Historic first family visiting Mentor Public Library

There have been 44 presidents of the United States.

And Mentor can claim the unique distinction of being one of those president’s hometowns, specifically President James A. Garfield.

While it would require a séance to summon President Garfield and his wife Lucretia for a conversation, children can enjoy the next best thing at 7 p.m. Feb. 5, Wednesday, at Mentor Public Library’s Main Branch.

The historical recreationists of We Made History will have a special program for kids. Deborah Weinkamer and Edward Haney—as Lucretia and James Garfield, respectively—will talk about what it was like to be a presidential family.

Kids can also ask the Garfields questions, make a presidential craft and take a photo with the first family of Mentor.

“Mentor is one of the few communities that can boast about having a president who lived there,” said Kim Sidorick, the manager of Mentor Public Library’s Children’s Services Department. “The Garfields also have a tie to the library. It was founded by their descendants.”

Mentor Public Library will also hold a presidential scavenger hunt in its Children’s Department starting Monday, Feb. 3.

Kids can search the library, looking for clues based on President Garfield’s life. Those who complete the scavenger hunt can pick up a small prize at the children’s services desk in the library’s Main Branch after the First Family program on Feb. 5.

Children who wish to sign up for the First Family program can do so by calling the Mentor Public Library at (440) 255-8811 ext. 221 or by registering on Mentor Library's website.

The Psychic Lives of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and James A. Garfield

Did you know that President Abraham Lincoln attended séances with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln?

There are even some who think Lincoln was psychic because he had precognitive dreams, including one about his own assassination.

Did you know that there are those who think President James A. Garfield haunts his former home? (The one in Hiram -- not the James A. Garfield National Historic Site. The best we can tell, that one is ghost free.)

While we can't say for sure if Lincoln knew he was predicting his own death or what Garfield is doing in the afterlife, we do know that there's more going on than was dreamt of in Horation's philosophy.

We also know that the Victorians of Lincoln and Garfield's era had a fascination with the psychic. Spiritualism, astrology, premonitions and phrenology -- the practice of using the bumps on someone’s forehead to predict their future -- were all the rage.

And the Lincolns and Garfields were aware and, to some extent, even participated in these interests. (The Lincolns held the aforementioned séances in an attempt to contact their deceased, 11-year-old son Willie.)

If you want to know more about where the presidents' lives intersected with the psychic and spiritual, you can visit the Mentor Public Library for the Beyond the Veil program at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 3, at the library’s main branch.

Visitors will get a chance to join two grieving first ladies, Mary Todd Lincoln and Lucretia Garfield, around the séance table. The first ladies will also share how these psychic and astrological practices and beliefs affected their own families, as well as reveal some strange facts about their husbands’ deaths.

Lincoln and Garfield will be portrayed by Marian King and Debbie Weinkamer, respectively, of the re-enactor’s collective We Made History.

If mediumship, presidential history or both piques your interest, Beyond the Veil is well worth your time.

The program is free and open to the public. However, we ask that you register with us beforehand.

For more information on the program or to register call 440-255-8811 ext. 247 or log on to www.mentorpl.org.