Assassination Trivia

[L Verge]

Assuming you mean Montréal I congratulate you to brilliantly solving this question, Bill - kudos!

Forgot the prize - Wild Bill, what about a Canadian Mountie?

(It was a great guess, Roger - thanks!)

Eva - I'll get killed for this, but I'm pretty sure that the Mounties are already searching for Wild Bill... Love 'ya, Professor!

[Wild Bill]

Considering that I could not really see the picture and was refused an effort to enlarge\tge it I did pretty good. The only places I have been in Canada is Niagara Falls and Toronto, that's all I know.

[Jim Page]

NIAGARA FALLS!!! Slowly I turned, inch by inch . . .

[RJNorton]

Where is this plaque located?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Is it somewhere on the funeral train route?
This is where major populations of gingko occur in the US (can grow almost everywhere though):
   
I would think in 1865, the seeds* were rather available in bigger cities, or near universitiy arboretums. Harvard had one back then (I know for sure as the redwoods growing in our botanical garden were brought from there in 1848.) So Boston maybe?
[*I would think it was seeded, not planted, because of the core sample proof.]

[RJNorton]

Excellent thinking, Eva, regarding the planting of the tree and the funeral train route. You are quite close as this tree was planted roughly 40 miles from where the funeral train would have passed it by. In other words, the funeral train did go through the state the tree is in but not the city.

[Eva Elisabeth]

My last idea - the University of Maryland has AFAIK an arboretum, too, don't know since when though. Does the tree grow in Maryland?

[RJNorton]

Your guesses are terrific, Eva! But it's not in Maryland.

Hint #1: The tree is in a city that the funeral train did not pass through in 1865, but the inaugural train did in 1861.

[L Verge]

The tree just got this plaque last week, I believe. It is in Decatur, Illinois?? http://herald-review.com/news/local/tree...052ed.html

[RJNorton]

Excellent, Laurie! That is correct.

You win one Ginkgo biloba tree to be delivered to your house and planted at a location of your choosing.

[Jim Page]

All I know about Ginkgo trees is that they can really stink up a neighborhood.

--Jim

[L Verge]

Jim is absolutely correct about these trees, and I will pass on receiving one as a prize! There used to be a residential neighborhood in D.C. that was lined with these trees, and it was unpleasant to drive down the street. I wonder what possessed the lady in 1865 to choose this as her tribute to Mr. Lincoln?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Jim is absolutely correct about these trees, and I will pass on receiving one as a prize! There used to be a residential neighborhood in D.C. that was lined with these trees, and it was unpleasant to drive down the street. I wonder what possessed the lady in 1865 to choose this as her tribute to Mr. Lincoln?

For the multiple symbolism I suppose. The gingko is a living fossil, the oldest surviving species of tree known to exist and only member of a group of ancient plants believed to have inhabited the earth up to 150 million years ago. Despite, a gingko tree can live over thousand years (which the lady might have hoped for the assassination tree, too). In China, there are gingkos that are believed to even be 2,500 years old. They have a long cultural history as a symbol for peace, hope, and wisdom, and as a medical plant to prevent and treat Alzheimer's and dementia and to enhance brain power. You can simply make tea from the dried leaves. (Unless you reconsider accepting the prize I would gladly take over!)

[Jim Page]

Wow, Eva, if that Gingko tea tastes anything like the berries smell, it will either kill you or cure you.

Either way, one sip and you'd never be the same!

When I worked downtown, I'd drive home on 22nd Street NW up to Q Street, and there would be Asian women at certain times of the year picking something or other off those stinking Ginkgo trees. I couldn't imagine what the heck they were doing with whatever they picked, but they seemed to enjoy doing it and it was certainly an upscale place to do your picking.

--Jim

[RJNorton]

I think this might be a challenge. Louis Weichmann referred to a male servant who worked at the Surratt boardinghouse. Weichmann only mentioned the first name of the man. What was the servant's first name?