She D. H- HtU iCtbrani ?»snrth (tartiltna «*tatp (TolUgp j NA7205 1 A.RCH. L!.: i^H 2iil W 4 ¥^ ^N rV- 4 !\ h ^ ^mm -«i '.¥> "^ NA7205 Arch. Lib. L35 PERMANENT RESERVE *^ f'^'y'VY , W h.. /#N., X -#r,^ ^,.^ FRflnCISCflR LIBRARY OF CERAMICS Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from NCSU Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/homesofamericawiOOIamb T 11 E ^ Homes of America WITH 0^'E HUNDRED AND THREE ILLUSTRATIONS. EDITED BY MRS. MARTHA J. LAMB, AITTHOR OF THE "' HISTOET OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. ' Each man's chimney is lii» Golden Mile-stone ; Is the central point, from which he measures Every distance Through the gateways of the world around him." Longfellow. NEW Y O K K : D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 5 4 9 AND 551 BROADWAY. COPVBKIIIT BT n. AI'PLKTON AND COMPANY, ISTii. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Official Home of the President .... Frontisjnecc. C O L () N I A L P E R I O D . Initia-l :— Van Cortlaiult House— McCurdy Mansion— 01i)i ..... 246 A Home on the Tennessee ...... 248 Home and (iardcii in Cliarlisioii ..... 250 A Home in Florida ....... 2.54 THE HOMES OF AMERICA. COLONIAL PERIOD. architectural acMeve- "5 ments of America prior to the Revolution were nei- ther notable nor tyjjical of any peculiar moral, religious, social, or intellectual idea. In the older civilization architecture was the mirror which retlected the char- acter of a people. It was taught in the schools, and esteemed one of the most important of the arts. But the representatives of many 10 THE HOMES OF AJIEF.ICA. nations and countries, in attempting to subdue this continent, must necessarily wait for the general anialgamatiou of habits, tastes, fa.shious, and modes of life, attendant upon the g^o^\i:h of a ne\v and distinct species of the liuiiian kind. Ancestral notions as various as the lands from -which they spiung guided the early settlei"S in their construction of dwellings. There ct)uld be no uni- formity of style in domestic ai'chitecture at that period characteiistir <>f the American nation, for there was yet no American nation. At the same time all architecture has a laniniage of its own, and tin- homes of America in the Colonial period reveal more tnithfuUy th;m any other ex- isting relics the life and liistor}- of the times. The salient features t>f domestic architecture are to a considerable degree the outward manifestation of the iudi- \idual man. It is not always that the proprietor can design his own house, or that the architect is an expert in expression. Thus instances are rare where a fine house fully reflects a fine character. But wherever ideas of beauty exist, even when the parts of a stracture are not balanced through a just sense of proportion, or Avhere the details are cnide, the effect of the whole is generally spirited and pleasing, and, what is more to the point, possesses a human ele- ment. Romance and poetry are not infi'equeutly wedded to brick and mortar. Thoughts, feelings, desii-es, virtues, vices, and vanities are preserved in visible forms. A man's dwelling in its most complete mold may be regarded as a tyY*e of his whole private life. Independent of personal associations, lu)wever, the earlier American homes ai-e in the highest degree interesting to us of this generation, since they illus- trate the pi-actical adaptation of pi-inciples of architecture, culled from all ages and <-onntries, to the requii-emeuts of a young and progressive pe(.)ple. Karely was a model bon'owed bodily from a foreign land. The climate, necessities of pioneer life, and social conditions of an unformed community, led to the rejec- tion of many useless architectural featui-es, and the substitution of othei-s fresh- ly dra\\ n from the inspiration of the surroundings, or suggested by a sense of local fitness. And the blending of nationalities, jvs in the marriages of the English and Dutch of New York, Nvrought a corresponding combination of architectural styles. One of the most striking examples of this class, a curious mixture of Dutch and English architecture, is the Philipse manor-house, which l)elongs, properly COLONIAL PERIOD. 11 speaking, to two distiuct eras, 1682 and 1745. Tlie imposing soutli front, given in the sketcli, represents tlie original mansion built by Frederick PLilipse, a genuine Hollander, who for a full quarter of a century was kno^vn as the I'icliest man in New York. Sixty-three years later his grandson, the second lord of the manor, whose mother and -wife were both accomplished Englishwomen, added The Philipse Manor-House at Yonkers. the great elegant eastern front, mth its two porticoes and almost innumerable Avindows, and its dormitories in the gable-roof for fifty household servants, twenty of whom were negro slaves. The princely old edifice stood quite alone in the wilderness long subsequent to its erection in 1682. It overlooked the Hudson some fom-teen miles above New York City, -wnth picturesque hills and vales, thorny dells, rocky steeps, and fenceless pastiu-es variegated with shrubs, stinted grass, and forest flowers. 12 THE HOMES or AMEIUCA. lioverintr upon the north and east of it, wliile to the south a rajtiil cieek, in- dulginitly l)al;nu'c(l himself u]inii the fence as to protect his property interests, and come ami lialii^tt'is, wciv suiH'rbly canned. The roof was suiinouutecl by a heavy Hue of balustrade, foruiiu-; a teiTace which eommauded a magnificent view of the Hudson. The irardens and i^rounds were filled with valuable trees and rare shrubs and fiuwei-s, throusrh which stretched graveled \valks bordered with box, Avhile a l)road, vel- vety lawn appeared in front, and a greensward sloped gradually westward to the Hudson, dotted with fine specimens of ornamental trees, which were em- parked and stocked with deer. And here again we see the individual proprie- tor, a channiug, generous host, undisturbed b}- any of the cares which accom- pany the accumulation of property, with the prospect of spending a long life in the enjojTuent of an inheritance, and who presided over his tenants and serfs like a right royal old feudal sovereign. He mixed somewhat in public life, being for seven yeai-s Speaker of the Assembly of New York, and for a nuich lon2;er period the Baron and Second Judge of the Exchequer. He usually occupied in person the bench in the Court-leet and Court-baron of the JNlauor, taking cognizance of criminal as well as civil mattere, administering justice, and sometimes capital punishment. His children had every advantage in the way of instnictinu which it was in the power of wealthy parents to bestow. He had three lovel}' daughtei"s, of ^vhom Mary, bom at the manor in 1730, was repiited the most beautiful young lady in all the country. His eldest son Frederick was the thii'd Lord of the Manor. He was graduated at King's College in New York. He \\as an ai'dent churchman, and opened his puree genei'ously to all charitable j)urposes. His tastes were literary, and he mixed very little in public alfaii's, although he was a memljer of the Assembly for several yeai-s. He was know n and sjiokcu t)f a.s a courtly and scholarly gentleman of the old school, and an ornament in polite society. He lived in a style of great magnificence ; the manor-house was burnished anew, and on eveiy side there was costly and showy display. His wfe was an imperious woman of fashion. It is said that her })ride was to appear upon the roads of Westchester, skillfully ivining four spleiulid jet- black steeds. She was killed liy a fall from her carriage a short time before the Kevolution. When the dispute broke out between England and her colonies, Pliilipse was one of those who ti-it-d tn inaiutain so strict a neutrality as to protei't his COLONIAL PERIOD. 