Title: Clermont State Historic Park, Germantown, New York
Author: Anonymous
Release date: July 24, 2019 [eBook #59978]
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Robert Livingston (1654-1728), born in Scotland and raised in The Netherlands, arrived in Albany, New York, during the winter of 1674-1675. Active in shipping and fur trading, he also obtained responsible public and private positions and quickly gained wealth and influence. In 1686 he was granted a charter establishing the Manor of Livingston, which included 162,248 acres of land, the southern third of present Columbia County. Robert became the first Lord of the Manor.
In 1728 Livingston left 13,000 acres of the Manor to his third son, later known as Robert of Clermont (1688-1775). Tradition holds that this gift was in gratitude for the son’s success in rescuing his father from an Indian plot. Known as Clermont, or the Lower Manor, this tract did not carry manorial privileges. On a low plateau overlooking the Hudson River, the mansion of the Lower Manor was constructed about 1730 as the seat of the new estate.
Portrait of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, circa 1795, attributed to Gilbert Stuart.
Robert of Clermont’s only child, also named Robert (1718-1775), served with distinction as Judge of the Admiralty Court and Judge of the Supreme Court of the Province of New York. As a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress, he penned the 2 letter of protest to the King of England.
The Drawing Room.
In 1775, upon the death of Judge Livingston, Clermont passed to his eldest son, Robert R. Livingston (1746-1813), later famous as a Chancellor of New York State. In the years prior to the Revolution, he was a strong advocate of colonial rights and, as a member of the Second Continental Congress, was one of five nominated to draft the Declaration of Independence.
With the outbreak of the Revolution, Clermont supplied men and materiel to the American army. Probably because of the Chancellor’s political importance and his support of the patriot cause, in 1777, after burning Kingston, the British continued up the Hudson and set fire to Clermont and all of its surrounding outbuildings. The family and servants escaped, however, and within a few years Clermont was rebuilt and refurnished. Charred remnants of this earlier building are incorporated within the walls of the present mansion.
Clermont’s fame rose with that of Chancellor Livingston. In 1781 he was appointed the first United States Minister of Foreign Affairs and later served as Minister to France, negotiating with Napoleon for the Louisiana Purchase.
Chancellor Livingston originally shared Clermont with his mother, Margaret Beekman Livingston, but he eventually built a new house nearby which was 3 completed in 1794. A French-inspired building, it became a showplace on the Hudson. Destroyed by fire in 1909, the ruins of its remaining walls indicate its size and grandeur.
In addition to his public duties, the Chancellor was involved in experiments to improve his breeds of sheep and to increase the yield of crops on his land while retaining the fertility of the soil. His fascination for mechanical developments drew him to Robert Fulton with whom he compared experiments with steam engines. Their partnership resulted in the first successful steamship, The North River Steamboat. Later known as the Clermont, it stopped at the Chancellor’s dock on its maiden voyage up the Hudson River in 1807.
The mansion rebuilt after the fire of 1777 continued as a residence for members of the Livingston family. A north wing built in 1802 contained a new kitchen and an office where tenants paid their rent. A south wing, constructed in 1830 for additional bedrooms, was enlarged in 1893. A steeply pitched slate roof, added in 1874, greatly altered the appearance of the mansion.
From 1813, when the Chancellor died, until it was acquired by the State of New York in 1962, Clermont never passed out of the Livingston family. The mansion, with its furnishings and spacious grounds, reflects the lives of many generations of Livingstons, one of the New York’s most influential families.
Clermont, as illustrated in History of Columbia County, 1878.
The Taconic State Park Region lies east of the Hudson River and extends from New York City to just south of Albany. Official State Historic Sites, set among the picturesque rolling hills and majestic rocky slopes of the Taconic Mountains, are homes reflecting various eras and life styles.
Castle-like Olana was the home of famed painter Frederic Edwin Church. Clermont was the homestead of many generations of Livingstons, a family active in the development of the state and national governments. Imposing Mills Mansion reflects the grand living of the early twentieth century, while Clinton House is a simple home of the eighteenth century. Famed statesman and Chief Justice John Jay retired to John Jay Homestead after many years of service to his country. Philipse Manor Hall was once the family seat of the vast Manor of Philipsburg.
Clermont State Historic Park
R.D. 1
Germantown, New York 12526
518-537-4240
Mansion open: 9:00-5:00 Wednesday through Sunday Memorial Day weekend through last Sunday in October: also, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day.
Groups accommodated only by advance reservation.
Grounds open: 6:00 am-10:00 pm daily, year-round.
STATE OF NEW YORK
Hugh L. Carey, Governor
NEW YORK STATE PARKS & RECREATION
Orin Lehman, Commissioner
TACONIC STATE PARK & RECREATION COMMISSION
Jeanne F. Lewisohn, Chairman
105M 7/77