Lincoln assassins' gravesites in Washington and Baltimore

 

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the death of President Abraham Lincoln,  volunteers on Saturday led tours at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. to the graves of several who were associated with the president's assassination in Washington on April 14, 1865, and his death the next day. A volunteer guide at the cemetery, Steve Hammond, quoted some who claim that because Ulysses S. Grant did not go with President Lincoln to Ford's Theatre that night, it was "one of the reasons Lincoln was assassinated....Grant's wife couldn't stand Mary Todd Lincoln."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Looking towards the entrance of Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Volunteer guide Steve Hammond talks about conspirator David Herold, hanged on July 7, 1865 for his role in President Lincoln's assassination.  Hammond said Herold is buried beneath this grave of Elizabeth Jane Herold at Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C., but Wikipedia says Herold has a gravestone at the cemetery:

 

On February 15, 1869, David's mother and 5 of his sisters interred his remains in Congressional Cemetery ( Washington, D. C. ) in an unmarked grave, next to the grave of his father Adam.^[6][7] The gravestone memorializing David now present in Congressional Cemetery was placed there in July 1917, at the time of the burial of his sister Mary Alice ( Herold ) Nelson (October 16, 1837 – July 1, 1917) in the cemetery. Mary Alice was the wife of Frederick Massena Nelson (January 1827 - May 11, 1909) of Pomonkey, Charles County, Maryland/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This is the grave of Charles Forbes, who "was someone who should have been fired," based on his actions (or inactions) on the day of the Lincoln assassination, said Steve Hammond, a guide at Congressional Cemetery, on Saturday.  Supposedly before he shot Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth gave Forbes his business card when he "walked up to Forbes and said something," but Forbes carried the remark with him to the grave. The marker (above) reads:  

 

"Charles Forbes

Died October 11, 1895

Age 60

Margaret Forbes

Died October 26, 1881

Age 53

Charles Forbes Served As

Personal Attendant

to President Lincoln

1861-1865

He Accompanied The

Lincolns To Ford's

Theatre On The Night of

April 14, 1865 And Was

Seated Just Outside The

Box When The President Was Shot. 

 

The Lincoln Group

of Washington, 1983

/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Peter Taltavull (1825-1881) owned the Star Saloon, next door to Ford's Theatre where John Wilkes Booth stopped for a drink of  whiskey and water shortly before the assassination, according to Taltavull's testimony at the conspiracy trial. After Lincoln was shot, the medical team briefly considered taking the president to Taltavull's saloon before the president was taken across the street to Petersen's boarding house. Taltavull's grave is at Congressional Cemetery/Photo by Patricia Leslie

John Wilkes Booth who assassinated President Lincoln, and two others associated with the assassination, Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlen (O'Laughlin), are buried in Baltimore at Green Mount Cemetery where a chapel sits atop the hill/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Booth Family plot, Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, MD, where John Wilkes Booth was buried in 1869.  His small unmarked gravestone with Lincoln pennies on top is almost in the center of the photo/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The unmarked grave of John Wilkes Booth in the Booth Family plot at Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, MD, where visitors leave Lincoln pennies/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E Street, SE, Washington, D.C. 20003, ph. 202-543-0539 

  

Green Mount Cemetery, 1501 Greenmount Ave., Baltimore, MD 21202, ph. 410-539-0641

 

 

 

 

 

patricialesli@gmail.com

 

National Archives: 'Ain't I a Woman?'

President Abraham Lincoln "showing Sojourner Truth the Bible presented by the colored people of Baltimore, Executive Mansion, Washington, D.C., Oct. 29, 1864"/Library of Congress

No women will be represented on a panel of four with a moderator when the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration hosts a discussion April 11, 2013 about the 100 years between President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation issued in 1863 and the 1963 march on Washington.

On its calendar of events, Archives says the talk will focus on "the continuing struggle for freedom, justice, and equality during Reconstruction, as well as the Tilden-Hayes Compromise and Jim Crow laws."

The four scheduled panelists are C.R. Gibbs, Clarence Lusane, Roger Davidson, and Frank Smith. John Franklin will be moderator. I suppose Archives couldn't find a qualified woman historian from the approximately 6,000 who teach history in postsecondary institutions to join its panel. Oh, that's right: Women's History Month was last month.

