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University Library 1993.AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
-BY
HENRY G. VAN SCHAACK
Reprinted from the Magazine of American History, Sept. 1878
<D	^	...Magazine of American History.
WITH NOTES AND QUERIES.
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'	OPINIONS OF
The Magazine, of American History felicitates
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111 & 113 William Street, New York.AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
KINDERHOOK is one of the oldest and most charming villages
in the State of New York; being noted for its rural beauty, its
fine residences, and its pleasant drives. There are beautiful
prospects also from different points, among which are those of the
valley of the Kinderhook Creek and of the distant Blue Mountains, as
the Catskills are there called, from the circumstance that in certain
states of the intervening atmosphere that pleasing hue is imparted to
that range of mountains.
The village was settled by emigrants from Holland more than two
hundred years ago ; and among the oldest of those first settlers, who are
still represented there by their descendants, are the Van Schaacks.
Many interesting memories of past days cling around some of the old
houses still standing in the village and its immediate vicinity. They bear
witness in their high pointed gable ends and steep roofs, as well as in
other respects, to their remote erection, and to the character of their
early occupants, having been most substantially built in the ancient
Dutch style, and in some instances with well-burnt brick brought from
Holland. Chronological evidence of their erection has been perpetu-
ated in some cases by large iron figures placed in their gables. The
timbers put into these old buildings are simply marvelous for their great
number and immense size. Strange as it may appear, it is not incredible
that some of these timbers were transported from the old country* as it
is a well-authenticated fact, that at an early period of the Dutch occu-
pancy, heavy timber was brought over from Holland for the erection of
church edifices on the well-wooded banks of the Hudson. There were
no shams or death-traps in the erections of our Holland ancestors. The
builders were not “ a race eight stories high in their pride, but only twelve
jnches thick in their principles/’ They did not erect in their days, as is2
AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
now done in some of our cities, such flimsy edifices as give way to
slight pressure, or such as are liable to tumble down of themselves
or to be blown down by the wind to the destruction of human life.
Kinderhook village is situated on table land, originally pine clad,
which abruptly terminates on a portion of its southern border. At this
abrupt terminus of the plateau, there stood up to a few years ago, one of
the very oldest Dutch houses in the village ; a portion of which was at an
early day a fort. It was the old Van Schaack mansion, being the resi-
dence of Colonel Cornelius Van Schaack, senior, the father of the four
brothers, Henry, David, Cornelius, Jr., and Peter; and the father-in-law
of Judge Peter Silvester; all of whom were men of mark in their day.
The daughters of Colonel Van Schaack are ancestors, on the female side,
of the Silvesters, the Wynkoops and the Van Alens of Kinderhook, and
the Wynkoops of Hudson and Syracuse, as well as of many other
families existant under various names.
The venerable mansion, referred to by John Jay in a letter written
by him to his friend, Peter Van Schaack, in 1778, as “the hospitable
house on the hill,” had a commanding prospect of the rolling country and
distant hills beyond, with a near and extensive view of the beautiful valley
of the Kinderhook Creek, and affording glimpses of the stream itself quietly
and gracefully meandering through the meadows and the shrubbery
on its banks. Sir William Johnson was oft-times a guest in that old man-
sion ; and a chest of drawers, once belonging to Sir William, was, until
a few years ago, among its relics. Colonial affairs were here often dis-
cussed ; and portions of the correspondence of Sir William with Colonel
Van Schaack, and with Henry Van Schaack, who served under him in
the “ seven years’ war,” are still preserved.
Kinderhook having been in the direct line of land travel from New
York city to Albany and the north and west for two centuries, many
other celebrities, not only of the English colonial period, but of the
revolutionary era, and of the new republic as well, have been entertained
in this, the oldest of the Van Schaack mansions. Among its early
visitors were members of the old families of Holland—Colden, Robinson,
Cruger, Delaney, Watts, Laight, Walton, Jay, Benson, Bard, Murray,
Van Rensselaer, Yates, Livingston, Gansevoort and Schuyler.
During its occupancy by Judge Silvester, in the latter part of the
last and fore part of the present century, Aaron Burr, then in the height
of his fame, was also one of its visitors; but after he had slain Hamilton,
he ceased to enter its doors, well knowing that his presence would be
unwelcome to those who had ever been ardent friends and admirers ofAN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
3
General Hamilton. In passing through Kinderhook after that famous
duel, Colonel Burr uniformly stopped at the village hotel; and he used
to send for Judge Silvester’s son Francis, who had studied law with him,
to meet him at the public house.
