Jack & Jip, Jet & Juno, and Jonathon

J is for Jack and Jip, Jet and Juno, and Jonathon

 Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881), and Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)

Jack

President Abraham Lincoln is the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November. On October 3, 1863 he signed an Official Proclamation setting that day aside as a “day of Thanksgiving and Praise.”  Later on in November a citizen sent the President a live turkey to be included in the feast but Tad, Lincoln’s youngest son, fell for the turkey and made friends with it. He named the doomed bird Jack and taught it to follow him around like a dog. Eventually he found out it was scheduled to be killed and cooked, he was so distraught he interrupted his father’s cabinet meeting begging for the life of his friend to be spared. There was practically nothing Lincoln wouldn’t do for his son, so he wrote a stay of execution for the turkey and Tad rushed it to the cook so Jack would live. (Representative vintage illustration.)

Jip

When the Lincoln’s arrived in Washington they were dog-less (remember Fido stayed in Springfield). A family friend wrote and said he had a little dog they might like. He described Jip as “a very cunning little fellow” and “very beautiful little dog” that “barks and stands straight on his hind feet and holds his fore feet up.” Jip was a mixed breed and Lincoln became very attached to him, often taking his luncheon with him. (representative painting)

 

Jet and Juno

President Rutherford B Hayes had a dog named Jet and a hunting dog named Juno. (Representative painting)

(c) Glasgow Museums; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

 

Jonathon

President Theodore Roosevelt’s children had a piebald rat named Jonathon that often climbed on the furniture and people. (Representative photo.)

It’s a short post today!!!  J is a tough letter! Here’s a photo of me so you won’t forget what I look like!