President Lincoln's proclamation applied to all slaves, men and women, one of whom affected was Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), an abolitionist and a woman's rights advocate who worked tirelessly to improve conditions for former slaves and for women. In 1864 she visited the White House and met President Lincoln. No doubt she would be surprised to learn that more than 150 years later, women are still overlooked for important roles, even by federal agencies which are supposed to lead the way, I thought, for the rest of the nation.

Sojourner Truth was the first black woman to be honored with a bust at the U.S. Capitol (2009).
 

Ain't it 2013, National Archives?  

Below is a portion of Truth's "Ain't I a Woman" speech delivered at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron in the 1850s, as recalled by Frances Dana Barker Gage, and cited at Wikipedia:

"Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar. Nobody eber helps me into carriages, or ober mud-puddles, or gibs me any best place!"

And raising herself to her full height, and her voice to a pitch like rolling thunder, she asked. 

 'And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! (and she bared her right arm to the shoulder, showing her tremendous muscular power). I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear de lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen chilern, and seen 'em mos' all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?"

patricialesli@gmail.com

A Lincoln-Douglass debate at Ford's Theatre

Craig Wallace is Frederick Douglass in Necessary Sacrifices at Ford's Theatre/Laura Keene

A serious "conversation" between two American heroes, President Abraham Lincoln (David Selby) and abolitionist Frederick Douglass (Craig Wallace), is occurring nightly through Saturday at Ford's Theatre in a play called Necessary Sacrifices.

It is a world's premiere, written by Richard Hellesen who was commissioned by Ford's to create a play for the celebration of this month's opening of the Center for Education and Leadership located across the street.

Hellesen based his drama on two documented sessions between Lincoln and Douglass.

 David Selby is Abraham Lincoln in Necessary Sacrifices/Laura Keene

Everyone knows who President Lincoln was, but how many are familiar with Mr. Douglass? Not only did he work to abolish slavery, but he was an early supporter of women's rights and in 1848, the only African-American present at the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York.  (The Frederick Douglass home is at 1411 W Street SE in Washington.)

The specific Civil War period in focus for Sacrifices is chiefly August, 1863 and August, 1864. Mr. Douglass is disappointed by the president's policies and tries to convince him that not only is emancipation critical to national health, but the new role of blacks in the U.S. is vital, too.

In dialogue in two acts, the two converse, and the president explains to Douglass the political process and the evolution of public opinion.  Selby's and Wallace's looks, demeanor, and superb acting give undeniable credence to their characters who truly make American history come alive on stage.

Jennifer L. Nelson, the director, writes in program notes that the two Civil War leaders discovered a "common vision" in each other, sharing a "belief in the potential of human beings to be generous of spirit in spite of profound differences." Would that words of yesteryear rang on Capitol Hill today.

Adding to the play's aura is Civil War music and a sad melody composed by John Gromada which is sprinkled throughout the production and expertly played on violin by Thomas Booker or Tony Donaldson, Jr. (depending upon the night of the performance).

The lighting is dramatic (Dan Covey), and the backdrop is a tranquil floor-to-ceiling landscape painting of clouds and sky in heavenly peach, lavender and blue which creates a dichotomy in a time of radical upheaval, where gunfire is sporadically heard in the background to remind all present of war's death and destruction.

Once a portion of the stage with the president's desk and chair move forward, and large white rectangular windows drop, the stage is set (by James Kronzer) for conversation between the two in the president's office.

Makeup by Anne Nesmith is worthy of a Helen Hayes nomination.

It is eerie and remarkable at the same time to sit in Ford's Theatre, to look up at the box where the president and Mrs. Lincoln sat April 14, 1865 the night of his assassination, and realize you are there watching a play about him.

The play is recommended for ages 13 and up. Hurry! On a Monday night, the theatre was packed.  It is easy to see how this play will travel for hundreds of performances.

What: Necessary Sacrifices

When: Every night at 7:30 p.m. now through February 18, 2012

Where: Ford's Theatre, 511 Tenth St, NW, Washington, DC 20004

Admission: Prices begin at $32.20. Check here for possible discounts.