The most remarkable members of Colonel Van Schaack’s family were
Henry, the oldest, and Peter, the youngest son. Henry, who died in
Kinderhook in 1823, in the ninety-first year of his age, was notable for
native talent, sagacity, bravery and enterprise. He was for many years
previous to the revolution engaged in the fur and peltry trade, and
extended his operations in that line to Detroit and Mackinaw, previous
to the Pontiac war. He was in official station under the Crown and
Province of New York for twenty-five years before the revolution, and
for fourteen years after the war he was a magistrate in Massachusetts.
In Shay’s rebellion he was an active and influential Government man,
and upon that agitation he was elected a member of the General
Court. He was a member of the Albany Committee of Safety in 1774,
and he, together with Robert Yates and Peter Silvester, was by that body
appointed a delegate to the first Continental Congress. He ceased to
act with the revolutionary committees in 1775, under the conviction
that there was a settled determination to secure independence and a
permanent separation from the mother country at all events ; or, as he
quaintly expressed it in a letter to one of his brothers—“ people have
got to that pass that they do not consider the qualifications of a king, for
that they will have no king.”
A few years ago this old Van Schaack architectural landmark was
necessarily torn down, it being then in too dangerous a position for
habitation, in consequence of landslides, ocasioned by the subterraneous
collection of water operating upon quicksand, and which in the process
of time left the old house standing upon the brink of a precipice.
But it is the design of this paper more especially to notice a stately
centennial mansion, situated on another part of the old Van Schaack
estate, whose history is not without revolutionary, as well as other espe-
cial interest in itself, and in its historic and biographic associations.
This edifice was erected in 1774 by David Van Schaack, one of the four
brothers before named, for his own use, and designed by himself. It
fronts on the pleasantest street in the village, and its imposing exterior,
beautiful shade trees, and extensive lawn render it one of the finest sit-
uations in the town. It is a substantially built brick structure, with a
strong stone foundation, two stories high, and with broad halls running
through the center, above and below, having spacious rooms with high4
AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
ceilings on each side in both stories. The timbers used in its construc-
tion are rendered a great curiosity by their immense size. In accord-
ance with the old Dutch style of building, there are broad seats in each
window, the depth of which sufficiently indicates the strength of the
outer walls. The doors are massive, with an immense silver knocker on
the front one, large enough to arouse a neighborhood. The roof is
ornamented by ballustrades. An outside view of the mansion at this
day presents an air of stately grandeur and freshness, without any indi-
cation of its being an old edifice, and it surprises persons to be told
that it was built previous to the revolution. The walls of the lower
hall were originally covered with landscape papering brought from
England, representing a hunting scene. The ballustrade of the staircase
leading from the lower to the upper hall is large, and consists of solid
mahogany, rendered by age as black as the darkest ebony.
In one of the upper rooms is still preserved an old fashioned fire-
place, the jambs of which are ornamented with quaint Dutch tiles,
which are a great curiosity. Each tile is about five inches square, and
the number of them is fifty-four. On each tile is a pictorial illustration,
in blue and white, of some scriptural scene, among which are the fok
lowing subjects: Elijah going up in the chariot of fire, David killing
the lion, Peter, and the cock crowing, Christ healing the blind, the crip-
ple carrying his bed, Cain and Abel, Elijah fed by ravens, Mary washing
the Saviour’s feet, Christ washing Peter’s feet, the good Samaritan,
Tobias led by an angel, temptation of Adam and Eve, Sampson pull-
ing down the pillars of the temple, Moses with the two tables of stone,
the prodigal son feeding with swine, Christ and the barren fig tree, John
baptizing Jesus, Dives and Lazarus at table, Christ rising from the
tomb, Christ raising Lazarus, Joseph taking Jesus from the cross, death
of the false prophet, Jonah cast up by the whale, the flight into Egypt,
the prodigal’s return. The other fireplaces in this house were origin-
ally ornamented with similar tiles, and Longfellow could not only
poetically, but truthfully say of them—
“ Each hospitable chimney smiles
A welcome from its painted tiles/'
Among those other tiles there no doubt was that one in the se-
ries which represents a wise man pulling a beam, in the shape
of a large stick of timber, from his own eye before proceeding to
remove the mote from the eye of his brother. The back of
the fireplace in the dining room consisted of an iron slab, orna-AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
5
merited by a circle of stars, and with the time of its casting in Hol-
land (1789) in figures in the center. Ornamented iron chimney
backs were not uncommon in this country at that period. In my
father’s house, erected in 1789, and standing next to this mansion, the
back of the parlor fireplace was ornamented by the figures of two plump
cherub boys stretched out in opposite directions, and reclining in
graceful posture with their heads toward each other, the right arm of
the one and the left arm of the other encircling each other’s necks, and
their bright laughing faces turned to the front. It was really a pretty
sight, and a relief to the eyes when looking into the fire, to see those round-
favored cherubs with the smile on their countenaces, while they were left
entirely unharmed by the flames rising from the wood fire briskly
burning before them.