15 property. But lie signally failed. He was at heart a loyalist, and had no faith whatever in the success of the Americau arms. He was very soon susj)ected of favoring the British, and compelled to seek safety in the city until the end of the war. He was, however, at the manor-hall until after the battle of White Plains, and Washington and his generals staid several nights under his terraced roof. The old southwestern chamber, before described, was the scene of sev- eral important councils of war. In 1777 he took a final farewell of his ancestral home and irmnense posses- sions. In 1779 the State Legislature declared huu attainted of treason, and the manor confiscated. When the British troops left New York in 1783, he went with them to England, and died, two years later, in Chester. In 1784 the State offered the manor for sale in tracts to suit purchasers. The manor-hall at Yonkers and lands adjacent were bought by Cornelius P. Low, of New York, and became the rallying-spot for the viQage. Low did not wish to occupy the mansion, and sold it again. Prior to 1813 it had had many owners. Then it fell into the hands of Lemiiel Wells, who made it his resi- dence for twenty-nine years. He died childless and intestate, and, as he left no will, his estate was divided among sixteen heirs. Again, the building had an uneasy and changeful proprietorship imtil the city of Yonkera came to the rescue and took it under its o^\ti ^ving, converting it into a city hall. It was necessary to alter the geogi-aphy of the northern portion of the iaterior in order to provide space for a modern court-room. But good taste was displayed in the manner of its accomplishment, and, although the boundary-lines of former centuries were obliterated in that particular part, yet the southern and southwestern apartments have been carefully shielded from modem innovation, and, in their antique garments, serve to render this one of the most interesting of all the historic buildings in America. Of a different order of architecture was the Roger Morris house, at present kno'\\Ti as the " Jumel Mansion," situated on Harlem Heights, at the northern extremity of Manhattan Island. It was erected within the same decade as the later geographical annexations to the Philipse manor-house, and was first occu- pied in the summer of 1758. Colonel Roger Moms, its projector, was a Briton bom, coming to America an officer in British service during the old French and IG Tin: noMKS OF AMERICA. COLONIAL PERIOD. 17 ludiuu wars. He married the beautiful Mar}' Pbilipse, of Pliilipse Manor, who captivated Washington a few months prior to the date of her betrothal to his rival. The home prepared for the reception of the bride was one of the most elegant of its class at that epoch. The main building ^vas nearly S(|uare, and two stories in height with an attic. A great central hall, or passage-way, opened through the entire structure, with two spacious rooms upon each side. Upon the northern side was an extension of octagonal form, containing the di"a wing-room below and bedrooms above. The walls of the mansion were of Holland brick, sheathed with plank, and the southern front presented a high porch with four Doric coliunns, and a gallery at the second story. The roof, like that of the Philipse manor-house, was crowned with a bahistrade, and under the whole edifice was a cellar dug out of solid rock. This fine countiy-seat was located on one of the highest and most pictu- resque spots which INIanhattan Island afforded. From the roof, the gallery, or the porch, the eye might take in the -whole of Harlem Eiver from the Croton Aqueduct to Hell Gate, Long Island Sound and beyond, the beautiful fields of Westchester, and the entire Long Island landscape thence to Brooklyn, Staten Island in the distance, and the great intervening metropolis. The land now attached to the mansion is about one hundred acres, the remnant of sev- eral hundred which originally composed the estate. Colonel IMoriis and his wife resided here a full quarter of a century, with the exception of the brief period when the house was converted into headquarters for Washington in the autumn of 1776. Ki the close of the war, Morris, who had adhered to the royal cause, retired with his wife to England ; both were attainted of treason, and their large estates confiscated to the State of New York. After a changeful proprietorshii) the property was in 1810 purchased by Stephen Jumel, a Frenchman and -wealthy shipping merchant, whose accom- plished wife transfigured the whole domain -with evidences of her cidtivated and exquisite taste. Jumel died in 1832, leaving all his money, houses, and lands to his widow, who in 1833 married the famous Aaron Burr. Madame Jumel lived in this old mansion more than half a centiuy, and, being quite a connoisseur in art, selected two or three hundred fine paintings in Europe about 1816, making her home one of the rarest picture-galleries in the America of that period. She adopted a relative as a daughter, who became the wife of 18 THE HOMES OF AMI'JIICA. Nelson Chase, and lieir to the innnense fortune of ^ladame JiimcK alioiit the title of which the ne\\>ipai)ers have recently been filled with legal ])ioceeon either side. In its paliny days the house was sui'i-ounde(l by broad, highly cultivated grounds, with liordered walks and graveled drives. Ai>thor})e was nroniinence. lie did not leave liis home when Washington made it his headipiarters, for a brief few tu- ously. The aiTaiigemeiits for the perilous e.\|ie(litii>n of Nathan llale were C OL ONIAL PERIOD. 19 perfected under this roof. A little later, \vlien Washiugtou moved on to the Roger Morris mausioii, the British commander took possession of the comfort- able quarters he had vacated, and Mr. Apthorpe was still the affable and cheer- The Apthoppe Mansior ful host. He continued to reside here after the war, exercising the generous hospitality of a courtly, kind-hearted gentleman of wealth, until his death in May, 1797. At Dobb's Ferry, on the Hudson, about a half mile to the southward of the railroad station, is a substantial (hvelling which Avas for some years the home of Peter Van Brugh Livingston, Treasurer of the New York Congress in 1776. It was originally a one-story, pointed-roofed country-house, with the gable-end 20 Tin: HOMES OF AMERICA. towanl till' street in tiiie Dutch fashion. The entrance was under a little, anti(jue portico, tlie same as seen in tlie sketch, beyond the stump crowned with Howei-s. The liall was broatl, with a larsxe, sipiare room on each side of it, the one at the west lu-ini: the parlor. There was a family-room at the cml df the hall, from wliidi two Ijedrooms opened. And there were sleepin<.( accom- modations in the jrieat unlinished chamber, reached by a ladder. It wa.s an ambitious house, built by an enterpiising Dutch fanner some years before the culmination of the family (juarrel with England. He wa.s a man who liad no jiolitical svmjiathies. But the tenor of his ])eaceful life was a shining mark towanl wliicli Destiny ainuMl lu-r shaft. Ai'med legions fioin bntli of the hos- tile paities marched into his door-yard, trampled wn his gi'ass-])lats, ^"icked his chemes and his ajiples and his pears, killed his chickens before they were half grown, ransacked his cellars for meat and vegetables, slept in his l)ams, fed his grain to their horses, and carried the earth from his gardens and coni- fields into his mowing lands for fortifications. Otticei"s took i)ossession of the best rooms in his house, and made themselves vastly more at home than he was himself. It was the Americans \vho lirst invaded liis ]iiecincts. Then the Ibitish came in October, 1776, after the battle of White Plains, and rendezvoused prior to their march upon Fort Washington. Lord Ilowe sat before a blazing wood-fire in the ancient parlor, and sketched a map of the roads in AVestchester. A little later General Lee stopped here for a few days on his march from White Plains to Morristown. The follomng winter a division of the Americans under General Lincoln was encamped at this point for the jMiiposf of connnanding the pa.ssage of the rivei-. Numerous redoubts wei-e thrown up, the remains of which are still visible. The good fanner was com])elled to smile in the midst of his misei'v, <>r l>e suspected of favoring the enemy ; and the eiuiuy were always the absent ])arty. One day he was driven to the very acme of human forbear- ance by the piling of four barrels of gunpowder in a little slied, which wa.s joined to the rear of his house. lie expostulated in vain. " It is a good, dry place for it," said Lincoln, then turned coolly on his hrd. \\'luii the garrison was withdrawn, a few weeks afterward, the powilci' was left behind. The fjiiinci- made haste to ivniovc it, l»ut, upon rollin-- the last l)arrel out of the xard, it burst oikmi, ami was found to contain nothing moi-e dangerous than COLONIAL PERIOD. 