For more information: 202-347-4833

Metro station: Metro Center, Gallery Place, or Archives-Navy Memorial

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

Mary Todd Lincoln at The National Portrait Gallery

By The Queen of Free

She was the subject of a portrait talk at the National Portrait Gallery Thursday evening.

Standing in front of this sketch by Pierre Morand which is part of the “One Life: The Mask of Lincoln” exhibit, Erin Carlson Mast, the curator of the Lincoln Cottage, presented a biographical sketch about Mrs. Lincoln whom Ms. Mast knows quite a lot about.

Mrs. Lincoln had 10 years of schooling; President Lincoln, one, Ms. Mast said. Mrs. Lincoln came from a wealthy family in Lexington, KY, and her Confederate roots were problematic. Like her husband, she loved the arts, literature and the theatre. She had her own “redeeming qualities,” Ms. Mask said.

She mentioned the military presence in the background of what looks like Lafayette Square in the 1864 sketch.

The crowd of about 40 packed the small gallery and strained to hear every word of the presentation. Mostly it was middle-aged women and a few men who attended.

How nice to be in surroundings where Mary Todd Lincoln was not castigated as a bad influence, and crazy, dazed, manipulative, extravagant, unfriendly, evil and what are some of the other adjectives used to describe her? Oh, yes, lest I forget, she may have had a hand in her husband’s assassination. He married her, didn’t he?

In May Catherine Clinton, the author of Mrs. Lincoln: A Life published this year, will speak about her book at Lincoln’s Cottage.

A Portrait Gallery representative told me the museum has received a lot of interest in its First Ladies portraits which the Portrait Gallery is trying to beef up.

Next up at these wonderful Thursday 6 p.m. “Face to Face” talks is Toni Morrison’s portrait, to be presented by Warren Perry April 2.

THE Emancipation Proclamation at Archives

By the Queen of Free

For five days only beginning today on the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth

Despite the sign which said a 20 minute wait, it took less than that to reach the original document. The ink is quite faint. In the low lighting the approximate 75 visitors and those in the rotunda were subdued and of somber mood. Several security guards stood nearby.

At the line's entrance an attractively designed 8.5 x 11” four-page brochure in sepia tones with the complete text and brief explanation about the Proclamation is available at no charge.

The Proclamation, which Archives names one of the nation's most treasured documents, declared the freedom of all slaves in states which had seceded from the Union (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina) but omitted its abolishment in the border states (Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia). Exceptions were made for those portions of the Confederate states which were already under Union jurisdiction on January 1, 1863 when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

The National Archives at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue is open special hours this weekend from 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. from Saturday through Monday for viewing the document which is only made public a few days each year.

Four Bicentennial Birthdays

What is the significance of the bicentennial birthdays of Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Darwin , Felix Mendelssohn, and Abraham Lincoln in 2009?

Darwin and Lincoln were both born on February 12, 1809; Mendelssohn, on February 3, 1809, and Poe, on January 19, 1809.

From the Classics Literature Library comes this:

Edgar Allan Poe's ancestry on his father's side has been traced to Samuel Lincoln, a weaver who emigrated from Hingham, England, to Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1637. The president's forebears were pioneers who moved west with the expanding frontier from Massachusetts to Berks County, Pennsylvania, and then to Virginia. Abraham Lincoln's father, Thomas Lincoln, was born in Rockingham County in backcountry Virginia in 1778. In 1781 Thomas Lincoln's father, who was also named Abraham, took his family to Hughes Station on the Green River, 32 km (20 mi) east of Louisville, Kentucky. In 1786 a Native American killed the first Edgar Allan Poe while he was at work clearing land for a farm in the forest.

Must See: Abraham Lincoln at The National Portrait Gallery

By the Queen of Free

The Kate Guenther and Siewchin Yong Sommer Gallery housing the new Abraham Lincoln exhibit of photographs, prints, and a wood engraving of the Emancipation Proclamation at the National Portrait Gallery has the ambience of a funeral parlor: The lighting is low, and the mood, somber and subdued among the many visitors who were young, old, of many nationalities and interests when I dropped by. (Several Capitols hockey fans identified by their big red jerseys stopped in on their way to a game.)