This mansion, when first built, was elegantly set out with furniture
imported from England, including the finest Wilton carpets ready fitted
for the rooms by the manufacturer. Some of its large, old-fashioned
mahogany chairs, and beautiful specimens of old China-ware, including
two large syllabub bowls, with other rare articles of this description, are
still preserved by the Sylvester family, who are connections of the
original proprietor, and inheritors of many of his choice possessions.
Mr. David Van Schaack, the owner of this establishment, was an
active, ihtelligent and courteous gentleman, uniformly well dressed in
the costume of his day, and wearing ruffles at the breast and wrists finely
plaited by female hands. His liberality and goodness of heart were illus-
trated by the voluntary liberation of all his slaves, some of whom after-
wards returned to their old home to die, and were kindly cared for.
Mrs. Van Schaack, whose name before her marriage was Catharine
Van Valkenburgh, was an amiable, highly intelligent, and well-educated
lady, and a model housekeeper. She always attracted great attention
on account of her marked beauty, which is reliably represented to have
been so exquisite that, on her visits to the city of New York, where
great attention was always paid to her, persons meeting her in the
streets would be so touched with admiration as to stop and look at
her. For admiration and homage thus rendered, perhaps somewhat
rudely, to a great beauty, pardon may be generously granted ; for
we have authentic evidence that even the uniformly polite and good
General Washington could not resist the temptation of stopping in the
streets of Kingston, during the Revolutionary war, to admire the beau-
tiful wife of Tommy Van Gaasbeck. “ Washington, struck by her
beauty, paused to contemplate her, and spoke of her afterwards with
admiration.”6
AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
The married life of Mr. and Mrs. David Van Schaack was peculiarly
happy : so much so indeed, that the husband is known to have said, “if
every brick in that house could speak, it would fail to express the hap-
piness I experienced in her society.” Her portrait is still preserved in
Kinderhook among other ancestral relics, and is now suspended in the
mansion of Miss Margaret Silvester, whose mother was that adopted
daughter, of Mr. and Mrs. David Van Schaack, alluded to in an interest-
ing letter of Mrs. Quincy hereinafter referred to. In the mansion last
mentioned are also still preserved portraits, probably more than one
hundred and fifty years old, of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Cruger. They were
the parents of Henry Cruger, member of Parliament, and of his sister
Elizabeth, who was the first wife of Peter Van Schaack and the grand-
parents of that Henry C. Van Schaack who became Mrs. Silvester’s first
husband ; her second husband was Francis Silvester, she having been
married to two of her cousins.
On the private marriage of Peter Van Schaack to Miss Cruger while
they were both quite young, he being only twenty and then in college,
the lady’s father, in his rage, threw his wig into the fire. The substan-
tial worth of the son-in-law however, was such, that a lasting reconcilia-
tion shortly afterwards took place, and the evidences are abundant that
no one of the good father-in-law’s numerous descendants or friends
enjoyed a larger share of his regard and confidence throughout his sub-
sequent life than did Peter Van Schaack.
On his return from his exile in England in 1785, Peter Van Schaack,
who was then a widower, made his home for a time in his brother
David’s family in this then new mansion; and he at once became “the
observed of all observers.” His safe return to his native country and
home after an absence of nearly seven years, and under circumstances
of peculiar interest, was the occasion for great rejoicing, not only among
his connections, but to a host of other friends. It is thus referred to in a
letter written at the time to Henry Van Schaack b}r Mr. John C. Wyn-
koop, a young lawyer who had married a niece of Mr. Van Schaack
during the latter’s absence from the country:	“ The happiness we all
experienced on the arrival of Uncle Peter is much easier imagined than
described. There is a certain something in his deportment, looks and
conversation which, in my humble opinion, speaks an uncommon man.”
