365. Why was the White House so called?
The home of the Presidents was named in honor of the White House, the Virginia home of Martha Washington, in New Kent County, in which her wedding occurred. Washington had many pleasant memories of that residence, and it was he who suggested the building of a “White House” for the Presidents. The house is constructed of Virginia freestone, which is excessively porous, and consequently would be very damp in the interior, were it not for a thick coat of white lead, which is applied about once in ten years at a great expense.
366. Who was the first woman hung in the United States?
Mary Dyer, a Quakeress. On the 27th of October, 1659, a gallows stood on Boston Common, and three condemned Quakers, William Robinson, Marmaduke Stevenson, and Mary Dyer, were led out to execution. They were accompanied by the trainband, and drums were beat to drown their testimony. The town was put under guard of thirty-six soldiers against apprehended trouble. The woman walked between her two companions, holding each of them by a hand. The marshal asked her, “If she was not ashamed to walk, hand in hand, between two young men?” She replied, “It is an hour of the greatest joy I can enjoy in this world. No eye can see, no ear can hear, no tongue can speak, no heart can understand, the sweet incomes and refreshings of the Spirit of the Lord which I now enjoy.” The two men were hung and buried beneath the gallows; but Mary Dyer, after having the noose put round her neck, was pardoned and sent to Rhode Island. The next spring she returned. On the gallows the second time, June 1, 1660, she was offered her life if she would promise to keep out of Massachusetts. Her reply was, “In obedience to the will of the Lord I came; and in his will I abide faithful to the death.” She did so.
367. Who are the “Blue-Noses”?
This name is popularly given to the inhabitants of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. It is supposed to have been originally applied from the effect upon the more prominent parts of the face of the raw easterly winds and long-continued fogs which prevail in these provinces. Others say that it was first applied to a particular kind of potatoes which were extensively produced by the inhabitants, and that it was afterwards transferred to the inhabitants themselves. Others trace its origin to the custom among certain tribes of the aborigines of painting the nose blue as a punishment for a crime against chastity.
368. Who was the “Handsome Englishman”?
This name was given by Turenne to the celebrated John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722), who was no less distinguished for the singular graces of his person, than for his brilliant courage, and his consummate ability both as a soldier and a statesman.
369. What great general was fired at fifteen times and yet escaped unhurt?
In the battle of Monongahela, July 9, 1755, an Indian chief with his braves especially singled Washington out. Four balls passed through his clothes and two horses were shot under him, yet he was not harmed. Fifteen years later, Washington made an expedition to the Western country with Dr. Craik, an intimate friend, and a party of woodsmen, for the purpose of exploring wild lands. While near the junction of the Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, the old Indian chief came a “long way” to see the man at whom he had fired a rifle fifteen times without hitting him, adding that “he was then persuaded that the youthful hero was under the special guardianship of the Great Spirit, and immediately ceased to fire at him.” He was now come “to pay homage to the man, who was the particular favorite of Heaven, and who could never die in battle.”