21 saud ! The placing it in the shed had been a ruse to deceive the British spies. "With the departure of the troops came nocturnal visits from the Cow-boys and Skinners, and foraging parties fi-om both armies. And every man who wore an epaidet must be fed and lodged according to his demands. Bullets, and even cannon-balls, from the shipping, cut the air in frightful proximity, and the old man was aghast with consternation. He began to cast about hun The Livingston House. for a place of safety. Several shots pierced the house, and bricks were dis- lodged in the chimney. He finally, -with his family, made his way into the country to the north, far out of liann's way, and hrred himself out as a day- laborer. Many of the bullets and balls, which were planted in the grounds about the house, have been exhumed -within a few years. There was a native cheriy-tree standing about a rod directly south of the front door of the mansion. It grew^ to immense proportions, was at least four- ■2-2 Tin: HOMES OF AMERICA. teen feet in lireiiniference, and had six branches, eaeli of wIikIi would have made a huge tree of itself. In 1870 it was cut down, ami a knt)tty i)rotul)er- ance on the river-side, whicli liad always lieen the sul)ject of more or less spec- ulation, was found to have Keen the harbor of a large-sized canuon-l)all for almost a century. The inteiesting relic is carefidly preseiTed by Mr. Aicher, tlie present pi-tn)rietor of the propei-ty. On the l.st day of August, 1780, the main body of the American aiiny was suihleidy thrown across the Hudson, and encamped at I)ol)])'s Feiry. A\ hy, no one knew save the connnander-in-cliief. lie repairetl immediately to this house. His tall and well-proportioned figiu'e nearly reached from floor to ceiling, wliere the heavy l)eams \vere baie and waxed smooth. He was attended by Stirling, Lafayette, Steuben, Knox, Greene, Hamilton, aud other otHcers. It was ascer- tained, August 4th, that AVashington's ingenious manceuvie had effected the object intended, that of dra\\ing back the British expedition to Rhode Island, and the araiy was speedily under marching orders, and recrossed the ferry to the Jersey shore. A few troops were left, however, to erect a block-house and batteries, Dobb's Feny having grown into a point of relative impcM-tance in the movements of armies. It was the spot fii-st appointed for the meeting of .Vndn' and Arnold; and, if the lattei' had not been prevented from landing by the interference of a guard-l)oat, the inteiTiew would have taken place in the house above described. It was here that General Greene met General Robertson in conference concerning tlie fate of Major Andre. Robertson Mas the chief of tliree connnissioners sent up the river by Sir Henry Clinton in the schoonei- Greyhound with a Hag of truce. AVashington permitted Greene to meet Robert- son as a piivate gentleman, but not as an officer of the army, as the case of an acknowledged spy admitted of no discussion. In the summer of 1781 AVashington's hcaihiuartei-s were again uiidfr this roof for six oi' more weeks. His ni-my was encamped in two lines, with its riirht restiuij on the Hudson. The French, under Count de Rochand)ean, occn- l>i('d the left, a single line extending to the river Bron.x. The latter had just arrived, having marched from Providence via Ilai-tford. The real object of the allied armies in the present cami)aign \vas the subject of much speculation and betting among the soldiei-s. It was apparently the capture of New A'mk. TIiciv were givat bustle and pivparjitioii. Distinguisliccl COLONIAL PERIOD. 23 men from eveiy point of the compass visited Wasliingtou, aud were entertained in his inistic quarters. Tlie French ambassador spent several days mtli him. Colonel Laurens, the son of the American .ambassador to Holland, was also here ; and nearly every general of any note in the army. Toward the last of August there was a general order for the army to move, and it became kno^\'ll in course of events that it was destined to Virgiuia, in pursuit of Lord Cornwallis. A strong garrison was left at Dobb's Ferry, which remained until the cessation of hostilities. It was in this same mansion that Washington and Sir Guy Carleton, aud their respective suites, met to make aiTaugements for the evacuation of New York by the British. Washington came do\\Ti from West Point in a barge. Sir Guy Carleton came up the river in a frigate. Four companies of American infantry acted as guards of honor, and escorted them fi'om the feriy to the house. Livingston purchased the property soon after peace was established, Avhich, aside from the dwelling, consisted of about five hundred acres of land. After him it belonged to his son, Van Brugh Li\4ngston, by whom the house was repaired, raised one story, and enlarged on the eastern side. A smooth, vel- vety lawn Avas extended from the front to the liver-bank. An invisible wire fence protected the grounds fi-om the post-road which seemed to pass through them. It had an aii' of simplicity and comfort, aud impressed the passer-by as being the home of a gentleman of means aud refinement. Since then the front has been added, and other changes effected. But the old square parlor is the same, and mauy other features of the ancient building. Two original forest- trees, a tulip and an elm, the latter of which may be seen in the sketch, tower one hundred aud fifty feet high, not more than three rods from the southern entrance. They were both struck by lightning, at the same moment, about seven years ago, the marks of which they Avill bear to the end of tlieii' days. The house has a picturesque background of hill and forest, aud commands an extensive A-iew of beautiful sceneiy on both sides of the Hudson. " Beverley," opposite West Point, familiar to the reading public tlu'ough its associations with the treason of iVrnold, is a relic of the Colonial period which has undersfone no material arcliitectural alteration since its erection in 1750. 24 •////; HOMES OF AMERICA. It was fnr iii;in\ vears the priiu-t'ly alxxU' of a L'eiienms ami I'nuitly li<)S])itality. Ctiloiiel Ik'verk'V K<>l)iiis(>ii, the sou of Honorable Joliii Robinson, President of the Colony of Virginia after the retirement of (iovernor (ioocli, came in pos- session of one thousand ac-res of fine land in tills icLrioii thr(iiiL:li his wife, the sister of Mi-s. Roirer Morris, and daughter of the lord of I'liilijise manor, and together thev ]>lanned and built this romantic dwelling in the wildei-ness for their suiMiiifi' home. It was fashioned aftei' the eounti'v-seats in Kughiiid, with a central hall, wile otticeii? " In' Geiiefal Muldenherir, win) occ'U]iied the southea-st chain- l)er of" the mansion for some months. He was the clerical Vii'irinia soldier who walked into liis puljut one Sunday morning with a sword and cockade, and preached liis farewell sermon, marching next (hiy to the wars at the head of a regiment. The l)an(|net was served in the histoiical diniiig-ri»>iii, and " the talile wa.s furnished with fourteen different dishes, arranged in fashionable style. X number of toa.sts were pronounced " ; there Avere several humorous and meny songs, and military music and dancing were continued through half the night. Dinners and su])pers were often given at " Beverley" in a sort of social rotation by the various