Peter Van Schaack’s society was now eagerly sought, and for abund-
ant reasons besides those of his high character for intelligence and
personal worth, and those other fine qualities which rendered him ”an
uncommon man.” He had spent nearly seven years in England duringAN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
7
a momentous crisis in her history, and one replete with a peculiar
interest to every American. He had there enjoyed rare opportunities
for becoming acquainted with the public men of England, with her
public institutions, and with her public measures. His brother-in-law,
Henry Cruger, Jr., was for several years a member of Parliament, and,
as co-representative for Bristol, the colleague of Edmund Burke in the
House of Commons. His father-in-law, then residing in England, was a
friend of Sir William Meredith, who was in intimate intercourse with
Lord North.
With these and many other significant opportunities for acquiring in-
formation afforded to an intelligent and inquisitive American, whom Chan-
cellor Kent describes as “ the model of a lawyer, of a scholar, and of a gen-
tleman,M it is not strange that Peter Van Schaack, on his return from what
was still regarded as the “ mother country,” or as it had before been called
“ home,” became the center of a marked interest. The mere circum-
stance that he had seen so many different characters distinguished in
literature, in the arts and sciences, in politics, in statesmanship, in the
church and in the law, with some of whom he had a personal acquaint-
ance, and respecting many of whom he could relate interesting anec-
dotes, was sufficient to attract attention. He had often witnessed the
performances of the charming Mrs. Siddons upon the stage, and he had
enjoyed the society of Hannah More. He had been professionally
associated with Mr. Scott, afterwards the great Lord Eldon; and to
his ears the “ honied accents ” of the eloquent Murray, then Lord Mans-
field, were familiar. He had attended the Rotation office in Bow street
when the venerable Sir John Fielding presided there, notable as the
most famous judge in all history for his acuteness in the detection of
villainy, although stone blind from his birth. Mr. Van Schaack had
heard all the distinguished speakers in Parliament, and in the courts of
Westminster Hall. He witnessed the early efforts of Erskine in the
forum, and of Sheridan and Pitt in the senate. He enjoyed the rare
privilege of hearing speeches by Fox and Pitt on the same day, and he
had arraigned Fox, when ex-minister, in the newspapers for his political
inconsistencies. He had dined at the same table with Burke at the
Assizes, and had often heard that great statesman speak in Parliament.
The pure-minded Lindley Murray, the grammarian, then in England, was
from early life his bosom friend; Mr. Van Schaack had often visited the
studios of Benjamin West and Sir Joshua Reynolds; and he had been
in the company of the “ literary colossus,” Samuel Johnson. He was in
London during Lord George Gordon's riots, and through those8
AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
numerous and rapid changes of the Ministry which marked an era. He
witnessed the downfall of one set of Cabinet Ministers for. their hostility
to America; the abrupt secession of another; the dissolution of a third ;
the grand coalition which formed the fourth, itself soon after dismissed
by royal interposition, making shipwreck of the political reputations of
some of the greatest statesmen in the empire; and he had participated,
by his pen, in the interesting discussions to which these extraordinary
political revolutions gave rise.
Such was an animating and abounding chapter in the history of one
who was content to pass the last forty-seven years of his life, the greater
part of it in retired usefulness, in the little village of Kinderhook, which
was the place of his death as well as of his birth. Mr. Van Schaack died
in September, 1832, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. The late Benja-
min F. Butler was at Kinderhook at the time, and there wrote an
appreciative obituary notice which contains this passage : “ Nature had
conferred upon Peter Van Schaack a form and countenance correspond-
ing in strength and dignity with the measure of his intellect. Even after
death his features retained the noble impress of his superior endowments
and might almost have been taken for some marble monument of
ancient genius, to which they bore a peculiar and interesting resem-
blance.”
In March, 1786, the proprietor of our centennial mansion, in writing
to his brother Henry, then a resident of Pittsfield, gave this favorable
account of country life in Kinderhook and its vicinity at that period,
which is peculiarly interesting from the circumstance that it was so soon
after the civil war. “ Our country gentlemen,” wrote Mr. Van Schaack,
“ live now in a true country style. Our houses and stables are all open to
each other, and a most friendly disposition prevails all over the country.”
