Author: clermontstatehistoricsite
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Roman Holiday
In 1921, Alice and John Henry Livingston decided their two daughters needed a cultural education–\”Culture with a big \’C,\’ we called it,\” said Honoria of the trip. The family packed up and moved to Italy. For six years, they lived in Florence, renting villas and traveling around Europe to see the sites (Seen at right,…
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New Acquisitions
Clermont is a museum dedicated to the long history of the Livingston family. But the Livingstons aren\’t gone; many of their descendants can still be found in the Hudson Valley and beyond. In fact, hundreds of descendants have come to our family reunions held every five years or so (photographed at right in the Livingston…
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Well Served: Service in Chancellor Livingston\'s House
This post is part of a new series on servants in Livingston households. What was it like to serve one of the richest families in the country? What kind of life did these people live? It\’s a big question, and a blog is not the place for a complete investigation, but I am attacking it…
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Growing up Livingston: The Sorrowful Tale of Nancy Shippen, part 9
Little Peggy was no longer a baby, but a little girl, growing up in one of the most wealthy and notable households in the northern United States. In December of 1785, while her mother Nancy was attempting to rouse herself from a crushing depression, Peggy was turning four years old (at right, a contemporary portrait…
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Well Served: Servants in the Eighteenth Century, #1
(Please excuse my little hiatus during October. Between assembling costumes, writing scripts, and rehearsing ghosts, the Ghost Tours quite devoured my time! You may be glad to know that our tours were quite thronged with people and well worth the effort. But back to the history!) We talk a lot about the Livingstons and the…
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Two Livingston Ladies: A Tale of Two Shoppers
As a consumate shopper myself (and fashion historian), I can\’t help but be fascinated by the Livingston\’s shopping habits–especially clothes. There isn\’t much in the way of eighteenth century clothing left in Clermont\’s collections so for the most past, I am left eagerly pawing through the documentary references I can find. So when, in the…
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Raising the Spirits: Clermont at Halloween
Clermont State Historic Site seems to have been designed for Halloween. Coming down its bushy paths in the fall, the house looms ahead, its tall, slate roofs poking their way through the Hudson River fog. After dark, the isolated setting and twisting paths combine to create an eerie beauty that suggests the ambience of a…
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Good Night Irene: A Hurricane Hits Clermont
In all likelyhood, you haven\’t missed the news for the past few weeks. You probably know that eastern New York got hit pretty hard by Tropical Storm Irene. Trees down, power out, and devastating flooding that destroyed whole towns all around us. Even historic Guy Park Manor along the Mohawk River was not spared by…
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Calamities of War: Part 6
A review of secondary source material relating to the burning of Clermont With the end of the Civil War in 1865, and the approach of the Centennial in 1876, America began a renewed sense of nationalism and pride. As the material goods craze of the Victorian Era and Industrial Revolution began to wind down, a…
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Calamities of War: Part 5
1777: A Missed Opportunity A further blow to British arms came in the form of orders General Clinton received from General Howe to abandon the captured highland forts and send many of the troops who participated in their taking to Philadelphia. Whatever gains could have been salvaged from the campaigns of 1777 were lost by…
Clermont State Historic Site 