officers. To accom[)lish themselves in dancing, they employed at one time the celebrated dancing-teacher, !Mr. John Trotter. He is re]>resented as aljout fifty years of age, small, genteel, well-])roportioned, "every limb and joint })roclaiming tliat he wa.s master of the jirofession." In July, 1778, men- tion is made of a notable dinner given liere, by the officers, to Colonel Malcolm and his much-admired wife. The guests were moi'e mimerous than at any other entertainment during that season, one third of them being ladies. The (juaint chronicler remarks, "The cheering glass was not removed till evening, when we accompanied those from West Point t(^ the river-side, and finished two bot- tles of port on board their baige." Major-General Samuel Holden Parsons was quartered at " Beverley " for a considerable period. Dr. Dwight (afterw'ard President of Yale College) was cha])lain of a Connecticut regiment, stationed at West Point, dwelling mean- while under this roof. Here, too, lived the soldier-poet Colonel David Hum- ])hreys. He wa.s an aide to General Putnam, and went with him to tlie ti>p of Sugar-loaf Mountain on one occasion, where, with forty men, they spent two days amusing themselves by upsetting a ponderous rock, and seeing it roU in the end with great force, cutting a singular patlnvay along its route, until it founaLlie(l by a private avenue from the main road, three fourths of a mile to the east. The house has been carefully preserved, with all its antitpic peculiarities. During the Revolution it was the scene of many an interesting episocU-. In 1778 General Lafayette was foi" some time dangerously sick there with a fever, and was attended by Dr. John Cochrane. During his convalescence he was visited by Dr. Thatcher, who says, in his journal, that he was received by the Mar(iuis"ina polite and affable manner." Long before then wheat had ])een shi])ped from this place to France and exchanged for pure wine, with which the vaults of the mansion were well stocked, and it was cordially be- stowed upon the young nobleman and his friends. Dr. Thatcher describes Lafayette as elegant in figure, with an " interesting face of perfect .symmetry, and a fine, animated hazel eye." It was the head(juartei's of Baron Steuben, the celelirated Prussian discipli- narian, at the same time that AViushingtou was in Newburg, on the (.n)posite shore of the Hudson. It was during that most ti'j'ing period of the Revolution, the year of inactivity of Congress, of distress all over the country, and of com- plaint, discontent, and almost revolt among officei-s and soldiers throughout the army. Barracks extended along the line of the road, south of Fishkill village, for a mile and a half, beyond which there were a few log-houses, where, it was COLONIAL PERIOD. 29 said, the soldiers were sent to hide when their c-lothes t-onhl l)e mended no longer and actually fell off them. It was at the Vei-planck homestead that the idea first found expression, which was pi'oposed by Colonel Nicola, on behalf of himself and others, to The Vei'plaiick House. Washington at Newburg, that he (Washington) should be made King of the United States, for the " national advantage " ! It is said that Washington was astonished and grieved, and severely reprimanded Nicola for entertaining such a thought for an instant. Here, too, the celebrated Society of the Cincinnati A\as organized. The 30 '/■///•.' HOMES OF AMERH'A. meeting toi)k i)lace on the i;3tli of May, \~K\, in tlie sijuare room to the north of the Ijroad liall wliich nins tliroui^h the house. Baron Steuben, as the senior officer, presided, and his chair Avas jjlaced between the two windows which appear at tlie left hand of tlie Aoo\ in the sketch. The society oritrinated in the mind of General Knox, its object being to cement and perpetuate the friendship of its foundei-s, and transmit the same sentiment to their descen- dants. Washington was made its tii-st president, and officiated until his death. The chaii-s used on this memorable occasion are still preserved. Some of them are of \\ ood, and may be seen upon the veranda of the house. Other articles of furniture, rendered piiceless through contact with illustrious men, are cherished with tender reverence. A mahogany sideboard, dark as ebony fi'om yeare, stands in the same comer of the dining-room w hicli it has occupied for a centui-y. It seems invested with tongues, indeed, and harro\\ s the visit- or's mind Avitli the eloquence, wit, learning, magnetic genius, and suqjrising wisdom of that by-gone and golden period. The Vei-])lanck family are one of the oldest and most honorable of the New York families of Holland origin. Every generation has jiroduced its good and gifted men. Judge Daniel Cronnnelin Verplanck was for many years a mem- ber of Congi'ess; his city home was a large, yellow bi-ick mansion in AVall Street. He married the daughter of President Johnson, of Columbia College. His father was Samuel Vei'jilanck, who was betrothed to his cousin, Jiiditli Ci'funmelin, when seven years of age. She was the daughter of a wealthy banker of the Huguenot stock in Amsterdam. When the young man was of the i)roper age, he was sent to make the toui' of Kuioiic ami biiiiLi' liomc liis bride. He was mamed in the banker's great stone house, the (U>ors opening from the wide marl)le entrance-hall ujion a fair Dutch garden. The counting- room was upon one side of the passage, and the diawing-i'ooiu, bright with gilding, ujion the other. The lady was j)articularly acconi])lished, and versed, not only in the several modern languages, but in (ireek and Latin, speaking the latter fluently. It was this lady who, in hei- beautiful old age, trained her gi-andson Gulian, so well known to New Yoi'k iiolitical and social life, ami to all lovers of Shake- speare, to love liooks and nIikIn. SIic taiiLilit him, when a iiuTe bal)c. to declaim passatres from Latin autluns, standing on a tai>l(', and icwarded liim COLONIAL PERIOD. 31 with liot pound-cake. It is said that slie used to put sugar-plums near liis bedside, to be at baud in case be sbould awake and take a fancy to repeat bis lessons in tbe nigbt. Tbe boy was a bom scbolar. He took to books as otber boys take to marbles. He entered Columbia College at eleven. The tradition is that he studied Greek lying flat on the floor, wdth his thumb in his mouth, and the fingers of the other hand employed in testing a lock of the brown hail" on his forehead. He rose to eminence in the law, iu politics, and in literature. He served in the State Legislature, and was sent to Congress. One of his chief acts, while in the councils of the nation, was to secure the passage of a bill (in 1831) for the additional security of literary property. In 1834 he was the Whig candi- date for Mayor of New York, but Cornelius W. Lawrence, the Democratic can- didate, was elected by about two hundred majority. In 1855 he was made Vice-Chancellor of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. He was also one of the six gentlemen " of the very highest character " who foi-med the Board of Commissioners of Emigration, charged mth the over- sight and care of the vast influx of strangers from the Old World. It took eight years for this Board (which was fi*ee altogether fi'om party influences) to obtain the privilege of a special landing-place for immigrants. Finally, a grant from the Legislature enabled them to lease Castle Garden for this purpose. Mr. Veq^lanck ministered to the public weKare in innumerable ways. He was a trustee of the Society Lilwary, and one of the trustees of the Public School Society. He was an author of no little distinction, some of his legal wi-itings being of a high character, and he was editor of one of the best editions of Shakespeare printed iu this country. He spent liis summers in the old homestead, and it was here that some of his finest literary conceptions saw the light. He entei-tained generously ; nearly all of the celebiities of his day were from time to tune invited to this lovely