In the summer of 1786, Madam Dwight, of Stockbridge, widow of
Brigadier-General Dwight, and a lady of mark in her day, was the guest
of Mr. David Van Schaack’s family. She had been spending some time
in the city of New York, and was then returning to her home by the
route, usual at that time during the season of navigation, of Hudson
River to Kinderhook landing, and thence overland through Kinderhook
village to Stockbridge. On this visit to Kinderhook, Madam Dwight
was accompanied by Miss Morton, a daughter of Mr. John Morton, of
New York city, “a lady very young but full of spirit,” and even then
showing the acute observation and fine memory for which she was
noted in after life. This young lady afterwards became the wife of
President Quincy, of Harvard University. During a call made uponAN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
9
Mrs. Quincy many years previous to her death, she informed me of her
visit to Kinderhook, and of the deep impression it had made upon her
mind. She afterwards very complaisantly acceded to my request for a
copy of an account of that visit, of which she had made a note in a paper
perpared by her in regard to her “ early days.” A few extracts from her
interesting response to my request are here given :
“It may give you some gratification to read a passage from the
manuscript relative to my voyage up the Hudson in 1786. We em-
barked in a sloop in which Madam Dwight and myself were the only
passengers. The vessel itself, the noble river, and above all the
‘ highlands/ filled me with wonder and delight. The captain had a
legend for every scene ; and not a mountain reared its head unconnected
with some marvellous story. One of the men played on the flute and woke
the gentle echos, while the captain fired off guns to make the mountains
reverberate a more tremendous sound. All this was enchanting to me.
In the course of a week we arrived at Kinderhook. There we staid
at the house of Mr. David Van Schaack, in the town of Kinderhook,
several miles from the landing. This was a house of good oid-fashioned
hospitality. The mansion was large, and the furniture and domestic
establishment marked the wealth of the proprietor, and was superior to
those usually met with at that period. There were three brothers,
David, Henry and Peter Van Schaack.* The two first had no children,
and had adopted those of their sisters. In this respect, and in their
general style of living, the family resembled the description since given
of the ‘ Schuyler family ’ by Mrs. Grant. I can also witness to the
truth of her account of the treatment of the domestic slaves in their
families. The older men and women among them were on the most
familiar terms with their masters and mistresses, and exercised consider-
able influence over the young people of the family, especially the old
women. Still they were very respectful to their superiors, and much
attached to their master and his family. We were received by this
eminent and excellent family with the greatest kindness; and I think
we staid with them several days, until a wagon came down from
Stockbridge for us. I have always retained a lively remembrance of
the hospitality we received. I also perfectly recollect a young lady, a
niece, one of the adopted. Her name was, I believe, Lydia Van Vleck.
I visited Stockbridge again in 1792, but did not pass through Kinder-
hook. During this visit I became acquainted Mr. Henry Van Schaack,
of Pittsfield, at Mr. Sedgwick’s, and visited his family at his residence.
I still cherish the remembrance of Mr. and Mrs. Van Schaack’s hospita-IO
AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
ble reception of me. A striking feature of their mansion was the
exquisite neatness of the house and everything about it. I had never
seen the floors of entries, stairs, kitchen, etc., painted; and although
brought up among the natives of Holland, who are proverbial for their
neatness, this seemed to me ‘a stroke beyond the reach of (their) art/
Mrs. Van Schaack appeared to me to be a very kind, matronly and dig-
nified lady. Miss Van Vleck I soon found to be the sister of my first
friend in Kinderhook; and these instances suggested the comparison I
afterwards made to the same mode of adoption in the Schuyler family,
as described by Mrs. Grant. You mention the review of Mrs. Grant’s let-
ters in the North American with interest and approbation. It is a singular
circumstance that the review was written at my instance. I am glad that
you are pleased with it. I presume that you have read ‘ The American
Lady,’ by Mrs. Grant; in which she gives, as far as my observation and ex-
perience have gone, in New York, Albany and Kinderhook, very correct
accounts of the state of manners, etc., at that period. It brought to my
recollection, as I have already said, similar scenes in your uncle’s
family.”
Many great men and interesting characters have, at various times
during the last century, been entertained in this old Kinderhook man-
sion ; and these facts now impart to it great historic interest. Their
presence within these old walls recalls to mind many incidents connected
with their respective histories, and in some instances challenges the most
sacred memories.
