America250 Scavenger Hunt Answers
Answer: This print pictures the Marquis de Lafayette in his later years. Born in France, he served under George Washington in the American Revolution. He visited central Kentucky in 1825 and while in Frankfort, met Betsy Humphreys at the home of her Aunt Margaretta Brown.
Answer: The bald eagle perches on a shield between arrows and laurel representing war and peace. The eagle has been American symbol in 1782, when Congress approved a national seal with an eagle at the center.
Answer: In the Civil War, Yankees were northerners - both soldiers and civilians. A British writer composed “Yankee Doodle” in the 1750s to make fun of the colonists. New verses written during the Revolution made it an American favorite. Bands performed it for the Lincolns on numerous occasions.
Answer: The 15th state of Kentucky is on the lower left quarter of the platter, between New Jersey and Vermont. In the early 19th century British companies produced goods to sell to
patriotic Americans. The center of this 1820s platter depicts George Washington, Lady Justice and Lady Liberty.
Answer: Mary ’s father Robert Smith Todd, pictured in the portrait above the mantel, was named after his uncle. Born in Pennsylvania, the older Todd came to Kentucky in 1778 and served in the American Revolution and later as a Kentucky state senator. The artist of the portrait is unknown.
Answer: Like this ceramic children’s mug, the silver mug in the wall case was meant for a child—Tad Lincoln. English potteries began to make mugs featuring sayings by statesman and publisher Benjamin Franklin in the 1830s. The sayings first appeared in Franklin publications titled Poor Richard’s Almanac in the 1700s.
Answer: Hessian soldier andirons, made for holding logs in fireplaces, where made in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The British army hired 30,000 soldiers from Hesse-Cassel and other German states to fight with them in the American Revolution.
Answer: Martha Custis married George Washington in 1759. She helped to run her husband’s estates and spent about half of the Revolutionary War with him at the front. She was the first lady from 1789 to 1797. The prints in Mary’s Bedroom are based on unfinished portraits of Martha and Geoge painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796. He later used the likeness of George as the basis for many subsequent portraits. Mary visited Mount Vernon in 1861.
Answer: Abraham Lincoln was featured at the Centennial Exposition in paintings by W. F. K. Travers and Erastus Salisbury Field. The 1876 world’s fair celebrated American achievements and the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The South Philadelphia site included 200 buildings, and ten million people visited between May and November. Mary Lincoln and her grandnephew Lewis were there in September.