retreat. The new part of the mansion, of which the sketch reveals a suggestion to the left, has been in existence about seventy years. The drawing-room is a model of elegance and good taste in its ai3j)ointments, and contains, among other relics, some fine specimens of cut-glass ornaments from the " Old Walton House " in New York, before it was dismantled ; also, some antique vases of great beautv, and an easy-chair of Walton memory. Another heirloom is an 32 Till-: HOMES OF A M Kill < A. aiiii-ili;iir of Bishop Berkeley. Few houses in the roiiiitiy iri\ c iiioiv vivid i-x- pressioii to the life and character of its several (iiTU)iants, or air liallowcd hy more varied and cliarniing associations. The trraiid iit tlic iiiaiior-liouse to do honor at the funeral. Tliey leiranled thf Patiooii witli ivvt-nMR-e, a feeling shared by the whole country. Jereiuia-s Van llens.selaer, the sou of Kilian, waa the setond Tatrddii, and Hall, Van Rensselaer Manor-House. presiih-d adiniialily over the manor for many ' yeaix, dying in l(i74. He was a singularly handsome man, judging by his portrait. He is painted in a richly embroidered waistcoat, and large-cuffed, much-befrogtjetl velvet coat, "■ with ruffles about his well-shaped hands. His wig is densely curled and powdered, and liis delicate frills and necktie .seem to indicatt' that he was a bit of a dandy. His correspondence, which still exists, and enorniiius industry. He wielded great influence. His wiT \'an Ciirtlandt, daU'.:liter of the blue-blooded ()l(ilV Stevenseu \':m Curtlandt, shows talent 1' was ^laria COLONIAL PERIOD. 35 and sister of Steplianiis Van C'ortlandt, who founded Cortlandt manor, which stretched over a wide extent of territoiy in the region of the Croton River, resting upon the Hudson. In 1764, one year before the erection of the manor-house of the sketch, was born Stephen Van Rensselaer, fifth in the direct line from Kilian, and the last of the Patroons. His father was also Stephen, a sterling opposer of the en- croachments of the Crown, and his mother the accomplished daughter of Philip Livingston, who signed the Declaration of Independence. He was graduated from. Cambridge -with honors in 1782 ; and was known, even while very young, as a soldier, patriot, philanthropist, and Christian. His destiny was to bridge over the chasm between the two opposite political systems. Born the subject of a king, himself a nobleman, mth immense estates and baronial privileges, he favored the democratic doctrine that all men are ecpial, and, duiing his long, useful, and beautiful life, never lamented the loss of his power and circumstance. When he came into possession of his vast domains, he is said to have leased as many as nine hundred farms, of one hundred and fifty acres each, on long tenns. He was much in public life ; was Lieutenant-Governor of New York in 1795 and in 1798 ; was one of the Canal Commissioners, riding on horseback with De Witt Clinton and Gouvemeur Morris from Albany to Lake Erie in 1810, to exjDlore the route of the Erie Canal ; was major-general of the State militia in 1812 ; and, at a later date, was Chancellor of the New York State University. He also represented the city and county of Albany in Congress from 1823 to 1829. He was exceptionally active in the direction of agricultural and geologi- cal science, and gave considei'able sums of money to educational institutions ; the Dudley Observatory of Albany is indebted to him for its real estate. He was President of the second oldest Bible Society in the country, and one of its efficient managers through life. The manor, for more than a centuiy, was never without a representative in the Colonial Assembly of New York, and this patriotic family never furnished a member who was not notable for devotion to America. During all those years of kingly rule, whenever it Avas announced in New York that the Patroon Van Rensselaer was coming to the city by land, the day he was expected crowds would tm-n out to see him drive through Broadway with his coach and four, as if he were a prince of the blood. Stephen, the last Patroon, was a man of tall, commanding presence, with 36 THE HOMES OF AMERICA. large, dark, exjiressive, fascinating eyes. His \\Me was Martraret, daughter of the famous General Phili]> Schiiyler. At his death in 1839 the proiierty way divided among his nimierous lineal descendants. His son Stephen remodeled the manor-house in 1840, the only radical change, however, being the addition of ^vings to the main edifice. On the walls of the great hall still hangs the paper brought from Holland more than a centuiy ago, and the internal archi- tecture of the original edifice remains intact. The Schuyler mansion at Albany was built about 1760 by General Philip Schuyler, the projirietor of the " noble estate in Saratoga " so often spoken of in history, and which was desolated by Burgoyue. It is a fine specimen of the domestic architecture of the countiy at the period, impressive without preten- sion upon the outside, while the interior is rich Avith old-time carving and orna- mentation, and the spacious wainscoted rooms have high ceilings, and the chim- ney-pieces are finely wTought from mantel to ceiling. It is entered at the front by an octagonal vestibule, handsomely fashioned, with anticjue doors that seem fitted for the passage of stiff brocades. The out-houses Avere spacious, and ex- tensive grounds formerly reached to the river's edge, although the cutting down of Lansing Street gives the house now the effect of being ]ierched in the air, and is attained by innxmierable steps. No name is more familiar to the readers of American historj- than that of Philiji Schuvler. He was the great Revolutionary general, and a chivalnnis, clever, sagacious, painstaking, and successful man of aft'aii-s — one of those to whom the country owes most next to Washington ; one who sacrificed immense- ly, bearing the pain of official and political injustice with a patience that was sublime. He came of a gifted race. The first Schuyler in this ct>uutry, Philip Pietersen Schuyler, married Margaretta, daiighter of Hen" Brandt Arent Van Slechtenhoi-st, commander of Van Rensselaer's colony, the wedding taking place in December, 1050; the lovei-s were each twenty-two years old at the time. Six years afterward young Schuyler was a magistrate and ;i iii.iii of iiiiportaiK'c. His \\-ife was a lady of great mental endowments and force of character. Their ten children were all important ac(|uisitions to the forming society of New York : (lertrude, the eldest daughter, became the ^\ife <>f the "Right Himorable Stei)haims V;ni ( 'ortlaiidt," and one of the leading ladies in COLONIAL PERIOD. 37 The Sehuyle the " court circle " of the royal Governor of the province ; Alida maiTied first Rev. Nic- olaus Van Rensselaer, the son of the first Patioon, and afterward Robert Livingston, the famous founder of Liv- ' ^ ingston manor ; Peter, the first Mayor of Albany, cele- brated for having taken five Mohawk chiefs to the Court of England, married Maria, daughter of Jeremias Van Rensselaer and Maria Van Cort- landt ; Brandt mai-ried Cornelia Van Cortlandt, and settled in New York City ; Arent piirchased an extensive tract of land on the Passaic River, and founded the New Jersey family of Schuylers, of which the mansion in the ini- tial sketch was the home, about the middle of the last century ; and John, also Mayor of Albany — from 1703 to 1706; his son John mamed his cousm Cornelia Van Cortlandt (daughter of " Right Honorable Stephanus Van Cort- landt ") ; these latter were the parents of Philip Schuyler, of whom the dwelling illustrated is a characteristic monument. In him all the ^^l•tues and talents of 38 THE HOMES OF AMERICA. not only the Sehuylei-s, but the Van Rensselaei-s and Van Cortlandts, seemed to fuhninate. lie was educated among the Huguenots of New Rocheiie, and afterward \\'ent through the rigorous discipline of all the Schuylere, learning the Indian language, haljits, and peculiarities of the Mohawks