Halbert: Ford's Theater

1. Ford's Theater, in Washington, D.C., is where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865.

2. The assassin, John Wilkes Boothe, was a well-known actor at the theater.

3. "Our American Cousin" was the name of the play that Lincoln was watching when he was shot and killed.

4. The murder happened five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to end the Civil War.

5. Boothe was a Confederate sympathizer.

6. Lincoln's wife and Major Henry Rathbone and his fiance were sitting with Lincoln in his presidential box at the time of the murder.

7. Boothe delivered a single shot behind Lincoln's left ear. Rathbone was stabbed in the arm.

8. In the lower level of the theater is a museum that contains artifacts such as the clothes that Lincoln wore the night of the murder and the murder weapon.

9. A second tragedy happened at the theater: In 1893 the theater was being used as office space, and the interior floors collapsed, killing 22 office workers.

10. The theater was reopened in the 1960's when Congress authorized a renovation.

Facts About Lincoln's Pets and Children by Mrs. Welchlin's Class

1. Abraham Lincoln had 4 sons-Edward, William, Thomas, Robert

2. Thomas had the nickname of Tad

3. Lincoln had a dog named Fido--when Lincoln and his family moved to Washington they left

the dog with a neighbor because of the long train ride from Illinois to Washington DC

4. Lincoln's sons, Willie & Tad, took Fido to a photographer for the first picture ever of a

Presidential dog

5. Lincoln once found 3 stray kittens and gave them to a Colonel and made him promise he

would take good care of them

6. Lincoln had horses at the White House Stables--in 1864, the stables caught fire. Lincoln tried

go into the burning stable to save them but they died in the fire

Mr. Wells' Class, Lessor Known Facts about Abraham Lincoln

1. Abraham Lincoln was the first President to wear a beard. The following is the content of a letter Abraham Lincoln received from an 11 yr. old girl in October of 1860 during his Presidential Campaign:

Hon A B Lincoln...

Dear Sir,

My father has just home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. Hamlin's. I am a little girl only 11 years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you wont think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. I have got 4 brother's and part of them will vote for you any way and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husband's to vote for you and then you would be President. My father is going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to but I will try to get every one to vote for you that I can I think that rail fence around your picture makes it look very pretty I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you direct your letter direct to Grace Bedell Westfield, Chatauque County, New York.

I must not write any more answer this letter right off.

Good bye.
Grace Bedell

2. Abraham Lincoln had the largest shoe size documented of all the presidents. He wore a size 14.

3. Have you ever used the excuse that the dog ate your homework? Abraham Lincoln’s famous “Gettysburg Address” was written by the President after his dog ate a much longer speech that had been written for him. He started out with , “Four score and seven years ago “, to give him time to think of what to say next while people were busy doing the math in their heads to figure out how many years he was talking about.

4. Abraham Lincoln always had a messy desk, (just like Mr. Wells), in his Law Office with William Herndon. Abraham Lincoln kept a big envelope on top of his desk marked, “When you can’t find it anywhere else, look into this.”

5. Abraham Lincoln was a great believer in psychic phenomena. He would host seances in the White House. It was the opinion of professional mediums who had worked with the President that Lincoln was definitely the possessor of strong psychic powers. He was also a great believer in dreams. On the day of his assassination, April 14, 1865, he was so troubled by a dream that he actually discussed it at a Cabinet meeting. He told his colleagues that he had seen himself sailing "in an indescribable vessel and moving rapidly toward an indistinct shore." Even more explicit was a dream that he discussed just a week before he was shot. In his dream, Lincoln awoke, and walked through the silent White House, following the sound of sobbing. When he came to the East Room, he saw a platform and casket draped in black. "Who is dead?" Lincoln asked. A military guard replied that it was the President.

6. Some of Abraham Lincoln’s hair was kept when he died. Some of his hair is going to be tested for DNA to see if he had any diseases. The rest is in a museum. Some was sealed in a ring that President Theodore Roosevelt wore during his Inauguration.

7. Lincoln floated down the Mississippi on a flatboat when he was a teenager, and sold fruits and vegetables in New Orleans. Then he sold the boat, and walked 800 miles back home.

8. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican President.

9. Abraham Lincoln was the first United States President to be assassinated. There were two assassination attempts on his life. The first one missed his head and knocked off his hat seven months before he was shot by John Wilkes Booth.

10. Abraham Lincoln was the first president to “Pardon” a Thanksgiving turkey.

Lincoln and Music by Ms. Thompson's Class

1. Lincoln enjoyed going to plays and concerts, and preferred going alone.
2. Lincoln liked music because you can listen and simply enjoy.
3. Lincoln didn't like to sing.
4. Lincoln liked both poetry and songs.
5. Lincoln didn't know about the artistic ability of music.
6. Lincoln was inspired by music of both love and hate.
7. Lincoln preferred having bands play music rather than himself talking in front of crowds.
8. Lincoln enjoyed comic songs that humored him such as ones about cockroaches.
9. Lincoln especially liked tender and sentimental songs.
10. Lincoln loved talented musicians, and would ask friends to play their instruments.

The Lincoln Museum by Mrs. Halbert's class

1. The Abraham Lincoln Museum is located in downtown Springfield, Illinois.

2.  The museum welcomed its one millionth visitor in Jan. 2007.

3.  This museum is 50% larger than any other presidential museum/library.

4.  A log cabin similar to the one that Lincoln grew up in was constructed in the museum.

5.  The museum uses 21st century technology to bring 19th century history to life.

6.  The Plaza at the center of the museum is an open gathering place from which all the areas of the museum are accessed.

7.  The museum is a walk-through experience, like a journey, divided into two parts:  the pre-presidential years, and the White House years.

8.  Highly researched, dramatic, "you are there" settings put you "inside" dramatic moments in Lincoln's life through vivid dramatic environments.

9.  The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, but is closed on Christmas, New Year's, and Thanksgiving Day.

10.  An adult ticket to the museum is $10, children are $4.

response

 I read an interesting article in Newsweek about Abraham Lincoln. Sometimes it is hard to tell facts from opinions.

Mrs. Fitzgerald's Classroom

Abraham Lincoln's Health Facts

1. Abraham Lincoln's health was generally good into young adulthood.
2. Abe's vigorous health was promoted in the 1860 Presidential Campaign because of his image as a railsplitter.
3. It is believed that Abraham Lincoln had malaria-1835-this was the first time he was seriously ill.
4. Abraham Lincoln loved to eat fruit, especially apples.
5. Lincoln had small pox during the time he gave the Gettsyburg Address in 1863.
6. He was nearly drowned while living in Kentucky as a young boy and in 1818 was kicked in the head by a horse.
7. Lincoln suffered from depression and chronic physical fatigue.
8. Lincoln long suffered from constipation, he took medication for awhile, but quit because the medicine made him irritable and
unable to sleep.
9. Lincoln was 6 feet 4 inches tall.
10. After the Gettysburg Address the President returned to Washing ton where he was confined in bed for 3 weeks with variloid-a mild form of small pox.