hay, + L. Swett

6. Thursday, December 17, 1863
"Merry Wives of Windsor” (Hay, Letters and Diary)
+ Nicolay, + Hay, + L. Swett

* 7. Saturday, Jan 2, 1864
"Heir at Law", "John Dobbs"

8. April 8, 1864
"King Lear" (Washington Star, 8 April 1864)
- "the Lincolns"

9. Sunday, June 19, 1864
“Sacred concert” (William R. Thayer, The Life and Letters of John Hay)
+ Hay

10. Monday, December 19, 1864
Promenade concert (Washington Chronicle, 20 December 1864)

11. January 4, 1865
"Richelieu"
+ "his family"

12. January 13, 1865
"Lear"

13. January 16, 1865
"Richelieu"

14. January 31, 1865
Robert Montgomery Bird's "Gladiator"

15. February 10, 1865
John Sleeper Clarke in J. Stirling Coyne's "Everybody's Friend" (Evening Star, February 10+11, 1865)
+ Ulysses S. Grant, + Ambrose E. Burnside

IV. The two for which no theatre is given:
Saturday, January 2, 1864
In private box of James D. Greene (Journal of Samuel Heintzelman Papers)

Friday, December 9, 1864
Theatre with Sumner and other people (Lamon Papers, Huntington Library, San Marino, California)