General Richard Montgomery, on his way to take command of the army
against Canada, called on his friends, the Van Schaacks, at Kinderhook,
and stopped in this house, which is thus most interestingly associated
with one of the early martyrs of the Revolutionary war, whose
name may fitly be placed side by side with that of General Warren, of
Bunker Hill. On this occasion, as if anticipating the sad fate which
awaited him, Montgomery gave to his early personal and military
friend, Henry Van Schaack, several tokens of remembrance, one of
which was his shaving-box, now in possession of Peter H. Silvester, of
Coxsackie, a grand nephew of Mr. Peter Van Schaack; another token
is a highly ornamented morocco pouch or case for the preservation of
manuscript papers, now owned by Henry C. Van Schaack, of Manlius,
a full nephew of Henry Van Schaack. The intimacy between Mont-
gomery and Henry Van Schaack was great. They had both been
officers in the war of 1755, Montgomery as captain in the Seventeenth
Regiment, and Mr. Van Schaack, at different times, lieutenant, pay-AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION	II
master and commissary. Among other autographs of Montgomery
still preserved, is a business letter written by him to his friend Peter
Van Schaack, in which, near its close, he thus playfully refers to his
recent marriage to Miss Livingston: “ Have you not some curiosity to
know how the character of a Benedict sits upon me?” The letter
closes with the “love of Mrs. Montgomery to Mrs. Van Schaack/’ and
with an assurance of the writer’s “ esteem ” for his correspondent.
But, alas! how brief was the period of matrimonial felicity here
referred to, and how suddenly disastrous and overwhelming are often
the fortunes and reverses of war! Peter Van Schaack thus wrote from
Kinderhook, to his father-in-law in England, in regard to the series of
well-directed military movements in 1775, whereby the Americans be-
came masters of the greater part of Canada. “ The achievment of these
laurels,” wrote Mr. Van Schaack, “must principally be imputed to
General Montgomery, who may now sit down in peace for the winter,
and sheath his sword for lack of argument.” Too soon, however, was
the same writer obliged to present this sadly changed picture before his
kinsman. “A wonderful reverse of fortune,” wrote Mr. Van Schaack
to Mr. Cruger, “has taken place in Canada in consequence of an ill-
fated attack upon Quebec, in which General Montgomery fell, and
most of his principal officers were killed, wounded and taken prisoners.”
Among the cherished relics which once graced this historic mansion
and which are still preserved, is an old-fashioned sofa on which Captain
Montgomery had often reclined. Could that interesting relic now
speak, how fully it would bear witness to the intelligent conversations of
its pure-minded and patriotic occupant.
In October, 1777, the doors of this mansion were darkened by a revolu-
tionary character of a very different stamp from the one last referred to.
This was General Burgoyne, then on his march through the State, not
as a conquering hero, but as a prisoner of war. It was provided by the
Saratoga articles of capitulation, that “ the army of Lieutenant-General
Burgoyne should march to the Massachusetts Bay by the easiest, most
expeditious and most direct route.” This route from Albany, at that
day, was through Kinderhook. A letter was preserved for many years
in our centennial mansion, written by Jacob Cuyler, deputy Quarter
master-General, dated at Albany, 18th October, 1777, and directed to
Major Hoes, at Kinderhook, in which the writer says: “ This moment I
have received directions from General Gates to supply the prisoners
and those who will guard them, to the amount of six thousand. They
will be at Kinderhook by Monday night. You will immediately order12
AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
a man to remain on the road and order fifty head of cattle to come to
you out of the first drove he meets to supply them. Captain Spencer
will bring fifty more by Monday night. They will want about four
hundred barrels of flour to be issued to support them on the road.”
The captured army remained on the plains at Kinderhook for several
days. The soldiers paid the farmers high prices for the poultry and
other things they bought of them, but after they were gone, the poor
farmers found that the coin they paid was false, being copper coated
with silver. General Burgoyne and his principal officers, who had
been so liberally entertained by General Schuyler in Albany, on their
arrival at Kinderhook, dined in this mansion; but they probably did
not have before them the numerous “ covers” mentioned by General
Burgoyne, in his speech in Parliament, as having graced General
Schuyler’s table. An amusing incident, however, occurred at the
Kinderhook dinner. After the removal of the cloth wine was intro-
duced. In the course of entertainment, a glass of wine was put into the
hands of a little girl present (an adopted daughter of the gentleman of
the house), and she was asked to give a toast. She archly said : “ God
save the King and all the royal family.” Tradition has it that the
family of the host were much annoyed by this little incident, fearing
that their loyalty would be suspected by the American escort;
and yet it is not conceived why good Christians may not ask God
to save a king and his family as well as their other enemies for
whom they are taught to pray. And so this matter seems to have
been understood by some, at least, of our military commanders, as is
illustrated by this other well-authenticated Burgoyne-Gates anecdote
On the surrender, “the English and German generals dined with the
American commander in his tent, on boards laid across barrels. On
this occasion, General Burgoyne proposed a toast to General Washing-
ton ; an attention that Gates returned by drinking the health of the
King of England.