in their o^^^l wilderness st)litudes. There was many a romantic episode in the Schuyler family ; it would be interesting to picture one and another of those energetic youths who, on attaining the age t)f eighteen, were })resented Avith "a canoe and an Indian boy," and politely requested by not too indulgent parents to go off into the wilderness and prove their mettle. Thus they studied the art of woodcraft under these primeval teachers, made allies of the men of the Six Nations — heroes who were not unworthy of the pictures aftenvard drawn of them by novelist and painter. The Indians came to Albany once a year, or more frequently, and insisted on naming all the children of the Schuyler blood. Among those who received this savage baptism was Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, whose Indian name is still preserved in the family. She was Elizabeth, daugh- tci- of General Philip Schuyler, and the sister of Margaret, the wife of Ste- phen \"an Rensselaer. General Schuyler himself, while roaming in the woods, exchanged names mth two great chieftains. In 1753 General Schuyler was a gay yoimg society devotee. In 1755 he mamed Cathaiine Van Rensselaer, and together they dispensed a princely hospitality, fi'om the old mansion of the sketch, for upward of forty years. Every stranger of distinction, passing between New York and Canada, was entertained under this roof. Here Franklin and Charles Carroll were housed and cared for on their famous mission to Canada ; and here Burgoyne found a kindly welcome after his surrender. It was the scene of many touchmg incidents. One of its "carvings," unintentionally made, remains to characterize the stormy times which the family lived through. It is the mark of a toma- hawk, thrown by a hostile Indian at the ivtreating figure of Miss Margaret Schuy- ler, afterward the ^\ife of Stephen Van Rensselaei-, in 17.S1, when the \\ar was at its height. A party of Tories conceived the idea of seizing the person oi General Schuyler, and carrying him off a piisoner to Canada. A man named Wattemeyer, assisted by Canadians and Indians, made the assault. The Gen- eral was forewarned, but not so \vcll iiic])ai((l but that his assailants gained an entrance. Gatherinir his family into an uiipcr room, his daugiiter suddenly COLONIAL PERIOD. 39 remembered that the baby liad been forgotten, aud was on the ground-floor in her cradle in the nursery. She rushed back with impulsive bravery, caught her infant sister in her arms, and bore her off in safety. An Indian hurled a sharp tomahawk at her as she ascended the stau's. It cut her dress and just escaped the child's head, striking the stair-rail, the scar of which remains. This youngest daughter of the General, so miraculously saved from the tomahawk, became Mrs. Cochrane, of Oswego. She had the singular adventure, also, of meeting at the communion-table of the Episcopal Church at Utica, sixty years after her father's death, two full-blooded Oneida chiefs by the name of Schuyler, descendants of those who had exchanged names with the young Philip in 1751. The Schuyler mansion of the initial sketch, overlooking the Passaic, oppo- site Belleville, in New Jersey, was built about the middle of the last centuiy. All the brick used in its constnictiou was imported from Holland, and the mor- tar was a year old. Its main hall is twenty or more feet broad, and is elaborately finished with anti(|ue paneling. The staircase is after the fashion of those in the homes of the Holland gentry. It was upon this old estate that a negro slave, while plo^ving, found a curious greenish stone, and carried it to his master. It was sent to England for analyzatiou, and foiind to contain eighty per cent, of copper. Schuyler seized upon the unexpected avenue to wealth, and great quantities of ore were subsequently shipped to the Bristol Copper and Brass Works in England. In 1761 an engine was imported to facilitate operations, and the mines were vigorously worked up to the time of the Revolution. Arent Schuyler, the founder of the New Jersey branch of the Schuyler family, had tvv^o sous. Colonel Peter Schuyler and Colonel John Schuyler, both men of mark. Colonel Peter distinguished himself in the French war, and was one of the heroes who entered Montreal on its surrender to the Biitish in 1760. His daughter Catharine was the first wife of Archibald Kennedy, Earl of Casse- lis. Colonel John lived in the mansion on the Passaic in the time of the Revo- lution, and was the owner of fifty or sixty negro slaves. A visitor during that period describes the eminences, groves, lawns, ornamental gardens, and deer- parks containing " one hundred and sixty head of deer," as exceptionally mag- nificent. The illustration represents the house as it ajipeared at that time. It has long since passed out of the Schuyler family, and has been the subject of 40 Till-: HOMES OF AMERICA. modern iiiiiiroveineiit until vi-iy little of antiiiuity is written ujxni the face of it. The country lioine of the Van Coi-tlandts, so intimately counecteil with the Schuylei-s and ^'an Keusselaers througli intermarriages in nearly every genera- tion, appeal's also in the initial sketch. It is one of the oldest mansions on the Hudson, Ijuilt about the beginning of the la.st century. Its solid walls of gray stone, three feet in thickness, were pierced with loopholes for musketiy, it having been designed as a fort in ease of hostilities with the Indians. Some of these may yet be seen in the rear walls. It has a high basement, a second stoiy, Avhich includes the principal apartments, and a thiid, lighted by donner- windows. Around the front and ends of the mansion is a broad veranda, shaded by trailing vines. The Van Cortlandt domain, including eighty-three thousand acres piirchased from the Indians, was erected into the lordshij) and manor of Cortlandt l)y I'oyal charter, bearing date June 17, 1<','.)7, which charter, written upon })archment, is still preserved. The first lord t)f the manor was Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who was Mayor of the city of New York for several years, and a leading man in the Governor's Council. lie married Gertrude Schuyler, the sister of Petei-, first Mayor of Albany, and of Arent, on the Pas- saic. He was the son of Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt, the first of the name in America, a descendant of the Dukes of Courland in Russia. This vast estate was ecpially divided among the heirs in 1734. To Philij), the eldest surviving son of 8tei)hanus, fell the dwelling of the sketch. His fifth son, Pierre, the first Lieutenant-(Jovernor of New York as a State, and \\ho filled the office for eighteen successive years, xdtimately became the pro]>rietoi' oi the home jirop- erty. He extended the hospitalities of the mansion to nearly all the great men of the period for more than half a century. B^ew houses in America are more notal)le for the distinction of its occupants and guests. It is still the home of the Van Coitlandts, extensive modern aiUlitions and improvements having been added to the aiiti(iue Structure. No two races of men could be more ditferent than the XewY'orkers of the Colonial jiei'iod, with tlicii- lordships stiTtclif(l along the lliulson ami far into the interior of the inhabitable portion of the State (as also over a greatei- jioi'- COLONIAL PERIOD. 