Extra Credit Questions

[Anita]

Thanks Roger. A great example of how an official looking sign can create a new version of history for those driving by.

[L Verge]

A few days ago, my grandson was on a Lincoln trivia page and started testing me. Thanks to this forum, I was able to answer a lot of the questions that I would have been dumbstruck by five years ago. Here are three that managed to stump me, so have your hand at answering these:

Abraham and Mary Lincoln only traveled once as a couple outside the U.S. Where did they go?

What Scottish love ballad was one of Lincoln's favorite songs?

Portions from one of Lincoln's favorite operas was played at his second inaugural ball. What is its title? For extra credit, what popular song of the 19th century was among the lyrics of the opera?

PS: One member of this forum is not allowed to answer at first because these questions come from an article of hers carried in USA Today.

[Eva Elisabeth]

1. Niagara Falls (Canada).
2. Annie Laurie?

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3. I know he saw "Martha", and there's a popular song that goes "Martha, Martha, du entschwandest", but i don't know the English lyrics.

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The entire German title (translated) btw is "Martha and the market of Richmond" (where it's setted), but refers to Richmond near London.

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Here's the song I'm thinking of with English subtitles:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fPbgSUHBdqs

[L Verge]

1. Niagara Falls (Canada).
2. Annie Laurie?

---

3. I know he saw "Martha", and there's a popular song that goes "Martha, Martha, du entschwandest", but i don't know the English lyrics.

---

The entire German title (translated) btw is "Martha and the market of Richmond" (where it's setted), but refers to Richmond near London.

---

Here's the song I'm thinking of with English subtitles:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fPbgSUHBdqs

Excellent Eva! The song I was thinking of from Martha, however, is The Last Rose of Summer. My mother would say/sing that as she was pruning our roses in the early fall.

One question: Did Lincoln see the opera in D.C. or elsewhere? In what year?

[Eva Elisabeth]

"The Lincolns" saw it at Grover's on Tuesday, April 5, 1864, according to the "Washington Star" of April 6, 1864.

I remeber now Mme Piatti also sang "The Last Rose of Summer" at the White House:
http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...e#pid26120

Now I am curious about who wrote the article?! Is it online?

[Gene C]

Last Rose Of Summer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzZ5jPURUVo

[L Verge]

Thank you, Gene. I love those Celtic Women, too.

Eva - the Lincoln teasers were from an article written by our own Kathy Canavan. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio...a/5404249/

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks, Laurie - cool.

[RJNorton]

Vinnie Ream was the sculptor of the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the United States Capitol rotunda. Vinnie was the first female and the youngest artist to ever receive a commission from the United States Government for a statue.

Not everyone was in favor of Vinnie receiving the commission.

Who wrote this?

"Miss Ream, who received the $10,000 for a Lincoln statue, is a young girl of about twenty who has been studying her art for a few months, never made a statue, has some plaster busts on exhibition, including her own, minus clothing to the waist, has a pretty face, long dark curls and plenty of them, wears a jockey hat and a good deal of jewelry, sees members at their lodgings or in the reception room at the Capitol, urges her claims fluently and confidently, sits in the galleries in a conspicuous position and in her most bewitching dress, while those claims are being discussed on the floor, and nods and smiles as a member rises and delivers his opinion on the merits of the case with the air of a man sitting for his picture..."

[Anita]

John Hay?

[RJNorton]

Good guess, Anita, but it was not John Hay.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Sounds like an envious female. A bit like an upset Mary, but it unlikely was her.

[RJNorton]

Very good thinking! But it was not Mary.

Hint #1: Eva is correct on the gender - the answer is a female.

[L Verge]

Charles Sumner was against Vinnie's commission also, but he definitely wasn't female. Sounds like snippy Kate Chase Sprague? Or, Jane Swisshelm?

[RJNorton]

Kudos, Laurie! It was Jane Swisshelm!
Good job.

You win one free statue of yourself to be permanently displayed at Fred Smith's Wisconsin Concrete Park. This is quite an honor because recently Fred Smith's was named one of Seven of Wisconsin's Man-Made Wonders.