The news of Burgoyne’s surrender was brought to Kinderhook by
Colonel Henry Van Rensselaer, on his way from Saratoga to his resi-
dence in Claverack, and its truth confirmed by the particulars given—
that he had dined with the captive general in General Gates’ marquee.
When the rumor of this great event was mentioned to Peter Van
Schaack, he remarked with emphasis: “ If this be true, I pronounce you
an independent nation.”
As Generals Burgoyne and Phillips, after leaving Kinderhook, were
riding on horseback through Klinekill, a sturdy woman called out andAN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
13
enquired : “ Which of the gentlemen is Mr. General Burgoyne ? ” The
General, raising his chapeau-bras, and gracefully bowing, proceeded on
his way; while the (perhaps) Tory lady by the road side made a polite
curtesy and retired to her dwelling.
Not long after the passage of Burgoyne, Benedict Arnold was con-
veyed through Kinderhook on his way from Saratoga to Connecticut.
One of the side posts of the door-way, in the house at which he stopped,
was cut out to make room for the litter on which the wounded officer,
then in the zenith of his reputation, was borne.
The distinguished characters whose presence graced our centennial
mansion at an early day are too numerous to be named. Among them
were John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Egbert Benson, Philip Schuyler,
Theodore Sedgwick and Chancellor Kent.
Henry Cruger Van Schaack, before referred to, died in this house in
1797, leaving it to his wife and child. It was afterwards leased to the
Honorable Cornelius P. Van Ness. This gentleman subsequently
became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont, Governor of
that State, Collector of the Port of New York, and Minister to Spain.
He was the father of Mrs. Judge James I. Roosevelt. His brother, John
P. Van Ness, was a member of Congress, Mayor of Washington, and by
a fortunate marriage with the heiress of Washington, became the owner
of more than half of the site of that city. Still another brother, William
P. Van Ness, was for many years a Judge of the district for the South-
ern District of New York. He studied law with Aaron Burr, was
his second in the famous duel with Hamilton, and the author of
“Publico.” All of these last named were sons of Peter Van Ness,
a man of mark in his day, an officer in the old French war, a member of
the State convention that ratified the Federal Constitution, a member of
our State Senate, and first Judge of Columbia County. The “ P” was
introduced into the names of these three sons in pursuance of Dutch
nomenclature, and to show they were sons of that Van Ness whose first
name was Peter.
The surname of this family, as Washington Irving has gravely told
us, had its origin from the fact that their ancestors were “ valiant
robbers of birds' nests.” However true that may be, the numerous
offices held by so many different members of this old Dutch family
sufficiently show that they lost no opportunity of “ feathering their
own nests.”
Our old mansion was next sold to a gentleman who, in one of
his merry moods, threw a billet of wood at the devoted heads of14
AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
two persons, then living with him. Happily his aim was too elevated,
and the stick struck the lintel of the dining-room door, where the tell-
tale scar still lingers. This plethoric old gentleman died in 1813; and
tradition informs us that his uneasy ghost now haunts the sideboard,
making night hideous by the clattering of the glasses when they are
not well filled. This same person bequeathed to his friends, the
colored gentry, a lot for burial, on condition that they would never part
with the sacred gift. As this lot lies in the heart of the estate, it was
doubtless an act of disinterested generosity, which nevertheless some-
times tempts “ the poor white folks ” to execrate his memory, while the
colored brethren continue to show their gratitude by interring three deep.
Under the will of this owner the property was sold at auction, and
Doctor John P. Beekman became the purchaser, and took up his abode
in it in 1814. He married for his first wife Catharine Van Schaack, the
only child of Mrs. Francis Silvester by her first husband. Doctor
Beekman renovated the house in 1846, and greatly improved it by the
addition of two wings, constructed in the same substantial and imposing
style of architecture as the original building. After ex-President
Van Buren had closed his public career, and removed from Wash-
ington to spend the rest of his life in his native town, his seat at
Lindenwald became famous as a resort of the great men of the
land, and of other characters more or less conspicuous. Mr. Van
Buren was very often the guest of Doctor Beekman, and it was a
common circumstance for him to introduce some of his own distin-
guished visitors into our centennial mansion, which is only three miles
distant from Lindenwald, Among the visitors thus introduced were
Henry Clay, Washington Irving, John L. Stephens, Thomas H. Benton,
David Wilmot, Charles Sumner, Silas Wright, General Beltrand,
Auguste Devezac, Commodore Nicholson, Frank Blair, William L.