41 tion of the territory of Long Island), and the people of New England, who, descended from the choice sons of European culture, and wedded to their schools and colleges, cherished a higher respect for poetry and philosophy, and all that appertained to religious rhapsody, than for temporal aggrandizement. And the contrast in the habits of thought and modes of living between the two provinces is nowhere more distinctly apparent than in their old, time-worn mansions. The Puritans fro^viied u^^on all exterior show. Ai'chitectural oma- Point, Maine. mentation in New England was tabooed alike •with high-sounding titles. The men of quality were self-respectful, fenced in with more ceremonial than we have been led to believe. The wholesome traditions of msdom pervaded the veiy air, and Homer and Horace were quoted by boys at the plow. Enough foreign refinement was imported to humanize, while conceits of every kind flomished, and the necessities for perj)etual labor pinched the mind. Time insensibly softened the asperities of Puritanism, while foreign luxuiy i-eached 42 THE HOMES OF AMEIiK'A. the Blue Hills in iusufticieut (quantities to work the mischief of connip- tion. A fair example of the country-houses of early New England is that of Su- William Pepperell, at Kittery's Point, Maine. It has l)een curtailed some ten feet at either end t>f its original proportions ^\•ithin the past few years ; thus it must once have contained as many apartments as a good-sized iiotel. The southern part of the mansion was built l)y the father of the concjueror of Louis- burg, and the north end was added by Sir William. Until the death of the elder Pepperell, in 1734, the families of b()th father and son occupied the dwelling, which accounts for its extension and miiltitudinous rooms. The lawn in front reached to the sea, and an avenue, a (juarter of a mile in length, skirted by tall, branching trees, conducted to the house of Colonel Sparhawk, east of the village church. Commonplace as the house seems in the })icture, it repre- sents one of the largest fortunes of the Colonial period of New England. It was an old saying that Sir William could drive to the Saco, thirty miles distant from his home, Avithout going off his own possessions. The baronetcy, extinct vdih. Sir William, Avas reAnved l>y the King for the benefit of his grandson, who, being a loyalist, went to England in 1775, and the immense estates in Maine and elsewhere were confiscated. The last baronet is the prominent figure in AVest's " Reception of the American Loyalists by Great Britain." The poet Longfellow has a painting by Copley, representing children in a park, the portraits being those of William and Elizabeth Royall Peppeiell. The romantic spot — Kitteiy's Point — is often mentioned in Whit- tier's verse. The Wew from the Pepperell house is superb; as many as a hun- dred sail are often riding at anchor in sight, the haven being the usual refuge for coasters caught along-shore in a northeaster. The patriarch of New England houses, one of the firet, if not the veiy first, erected ^Aathin the government of John AVinthroji, and which accident has kindly left untouched until the present day, is the Craddock house, in Med- ford, Massachusetts. It is l)elieved to be the oldest building in the United States retaining its original fonn. It is a uni(jue specimen of the early domes- tic architecture of the Puritans. Iloaiy with age, it is yet no luin, l)ut a com- fortable habitation. Like a veteran of many campaigns, it shows ;i few Ikuku'- COLONIAL PERIOD. •43 able scars. Tlie roof lias swerved a little from its tnie outline. It has been denuded of a cliimney, and has parted with a favorite dormer-mudow. The loopholes seen in the fi'out were long since closed ; the race of Indians they The Craddoek House, Medford, Massachusetts. were to defend against having scarcely an existence to-day. The ^nndows have been enlarged, vdth an effect of rouging the cheeks of one's grandmother — if we may indulge in the figure of speech of a well-knovni writer. And the mnds 44 '/'///■■ HOMES OF AMERICA. have held high (.aniival in its ohl chimneys for two liundred aud fi)i-ty-odd New Eughind winters without disturbing its et^uaniniity. It is supposed to have been Ijuilt about 1634, as that wa.s the date of a larfije grant of land to Matthew Craddock, governor of a commercial company in England, who was trying to secure the emigration of such men as Endicott, Winthrop, Dudley, Sii- Richard Saltonstall, and othere. He was the wealthiest and most impoi-tant man connected with the settlement of Massachusetts. In l)uil(liug this house he probably intended it for his future residence, although events subsequently prevented him from coming to Ameiica. He sent over builders from England, who followed English types in the constniction of the editice. The bricks were burned specially for the purpose. There was some attempt at ornament, the lower course of the belt being laid with molded biicks, so as to form a cornice. The walls were half "a yard in thickness, and hea^'y iron bars secured the arched windows at the back ; and the entrance-door was incased in iron. The fire-proof closets, huge chimney-stacks, and massive hewed timbers, remind us of houses on the Scottish border. The loopholes and narrow windows were planned ^vith direct reference to the puiposes of a foi-tress. A single pane of glass, set in iioii, and placed in the back-wall of the westeni chimnev, t»verlooked the approach from the town. The lavish expenditure of ('ra(l( lock's agent elicited a sound rebuke from the straitlaced AVinthrop, who Iniilt his own house of wood. And, again, when the blue-blooded Deputy. Govenioi- Dudlev exercised a little more costly taste upon the house he was to live in than Winthrop, the Governor-in-chief, had done before him, high Avords fell thick and fast about his head for such uiu-casonalilc (Hitlay. A eentuiy younger, and yet In'istling \\itli antitiuity, is the niansiun known as " Hobgoblin Hall," on the old Boston road, some half mile from Medford village. It was built l)y Isaac Royall, an Antigua merchant, in 1738. Its archi- tecture is singularly suggestive. It almost brings into full view the good- humored, luxury-loving, contented man of fine tastes and an ovei-flo^ving pui-se, who completed the well-rounded yeai-s of his life under its roof. It was built of brick, three stories high, the upper tier of windows smaller than tliosc under- neath, and was sheathed entirely in wood, except on one end. It was fashioned after the palace of a nobleman in Antigua. The spaces below the windows on COLONIAL PERIOD. 45 the eastern front were filled in with panels, giving the effect of coliimns rising fi"om ground to cornice. And the western front was still more highly orna- mented, although tiu'ued away from the street. Spacious groimds, laid out with precision, A\'ere separated from the highway by a brick wall, the gateway of Avhieh was flanked by tall wooden columns. A camage-drive, bordered wdth box, tenninated in a courtyard at the west of the mansion, near which were the stables and the slave-quarters. A two-story brick building still remaining is the last \asible relic of slaveiy in New England. The hall of entrance, with elaborately carved balusters and paneled wain- scoting, retains somewhat of the atmosphere of former grandeur. To the right are a suite of drawing-rooms, separated by an arch in which slidiug-doors are concealed. From floor to ceiling the walls are paneled in wood, the panels being of single pieces, some of them a yard in breadth. In the rear of these apartments are two alcoves, each flanked b}^ fluted pilasters, supporting an arch enriched ^^^th moldings and carved ornaments, and in the recesses are broad window-seats. The chambers are large and numerous, all opening into a spa- cious and airy haE. The one in the northwest corner of the mansion has alcoves corresponding with those in the parlor beneath ; but, instead of pan- eled waEs, it is finished above the wainscot with a covering of leather, on which are painted, in gorgeous colors, flowers, bii'ds, and Chinese characters. The original windows, with the small glass and heavy frames, appear in this apartment — j^anes that quivered at the fierce cannonade of the Revolutionaiy outbreak. The kitchen has an enormous brick oven, still in perfect repair, with an iron chimney-back, upon which the Royall family anns are embossed. And the dining-room has its sideboard, which old-time hospitality garnished with de- canters of choice wines. The garden-front of the house overlooks an arched gateway, leading into what was in those olden times a beautiful garden, some of its box-trees and clumps of lilacs still to be seen. At the end of a graveled walk is an artificial mound ^with two terraces, ujion which stands one of the most unique of summer-houses, a figure of Mercuiy poised on its summit. This little structure, a veritable cuiiosity, displays much beauty of design ; no one but an artist could have shaped its panels, its fluted Ionic pilasters, and its bell- shaj^ed roof. A trap-door in the floor discloses a cellar for ice. But, when the 4r> THE nOMESl OF AMEUTrA. (laiiLiliteis of the West Iiulia iialiob were coui'teil by (Teorire En-iiig and Sir A\ illiam Pepperell, it is hardJ}' probable that the mysteries and tricks of archi- Hobgoblin Hull, Mcdfurd, MasisuL-liuseUs. tecture were unriddled to their comprehension It w as just the place for a ten- dor declaration. Its ])ictures(|ue romance would liavclx'cn cliillcd beyond re- COLONIAL PERIOD. 