The gallery is not large, and the etchings and lithographs of Lincoln big and small are well worth a trip. That the artifacts are all owned by the Smithsonian Institution is astonishing.

Photography came of age during Lincoln’s tenure, and he willingly obliged many requests to be recorded on film, glory be.

In one of the last prints made before his assassination April 14, 1865, Lincoln is labeled a “messiah.” Tad, his son whom Lincoln spoiled especially after the death of his beloved son, Willie, is shown with his father in another “last one” dated February 5, 1865. One photo shows Lincoln with Frederick Douglass, the first African-American to visit the White House.

The exhibit continues the perpetuation of the negative depictions of Mary Todd Lincoln in photographs and words. (With all the many omnipresent evil descriptions of her, it is easy to compare her to Eve and taking another step, blame Lincoln’s downfall on her, but I imagine that's already been done. Is there anything positive about her? He married her.)

An accompanying description for another print says Lincoln was hesitant to speak much publicly, aware of the importance citizens placed on his words.

Why the name of the exhibit “One Life: The Mask of Lincoln”? Yes, there are two masks made of his face, one before the war (1860), and the other after (1865), which visitors may see close up, and which clearly demonstrate the effects of war on a president, but the title suggests a dark environment which Abraham Lincoln's legacy contradicts. Ask Barack Obama.

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Ball was held March 4, 1865 in the very same building of the "Mask" exhibit (oh, what a lovely hall for an upcoming ball) and another exhibit on the second floor about his inauguration make a fitting tribute to the president we hear more about daily as the momentum for the celebration of his bicentenary birth on February 12, 2009 builds.

Except for Christmas Day the National Portrait Gallery is open daily from 11:30 a.m. until 6:50 p.m. when the guards begin throwing visitors out quickly. It is located across from the Verizon Center at the corner of 8th and F streets, N.W.

While at the exhibit cell phone users may dial a number to receive more explanation including the reason behind Lincoln growing a beard. Many of the images and labels are available online at the Portrait Gallery's web site.

The Lincolns' Marriage

Perhaps it's because they are writers and not broadcast journalists that some authors have about as much life in them at author presentations as Hummer sales.

Last Thursday night at Olssons at Penn Quarter, Daniel Mark Epstein, also a poet and dramatist, described his latest tome, The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage. He didn't paint Mary Todd Lincoln quite as negatively as most, although he twice mentioned without explanation her being "committed" to Bellevue Sanitarium in 1875 for three months, and since no one asked about it the "Q + A" session which followed, I guess everyone else there knew why.

Mrs. Lincoln "showed a lot of signs of being bi-polar"; she had headaches and was high strung. (Ed's note: Sounds like menopause to me.) She was quite outspoken and commanded quite a bit of influence on President Lincoln.who had obvious flaws in the "father" department and was often distracted when dealing with family matters.

President and Mrs. Lincoln really did love each other, and Shakespeare and Robert Burns. Mrs. Lincoln was keenly interested in his career and, quite ambitious herself, wanted to be married to a President.

Washington society was "very suspicious of her when she came to Washington." Mrs. Lincoln went over budget with White House decorating which became a scandal. By 1864 she had become a liability to President Lincoln. At one point she was nearly indicted for treason for purloining one of Lincoln's speeches (I believe that's what Mr. Epstein said) which she gave to a newspaper friend. "She created false invoices to get more money to decorate the White House."

Before they married, they broke up for two years which contributed to Lincoln's depression. Her family was not supportive of her marriage to him.

No evidence exists to support the theory President Lincoln was homoerotic. He is one of the most carefully documented Presidents in history.

Based on the blurbs, the "experts" give the book a big "thumb's up," and I can't wait to read it. Let's support independent bookstores, all right? They are dying fast. If you want them to survive, buy your books here and skip Amazon. Speaking of...Olssons looks tired and needs more revenue to spruce it up a bit and engender some life, but, wow! That gazpacho in the restaurant! For the money, the best around. (A dollop of sour cream on top would make it even better.)

I would love to see a book about the positives of Mary Todd Lincoln for which it seems from all the biographies about the Lincolns, there are none.

The audience: 90% Caucasian, 60% male, average age: 40. All 20+ seats taken.