Marcy, John Forsyth, Azariah C. Flagg, and many others whose names
are not recollected. The present Earl of Carlyle, who spent several
days at Lindenwald, when travelling incognito in this country as Lord
Morpeth, was at that time entertained in this mansion also.
On Henry Clay’s visit to Kinderhook the year previous to his death,
he dined in the same room in which the captive British General had
been entertained three quarters of a century before, and he expressed
great interest in that circumstance, and was not a little amused by the
anecdote before related about the little girl toasting the King and all
the royal family. That little girl, who was the life of our centennial
mansion in her early days, was still living at Kinderhook at the time ofAN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
15
Mr. Clay's visit, but she had then become a highly intelligent and most
interesting old-school lady, adding to great sweetness of disposition a
refined taste, gentle and most pleasing manners, and a remarkable mem-
ory, to vrhich I have been indebted for many of the incidents detailed
in this paper. Mr. Clay paid his respects to this venerable lady by call-
ing upon her at her residence, under the escort of ex-President Van
Buren. It was an interesting interview. Mrs. Silvester survived Mr.
Clay five years. She died in Kinderhook, in the full faith of a ripe
Christian, in 1857, in the eighty-fourth year of her age. As was
to be expected, a public reception was given to Mr. Clay at
the village hotel, where a large number of citizens were introduced
to him. A young lady made her appearance to be introduced to the
great statesman; unfortunately, the gentleman to whom was assigned
the duty of making the introductions on this occasion, and who was
every way competent to the task, had forgotton the lady’s name, and
betrayed his embarrassment. Mr. Clay, with his usual tact, happily
relieved the gentleman from his dilemma by saying to the introducer,
“Mr. Beekman, never mind the lady’s name now, she will soon change
it.”
Thomas H. Benton, on his visit to Kinderhook, delivered an address
in the Dutch church, but in the English language; “ Old Bullion,” with
all his skill as a linguist, and his capabilities as a great writer and public
speaker, not being able to address the Kinderhookers in their Dutch
vernacular, his “ Thirty years in the Senate ” did not avail him.
The honorable David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, the great Congress-
man, was a large man, filling, comparatively speaking, as large a space
in the visible as he did in the political world. Mr. Wilmot was escorted
from Lindenwald to Dr. Beekman’s residence by Mr. John Van Buren,
who united to great ability and shrewdness as a lawyer the wit of a
wag. Mr. Van Buren, with big Mr. Wilmot standing by his side, thus
introduced that gentleman to the lady of the house : “ Mrs. Beekman,”
said Mr. Van Buren, “you have heard of the Wilmot Proviso? Here
he is in a body.”
Doctor Abraham Clark, formerly of New Jersey, the father-in-law of
Doctor Beekman, spent the last twenty-five years of his life in the lat-
ter’s family, and died in our centennial mansion in 1854, in the eighty-
eighth year of his age. Mrs. Clark died here two years afterwards,
aged ninety-two. Dr. Clark’s father was a signer of the Declaration
of Independence. Doctor Beekman died in this house in 1862. Thomas
Beekman, brother of the Doctor, whose wife was a daughter of Doctori6
AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION
Van Schaack, became its owner in 1864. He was at that time a widower,
spending his winters in New York with his niece, Mrs. A. J. Vander-
poel, and only using it as a summer residence. Mr. Beekman served
one term in Congress, 1829 and 1830. He was a gentleman of cultivated
intellect, refined taste, and extensive reading. Many of the incidents
recorded in this history were taken from his lips. He died in 1870, in
the eightieth year of his age. Since that time the old house has been
the summer residence of Aaron J. Vanderpoel, whose wife is a grand-
niece of David Van Schaack, its original proprietor, and a grand-daugh-
ter of Peter Van Schaack, LL. D.
HENRY C. VAN SCHAACK
* A fourth brother was Cornelius, the father of the mother of James I. Roosevelt.THE VAN SCHAACK HOUSE—KINDERHOOK..