Author: clermontstatehistoricsite
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Button it Up!
Aaahh buttons. They can be nostalgic. My grandmother used to cut the buttons off old clothes and save them in a jar. They can be showy. Amongst other reasons, the Amish do not wear buttons on their clothes because they are to proud. And Laura Ingalls Wilder remembered some buttons from her earliest childhood, describing…
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6 Livingston Babies We\'d Like to Sqeeze
A big part of our interpretation at Clermont is home life. The Livingstons were, by definition, a family. Their lives were filled with the giggles, cackles, and cries of babies–especially when many generations had large families. Here are just a few of the Livingston children who can help put a face on that aspect of…
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It was NOT Alice\'s Wedding Dress: or Just Because it\'s White, Don\'t Make Assumptions
Nobody likes to be wrong in public, but I\’ve done it this time! Quite some time ago, I posted this blog, wondering if the creamy Parisian designer dress in our collections was Alice\’s wedding dress. I was a little over-excited because–quite honestly–it\’s a pretty fabulous gown. Aaand today history shot me down. To be fair,…
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Margaret Howarden Livingston: A Long-Lost Livingston Wife
It is a sad fact of seventeenth and eighteenth history that women\’s lives all-too-often lost behind the identity of their husbands. In rare cases, where letters or diaries may have been preserved, you can get to know some of the women of history–one of the most famous being Abigail Adams. Well the Livingstons lost the…
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Is it Really Necessary? Of Corset is!
Corsetry often proves to be a problem for museums that do costumed interpretation. Volunteers and museum staff who are eager to teach history to the public may or may not be eager to lace up a garment that\’s been demonized for centuries. It can be a little unnerving, and it can take some getting used…
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Adventures in 18th Century Teenagers with a Young Janet Livingston
References for the following are all taken from Janet Livingston Montgomery\’s Reminiscences, transcribed in the Dutchess County Year Book, 1930. The Reminiscences were intended for her favorite, and youngest, brother Edward Livingston. Janet Livingston Montgomery (1743-1828) is best known as the builder of Montgomery Place, or perhaps as the widow of Brigadier General Montgomery, who died…
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The Reluctant Revolutionary, Part 2.: The Chancellor Refuses Montgomery
We know that Brigadier General Richard Montgomery wanted out of the American Revolution. Like George Washington, he had not asked for a military post, but he had been selected by committee for his experience in the French and Indian War years before. His letters to his wife are clear in expressing his frustration with his…
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A Little Palatine History from Our Fellow Bloggers
I happened across a little blog entry about some of the Palatine residents of our area today. Knowing how many of our visitors are genealogists (and knowing how little I can help them with anything but Livingston family members), I thought I would share. Births, children, and deaths are all that is listed, but with…
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The Real "Reluctant Revolutionary": Bigadier General Richard Montgomery
We at Clermont have been on a quest to dispel the myth that Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Jr. was \”the Reluctant Revolutionary,\” as he has been branded by historians. Between giving his fiery commencement speech at King\’s College, which hinted at rebellion 10 years before the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the recent discovery that…
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From Our Fellow Bloggers: How Robert Livingston stole Crailo and turned it into a fortune
How do 2,600 acres of land become 160,000? When we explain how Robert Livingston the 1st Lord got possession of the original 160,000 acres that became Livingston Manor, we usually do it like this: He purchased 2,600 acres of land in two pieces. When he went to get it made into a patent (which required…
Clermont State Historic Site 