Assassination Trivia

[Eva Elisabeth]

Crazy! I use to remember the weirdest and most trivial things from schooldays and -books rather than the "important" ones that were actually to be learned...Here's the entire picture:
   

[Eva Elisabeth]

(01-31-2015 04:57 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  I use to remember the weirdest and most trivial things from schooldays and -books rather than the "important" ones that were actually to be learned...

One aside is the following sentence. It has nothing to do with American history, I'm afraid, but it has nothing to do with German history either (but both our histories have certain ties to it, and certainly assassinations, too). So - who else remembers these words perhaps from schooldays, too, and can explain the meaning?

" No plan like yours
to study history wisely! "

[RJNorton]

I cannot remember that let alone the royal houses of England in order!

[Eva Elisabeth]

Oh, I see very well you can! (Was most likely a stupid question on an native English speakers history forum...) Very good! It's indeed a memorizer for the order of succession of English royal dynastic Houses:

Norman (1066-1154),
Plantaganet (1154-1399),
Lancaster (1399-1461),
York (1461-1485),
Tudor (1485-1603),
Stuart (1603-1714),
Hanover (1714-1901),
Windsor (1901*/1917-present)

* Correctly the ruling house from 1901-1917 was Saxe-Coburg & Gotha. Although Edward VII was the son and heir of Victoria, he inherited his father's names and is therefore counted as inaugurating a new royal house. The house name Windsor was adopted in 1917, during World War I. It was changed from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha because of wartime anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom.

I was looking forward to give this hint: "The Victorian Era is lETterally included in the history."

Is there any such sentence to memorize US presidents?

[RJNorton]

Here's a song that might help. It came out before President Obama was elected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDqCP5kQIbo

Washy Ad Jeffy
Maddy Monroe
Ad Jackson Van Hair
Ty Po Tay Phil Pear
Bu Lincoln John Grant2
Hayes Garther and Cleve
Hair Cleve and McKin
Roosevelt Taft
Wilson Hard Coolidge
Hoov Franklin Roosevelt Truman Ikey
Ken Johnson Nixon Ford Cart Reagan Bush
Clinton Dubya

And maybe you someday
And if you do they'll say
What a fine president you made

Washy Ad Jeffy
Maddy Monroe
Ad Jackson Van Hair
Ty Po Tay Phil Pear
Bu Lincoln John Grant2
Hayes Garther and Cleve
Hair Cleve and McKin
Roosevelt Taft
Wilson Hard Coolidge
Hoov Franklin Roosevelt Truman Ikey
Ken Johnson Nixon Ford Cart Reagan Bush
Clinton Dubya...

[Eva Elisabeth]

That's neat - thanks, Roger!

[Thomas Kearney]

In honor of African American History Month, can anyone name the African American doctor who helped Charles Leale try to save Lincoln?

[RJNorton]

Hi Thomas. There is historical doubt on this (if Dr. Abbott is the person you mean). Kees did some outstanding research - please see his post here - particularly #21.

[L Verge]

There are two possible answers to this, I believe; and both are incorrect. A few sources erroneously identify the Dr. Abbott as Dr. Anderson Abbott, a Canadian man of color whom some believe to have been at Ford's Theatre. The real Dr. Abbott involved in the Lincoln death was Ezra Abbott. I can't confirm this, but I suspect that Dr. Anderson Abbott's color would have denied him entrance to Ford's Theatre in 1865. A Canadian member of the Surratt Society supplied an article on Dr. Anderson Abbott for our newsletter a number of years ago.

The second confusion may be that you are referring to Dr. Albert Freeman Africanus King, who might very well have been present. The only problem is that, despite his second and third names, Dr. King was a white man born in England. Interestingly, I have been told that he served as a doctor for both Confederate and Union forces.

Insert shameless publicity plug here: Next Saturday, February 7, at 4 pm, Surratt House will have a special program on African American Surgeons and Nurses During the Civil War - a story that has seldom been told in the past 150 years. The presenter is Jill Newmark from the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

[Thomas Kearney]

I was referring to Dr. Abbott so you are correct. Ding!

---

Who carried the Spencer Carbine on display in the Lincoln Museum? Hint: it ain't who you think it is.

[L Verge]

(01-31-2015 04:35 PM)Thomas Kearney Wrote:  I was referring to Dr. Abbott so you are correct. Ding!

---

Who carried the Spencer Carbine on display in the Lincoln Museum? Hint: it ain't who you think it is.

Thomas - I don't want to appear contrary, but I don't want to be credited with giving a correct answer because I believe you are still confusing two Dr. Abbotts -- one who was white and attended Lincoln at the Petersen House, Dr. Ezra Abbott -- and another who was indeed black, but did not assist Dr. Leale at Ford's (and it is questionable as to whether or not he was at Petersen's).

That second Dr. Abbott is the Canadian Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott. There is one rumor that this black officer is the one who accompanied Elizabeth Keckly to Petersen's that night. The problem with even that is that Mrs. Keckly could not be located until the wee small hours of the morning, so even if Dr. Anderson Abbott made it inside the home, it is very questionable as to whether he was involved in the death scene.

Therefore, the only thing that I am right on is that Dr. Ezra Abbott was a white man and may have assisted after Lincoln left the theater. Dr. Anderson Abbott was a black man, but there is no indication that he assisted Dr. Leale either at the theater or at the death bed.

The truest answer to your original trivia question would be that no African American assisted Dr. Leale in trying to revive Mr. Lincoln.

---

I forgot to take a stab at your second question about who carried the Spencer carbine that is now on display at Ford's. One would need to know if any historical differentiation was made in 1865 as to which carbine was with the fugitives on their escape and which was chopped from the dining room wall at Surratt House.

If it is known that the carbine came from the Surratt wall, then the correct answer would be that it was last carried by either David Herold, John Surratt, George Atzerodt, or tavern keeper John Lloyd when hidden in said wall on March 18, 1865, OR by Detective Cottingham who ordered its retrieval from said wall, or Andrew Kaldenbach who chopped it from the wall.

If referring to the carbine that went along for the escape - and assuming you mean which conspirator carried the carbine - the answer would be David Herold?

The last I knew, both carbines are in the possession of the NPS. Back in the 1970s, Surratt House requested loan of one of the carbines since the history is closely related to our museum. Guess what the answer was...

[L Verge]

Who carried the Spencer Carbine on display in the Lincoln Museum? Hint: it ain't who you think it is.

Someone besides me (see above) please try to answer Thomas's question. Is there an answer different than what I could come up with?

[Eva Elisabeth]

I, too, can only assume the question refers to which conspirator carried the carbine on April 14, and thus guess Harold, but this answer seems to simple. Also my question - is this gun on display at the Lincoln Home - or which Lincoln Museum does the question refer to?

[PaigeBooth]

If the question is referring to Booth's Spencer Carbine now on display at Ford's Theatre, I recalled this article found on BoothieBarn.com:

http://boothiebarn.com/2012/10/25/photo-...un-part-2/

Therefore, I am wondering, could the answer be Edwin B. Pitts?

[L Verge]

(02-02-2015 10:15 AM)PaigeBooth Wrote:  If the question is referring to Booth's Spencer Carbine now on display at Ford's Theatre, I recalled this article found on BoothieBarn.com:

http://boothiebarn.com/2012/10/25/photo-...un-part-2/

Therefore, I am wondering, could the answer be Edwin B. Pitts?

Good point, Paige. We need some clarification - or at least the date(s) in question.