Author: clermontstatehistoricsite
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Never Fear! The Holidays Aren’t Over Yet! Twelfth Night in the Colonies
Twelfth Night. A wildly funny Shakespeare play. The inspiration for the marathon song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Perhaps an early version of Fortnite (okay, not that one but I wanted to appeal to a younger audience). Chances are you’ve heard the term but it’s possible you didn’t know A recent production of \”Twelfth…
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Tableau Vivant: From Parlor Game to The ‘Gram
In a typical year at Clermont, December would’ve seen us doing our traditional Tableau Vivant event. But, as we’ve heard so many times, 2020 is no typical year. So instead, let’s take a little look at where Tableau Vivant comes from. As may be apparent, the term “Tableau Vivant” is French. The words literally…
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Some of the Lesser Known Livingstons of the American Revolution
On this blog we often talk about Robert R. Livingston, Henry Beekman Livingston and Margaret Beekman Livingston and their importance during the American Revolution. However there were more than a few other Livingstons who played important roles in the war. From soldiers to statesmen and even loyalists you could swing a cat during…
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Shooting Ghosts
No need to call the Ghostbusters, it’s not that kind of shooting! But would you be able to tell if you shot a ghost on film? It’s a question that has raged since the invention of the camera. Our ghostly story begins in 1860s Boston in the photography studio of William Mumler.…
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The Origin of The Headless Horseman
For The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving based several characters on real people. Ichabod Crane was based on Kinderhook, NY school teacher Jesse Merwin, with the name possibly Washington Irving, 1809 coming from a soldier Irving met during the War of 1812. Katrina Van Tassel was most likely based on Serena Livingston…
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Peacock Feathers and The Scottish Play: Bad Luck Superstitions and Their Historical Origins
In the words of Michael Scott: “I’m not superstitious but I am a little stitious.” While October is the time when the veil between our world and the next is at its thinnest, we find ourselves doing certain things all year round to avoid any bad luck from that realm. We cross our fingers…
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From Enemy to Neighbor: British and German Soldiers who stayed in America
Many British and German soldiers stayed in America when the Revolutionary War was over. Some deserted from their regiments to take up a life in America or, in the case of officers, resigned their commissions to stay in the new United States. The prospect of land or relationships with women were too strong a…
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A History of Haunting: Ghost Stories Throughout History
As the months turn colder and Halloween approaches, we stay inside more often and look for anything that might give us a little fright. So, ghost stories seem like a perfect fit. But before you curl up to read The Shining for the 100th time, let’s take a look at the history of the…
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The Livingston Sugar House Prison
In 1754 the Livingston\’s of Livingston Manor had a sugar house constructed in New York City to refine sugar cane shipped from their plantations in the Caribbean. The building was stone and stood six stories tall although the floors were very low. It stood on Crown Street, now Liberty Street. The Livingston Sugar House…
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What Ever Happened to Meriwether Lewis?
On April 30, 1803 Robert Livingston, with a little help from James Monroe, signed what was The French copy of the Louisiana Purchase possibly the greatest land deal in history. For a mere 15 million dollars, much of which was not in the form of cash payments but in forgiveness of French debts to American,…
Clermont State Historic Site 