Author: clermontstatehistoricsite
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The Hessian Patriot
On April 20, 1818, an old man stood outside City Hall in Hudson having just arrived from Germantown. He was 76 years old, and he was there to apply for a pension for his service to the United States during the Revolutionary War. Like thousands of other veterans around the country he was waiting for…
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McVitty Takes His Irish Friend To See Historic Williamsburg
As site staff have been swamped with program work of late, we turn once again to our guest correspondent Rex McVitty to update our blog This article originally appeared in the Sarasota Journal on Thursday, August 22, 1963 Last week, we went traveling south again. This time we headed south to the Eastern Shore of…
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Remembrances of a Founder: Robert R. Livingston in Popular Memory
If you haven’t been to Clermont yet this season you have missed out on our gallery exhibit “Remembrances of a Founder: Robert R. Livingston in Popular Memory.” This exhibit explores the way Livingston has been remembered in recent memory rather than how he lived. The founding generation knew that they would be remembered for…
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If Flora Doesn’t Get You, Fauna Probably Will
Thursday October 17, 1968 Rex McVitty Here at Sylvan Cottage by the Hudson River in New York, in the fall of the year my thought turn to self-protection. There are two enourmous black walnut trees, one on each side of the path from our porch to the drive and at this time of the year,…
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FDR Raged Because McVitty Wasn’t Shot!
A guest post by Rex McVitty, Honoria Livingston’s husband and correspondent for the Sarasota Journal. June 21, 1963 FDR Raged Because McVitty Wasn’t Shot! I wrote in a previous article about seeing and talking with the Roosevelt boys at Hyde Park last Decoration Day and now I will tell you about an incident that happened…
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The Roosevelts and The Livingstons: Centuries of Intertwining
The Livingston family and the Roosevelt family have been linked by business and marriage for centuries going back to the 1790’s when Chancellor Robert R. Livingston worked with Nicholas Roosevelt to invent a practical steamboat. The familial relationship to the Livingstons is even more fascinating though. Elliott Roosevelt (1860-1894), President Theodore Roosevelt’s younger brother,…
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Charles Goodwin Ridgely: Early American Naval Hero
On December 1, 1822, Charles Goodwin Ridgely married Cornelia Louisiana Livingston in Clermont. Cornelia was the daughter of Margaret Maria Livingston, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston’s granddaughter. This meant that she was one of the most sought-after women in the young country. Marrying into the Livingston family was akin to marrying royalty. So, who was this…
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Making the Worst Situation Worse: The Cruelty Of Naming Enslaved People
The institution of slavery was dehumanizing for the enslaved. It had to be. In order to keep the belief that the people held in bondage were less than, their enslavers had to treat them as subhuman. One of the ways that they did this was to name the enslaved. It was an attempt to…
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Dr. William Wilson: Inoculations, Health Insurance and Bleeding in Clermont
William Wilson was born in 1756. Where is a bit of mystery. Some sources have him born in Scotland, other sources list his birth place as Wooler, Northumberland, England, which is very close to the Scottish border. His father was Reverend Alexander Wilson, the presbyterian minister for Wooler. William graduated from the University of…
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Gerrit Smith: Philanthropy, Abolition, and Treason
Gerrit Smith was born on March 6, 1797. And yes, before you ask, he was a Livingston. Through his mother, Elizabeth, he was the great – great- grandson of Robert “the nephew” Livingston. Robert “the nephew” was the son of Robert Livingston, the First Lord of Livingston Manor’s brother James. The younger Robert arrived in…
Clermont State Historic Site 