Extra Credit Questions

[L Verge]

I tried guessing based on the "chatterbox" hint as to who some of the best "talkers" were of the period. My first guess was Edward Everett, but I ruled him out. Then I thought of Thaddeus Stevens, but his personality ruled out the "bishop" angle. Then Sumner popped into my head - since he really preached the abolitionists' gospel.

[Eva Elisabeth]

VERY smart, Laurie! (I love such conclusions.)

[RJNorton]

Although the story is probably more legendary than fact it has been said that Abraham Lincoln forgot to do something while giving his famous Cooper Union Address. What did Mr. Lincoln forget to do?

[RJNorton]

Hint #1: It had nothing to do with the building itself.

Etching by Bernhardt Wall

[Rogerm]

This probably isn't the answer. But, he, like many other people, mistakenly referred to the building as the "Cooper Institute" instead of as the "Cooper Union."

[RJNorton]

Excellent try, Roger, but that's not it.

[RJNorton]

Hint #2: Although what Lincoln did is not uncommon in most situations, it is uncommon for a person who's giving a speech before a large audience.

[RJNorton]

Hint #3: Remember when you were in school and they sometimes told you that you had to use a #2.

[L Verge]

Hint #3: Remember when you were in school and they sometimes told you that you had to use a #2.

#2 refers to your pencil (or type of lead in it). Did Lincoln forget to put away his pencil while giving his speech - or stick it behind his ear?

[RJNorton]

Brilliant, Laurie! The story is in Paul M. Zall's Abe Lincoln's Legacy of Laughter: Humorous Stories by and about Abraham Lincoln. The story, if true, is that Lincoln absent-mindedly had forgotten to remove the pencil from behind his ear as he gave his Cooper Union Address.

[Eva Elisabeth]

The day after Abraham Lincoln had died, a family friend from Illinois, John Albert Jones, came to the White House to pay his respects. According to Jones' daughter, "When Tad saw my father, he ran up to him and asked: 'Mr. Jones, wouldn't you like to have something of my father's?' 'Yes, Tad, 'but of no value.'"

What did Tad give him?

[Rogerm]

Was it a pencil or a pen?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks for guessing, Roger. And kudos - your guess is correct! The account goes on as follows:
"Tad led my father to his father's desk and gave him two pens, the last his father had used." (Eugenia Jones Hunt: "My Personal Recollections of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln".)

[LincolnMan]

That pen- the one Lincoln last used- was quite a gift. I wonder where it is today.

[Eva Elisabeth]

So do I, Bill. But one also never knows whether such single accounts are apocryphal or not. But I find such trivia stories enjoyable. (And nevertheless there was a "last pen Lincoln used", whoever took it.)