Extra Credit Questions

[J. Beckert]

No prize? You've been pretty tight fisted with the tickets to Fred Smith's Concrete Park this year....

[RJNorton]

My bad, Joe. There will definitely be free Fred Smith tickets to the person who gets this one.

What person who has been discussed on this forum was born in this house?

[RJNorton]

Hint #1: Abraham Lincoln knew this person during his pre-Presidential years.

[Gene C]

Is this home still standing?

[RJNorton]

Gene, I believe it still stands, but I think the question I asked is in error. I have a book that says Thomas Lincoln, father of Abraham Lincoln, was born in this house.

But, upon further investigation, it looks like this is the Jacob Lincoln House. Jacob was a brother to the Abraham Lincoln who was the President's grandfather. The home is on Linville Creek, Virginia, in Rockingham County. I believe Jacob Lincoln built this home less than 1/2 mile from the home where Thomas Lincoln was born. That home (where Thomas was born) no longer stands. So I am sorry, but my question was not correct. Thomas Lincoln was born very near the house pictured but not in it.

[Eva Elisabeth]

The house doesn't look that old - I wouldn't have thought it even standing when Abraham Lincoln was born!

[RJNorton]

The house doesn't look that old - I wouldn't have thought it even standing when Abraham Lincoln was born!

Eva, there are more photos in the middle of the page here.

[L Verge]

Eva - I thought the same thing when I first looked at the posted photo, but then I thought of the cosmetic changes that can be made over centuries to make a house look more "modern." The folks who are restoring Rich Hill, home of Samuel Cox and a Booth stop on the fugitives' escape, found that out several months ago when the architectural investigations of the "bones" of the house revealed that what they thought was a late-1700s structure was really an early-1700s structure.

Those of us who study the Lincoln assassination are so used to seeing the standard photo of Rich Hill ca. 1900 that it was hard to believe the house could be that old. However, the lumber below the surface told a different story.

[Gene C]

Laurie,

Are they going to restore the house as it was in 1865, or 1700's

[L Verge]

Naturally, available funds will determine how much restoration will be done and how quickly. However, the 1700s have great history to be told at Rich Hill, even though the house is better known for its ties to the escape of Booth. The full history of the land and dwelling is being carefully documented, and exhibits will reflect the "life" of the site from the colonial era through the first half of the 20th century, I believe.

So much of the 1865 structure was demolished in the 1970s by its last owner that, if the decision is made to return it to that period, it will take eons to rebuild the parts that were taken off.

Read this, if interested further: https://richhillfriends.org/preservation-matters/

[RJNorton]

Who lived here?

[Dennis Urban]

Looks like Lincoln's first rental home just after he was married and living in a tavern.

[J. Beckert]

I'll say U.S. Grant. I don't remember when, but at one point in his life, he lived in a very small home.

[RJNorton]

That is a very logical guess, Joe, but kudos to Dennis and Eva. It's the cottage at 214 South Fourth Street in Springfield where the Lincolns lived for a short time when Robert was a baby. The family rented the cottage in the fall of 1843 and stayed there until May 1844 when they moved into the home at Eighth and Jackson. The rent for the cottage was $100 a year.

[RJNorton]

Among the visitors to Springfield in 1842 was this man. Abraham Lincoln met him during his visit. Who was he?