is anyone any good at puzzles?

because I need your help to try and solve this

I'm playing something on alexa, and for the life of me, I can't figure out a possible answer

I'm looking for a 3 digit number and my clue is:

the last name's of christopher columbus, stonewall jackson, and abraham lincoln all share this thing in common

but I really don't know what it could be

any ideas would be apreciated

(for the record, I don't even know who stonewall jackson is.) but I don't think it matters for this, it must be math related

Boy thats a toughie!

I have no idea

How about they are all state capitals? Of Ohio, Mississippi, and Nebraska, respectively

Stonewall Jackson was an officer (general) in the Confederate Army during the Civil War in the U.S.

That is certainly correct!

I got hung up on the part about the 3 digit number. But we dont have the clue for that, right?

area or zip codes?

I dont think so...

they are arn't they

(okay, I didn't know until you said so.)

my american knolledge isn't the greatest which I'm pretty ashamed about even though I'm not from the states

so now for a code... maybe the first number of all 3 zippcodes?

The three men all have miltary connections.

how is christopher columbus connected with the military

now I'm interested

well I posted this to try and find out a puzzle answer, but learned a lot from posting it too.

so yays?

learning stuff is always good

This is an indulging puzzle. I can only come up with the unlikely notion that it has something to do with the three men's age when they died been added, or the number of letters in their surnames been multiplied, or something like that.
some puzzles are just a tease and not much more.

What is the exact wording of the puzzle please because the answer may actually be in the context of the statement itself.

you look down at the padlock where it says, "explorer christopher, president abraham, and general stonewall"

as you turn to attempt to unlock the safe, the phone rings

"hello, foxtrot here. I've been trying to puzzle through the whole thing with abraham etc, and can't help thinking that it has something to do with their last names. I wonder what they have in common. that should help you solve the puzzle, good luck."

Why do you think its a 3 digit number?

First Letter of Surnames C...L...J

3.. 12..10.....numerical sequence of letters in alphabet.

Could that be the combination for a lock?

Sorry...Puzzle lover & divergent thinker here

because when I go to solve, it's one of those padlocks where you have to go left to one number, right to the next, and then back left to the third

she actually says "which number should I turn to."

yes it could be.

worth a shot

What order did ohio, Mississippi, and nebraska become states?

17, 20, 37

@raging vortex did you ever open the lock or was it too late?

I was thinking along the lines of quarter life. Assigning the letters their numerical value determined by which letter in the alphabet. This is a very standard way of encoding information

I didn't open the lock.

it's no big deal

thanks for trying everyone- if I do ever get back to that place in the game, I will try what was suggested (the order they became states)