I was not at all surprised that most of you figured out that the photo in the previous post was taken in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Ordinary Girl even figured out that the photo was taken from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Today’s photo was taken at the home of a US President who died on July 4, 1826. In addition to leaving behind this beautiful house that he designed himself, he left behind more than 100 slaves, plus five slaves that he freed in his will, and about $107,000 in debt that his family paid off by selling most of his household and plantation goods: furniture, slaves, livestock, etc.
Tell me
a) the name of the president to whom this house belonged,
b) the name of his mansion/plantation, and
c) what the plantation name means.
– the chaplain
PhillyChief
April 22, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Jefferson
Monticello
“little mountain”
the chaplain
April 22, 2009 at 5:52 pm
I knew the quiz was far too easy.
The Exterminator
April 22, 2009 at 11:43 pm
chappy:
You must think you’re writing for Christians here. Tell me this: What relation was Jefferson’s mistress to his dead wife?
Ubi Dubium
April 27, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Ex – Sally Hemings was Jefferson’s wife’s half-sister. (They shared a father.) Now how about giving us a hard one?
ChimaeraLaurie
April 23, 2009 at 12:31 am
Wikipedia is great. I just Googled Sally Hemings and the answer is in the second sentence.
ChimaeraLaurie
April 23, 2009 at 12:37 am
That is a great photo, by the way. I love the sky.
the chaplain
April 23, 2009 at 9:23 am
Ex:
I could never mistake y’all for a bunch of Christians. As for your question, let’s just say that Randy Ol’ Tom liked to keep things within the family circle.
ChimaeraLaurie:
I love Google and Wiki. They know more than Gawd! As for the photo, we were finishing our tour just as a rainstorm was moving into the area. The dark sky was amazing.
Postman
April 23, 2009 at 11:02 am
Admittedly, I didn’t know what “Monticello” means; but I did know that Jefferson and Adams died on the same day and Adams never owned slaves. So, by process of elimination, it had to be Jefferson.
In all fairness to Gawd, it makes Him grumpy and smiteful to turn on the omniscience, so it’s probably best for all that He doesn’t know as much as The Google and The Wiki.
I’m glad you’re having a fun vacation, Chaplain. Bring us back a Jefferson bobblehead.
quantum_flux
April 23, 2009 at 10:44 pm
TJ had a black child, right?
the chaplain
April 24, 2009 at 8:48 am
QF:
It hasn’t been established beyond doubt, but it’s likely that Jefferson and one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, had at least one child, possibly more, together.
Ordinary Girl
April 24, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I love the white accents of the house (it doesn’t feel right calling it a house.. mansion?) against the dark sky. It’s all very crisp. I hope you’re still having fun on your vacation. I’ve always wanted to visit Monticello.
ArchangelChuck
April 24, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Chaplain, you need to stop giving away the answers in the image filename. From that alone, we can Google both who owned it and what it means.
monticello001-042209web.jpg
The Ridger
April 26, 2009 at 9:16 am
Too late to play, but I would have gotten it, I swear!
Vitamin R
April 27, 2009 at 7:52 pm
I’m always late to table–I’d have gotten them, though. I’m a couple months off of Hitchens’s book on the late great Jefferson.
The house is certainly neat-looking.
the chaplain
April 27, 2009 at 8:13 pm
OG:
I’m back from vacation now. The Deacon and I had a good time. Maybe one day I’ll post a black and white version of the photo. I did a quick look at a b&w (without playing with the balance, contrast, etc.) and it looked like it had good potential. That sky is what makes it work in either color or b&w.
Archangel:
I wondered how many people would catch that filename thing. Now you’ve given away my naming scheme.
Ridger:
I’m sure you would have gotten it without cheating as Archangel apparently did.
Vitamin:
I’ve got to get Hitchens’s book. When I was in grad school, I had to study Jefferson’s life and works. After we visited Monticello, The Deacon mentioned that he wants to read more about him. Shortly after we got home, I pulled from a bookshelf the volume of Jefferson’s collected writings, plus two biographies that I had read in grad school. I handed them to him and even gave him permission to remove and discard all of the post-it notes that are still in the pages. He’ll be busy reading for quite awhile.
The mansion is beautiful inside and out. The inside is loaded with fascinating gadgets that Jefferson invented, as well as other scientific instruments he used, and he made great use of windows and natural lighting. It’s really worth visiting.
ArchangelChuck
April 28, 2009 at 8:42 am
It isn’t cheating if the answers are written on the test. ;p