47 coveiy bad tlie ardeut lover learned tliat it was au artfid combination of beauty and utility — in short, an ice-liouse. Isaac Royall the first was succeeded by Isaac Royall the second, who lived iu as much state as his sire. His sister married Colonel Vassal, who dwelt in the old mansion at Cambridge, now the home of Heniy W. Longfellow, the poet. Royall was an intimate of governors and grandees, and one day he drove in his coach to Boston, and, while sipping his Madeii-a ^vith some of the choice spirits of the towTi, the news of the battle of Lexington was received. He was afi'aid to return home. He never saw his handsome old house again. He was shut up in Boston for long and weary months, and, when the British anuy went to Halifax, he was one of the unhappy refugees who was obliged to go also. He went to England finally, where he died, endeavoring to the last to prevent the forfeiture of his estate. He was a large-hearted, benevolent man, as his many bequests pro^'e. The Royall Professorship of Law at Harvard was founded through his bounty. This old mansion, "svith its appointments and its slaves, attracted General Charles Lee, that prince of egotists, ^vho aimed to supplant Washington — the man " full of strange oaths," with a huge nose, satirical mouth, and restless eyes, who sat upon his horse like a fox-hunter, and was so slovenly in his habits that nobody grieved at his absence ; with a pack of yelping curs at his heels, he took possession, and ordered the wondering negroes about mth lordly airs. It was he who first called it " Hobgoblin Hall." Washington, not pleased that Lee should take up his quarters a mile and a half from the left wing of the army, ordered him to retiu'n to duty. General Sullivan was shortly allured by the same grand old house, but was scarcely settled when his aide-de-camp handed him a letter from the commander-in-chief, which caused him to change his quar- ters ^nth celerity. The ancient Quincy mansion is less curiously antique than those we have sketched, but is a characteristic specimen of colonial architectiu'e in New Eng- land. It was built in 1770 by Colonel Josiah Quincy, on ground purchased of the local Indian sachem as early as 1635, by Edmund Quincy, of England. The estate has ever since remained in the family. In four successive genera- tions a son has borne the name of Josiah, two of whom wei'e Mavors of Boston, 48 THE HOMES OF AMERICA. one the President of Harvard Collefre, and all of tlieui niorc or less distiniruislied in political life. The liouse was ])laced upon a beautiful knoll, at the extremity of tlie noblest ])rivate estate in Massachusetts. Fi\c luuidred broad acres of meadow and woodland surrounding it give the idea i»f an English park come Quincy Mansion, Quincy, Massachusetts. down l)y entail since the Coucjuest. A wide, leafy avenue leads from the high- road to the mansion, from which are charming glimpses of the sea, of Boston Harbor and its islanlands, forests, mines, towns, and w ild beasts enough to have submerged all the tine estates of the Greenway Court. w'liole race of Fairfaxes in England. But his Virginia jirincipality was not sufficient to make him happy. He simply existed. His days were spent in reading, hunting, and dreaming. Tall, swarthy, resei-ved, and w itli no adjuncts of ])lace or power, he nevertheless preserved considerable state and dignity. As chief magistrate of the county, he rode to court in a chariot dra^vn by foui- hoi-ses, usually wrapped in a rich red \el\ ct cloak. " (xreenway Coui't " was one of the early liaTUits of Wasliiiigtoii, when a pale-face(l youth of sixteen. COLONIAL PERIOD. 57 aiul for long after he ^vas chosen to survey Lord Faii-fax's vast possessions. The house stood a fe^v miles from the Shenandoah, and not far from the base of the Blue Ridge, in the midst of beauties of landscape which the pen fails to reproduce. When the Revolutiou came, the boy surveyor was made command- er-iu-chief of the American army. "What Lord Fairfax thought," writes John Esteu Cooke, " is not kno\\Ti ; but one last incident connects him with the ruddy boy In 1781 the Earl was at Winchester, when a sudden commotion seized upon the people ; lie inquired its meaning, and was informed that Lord Corn\\"allis had surrendered his army, at Yorkto-\\Ti, to General George Wash- ington, who had thus terminated the ^var, and secured the liberties of North America. At this intelligence the aged Earl stood aghast. The curly pate whom he had taken by the hand, trained for the struggles of life, and molded for his work, had effected that work — the boy to whom he had paid ' a doubloon a dav,' had ended by overturning the British dominion in the Western Conti- nent. " Lord Fairfax is said to have uttered a groan, exclaiming to his old body- servant : " ' Take me to bed, Joe— it is time for me to die ! ' " In tnith, the blow seems to have been heavier than the gray-haired Earl had the strength to bear. The fatal news reached him in October, 1781, and a few months afterward he was dead — passing away like a relic of the Old World just as the New World daA^Tied." The region of the James River was the one first settled in Virginia, and is the most rich in antique homesteads. They possess little beauty of architecture, but have wide portals, grand staircases, lofty ceilings, and not infrequently elaborate carvings. The Virginia planters were fond of coaches and six, costly wines, silk stockings, hair-powder, coats-of-anns, and family importance. Their dwellings were roomy, and surrounded by fine trees and stretches of la-\\ii, and to many of them were attached whole villages of smaller houses, foiTuerly occu pied by hundi-eds of slaves. " Westover" is a fine example of this class of homes. It dates back to 1700. The gateways bear the coat-of-arms of the Byrds, one of the good old Virginia families of their day. C-olonel William Byrd was the perfect t}-pe of a Vir- 58 riip: HOMES of ameiuca. giiiia planter — stately, witty, distin,i(iiislie(l, of great pei-soiial beauty, ami reign- ing like an English peer over at least one hundred thousand of the best acres in America. Both the cities of Richmond and Manchester are built upon land Westover, oil the James luver, Virginia. once ])elonging to this estate. The house is plain, with the exception of carved wainscoting, cornices, and mantel-pieces of e.xceptional elegance. The entrance- hall extends through the mansion, and the library and dining-room abound with evidences of wealth and taste. A broad staircase leads to ui>])cr apariTnents which are decorated in the same manner as those upon the lower tloor. The stables are reached through a lofty gateway, the brick pillai-s of wliuli are cro\\med each with a martlet — the crest of the family — and near a chuui) of trees is the graveyard, where the Byrds and their relations, the Harrisons, repose beneatli nld tombs covered Avith inscrii)tioiis and arms. One of tliese monuments bears tlic following tribute to Colonel Byrd, who was for thii-ty- COLONIAL PERIOD. 59 seven years receiver-general of the king's revenue in Virginia, and for some time president of the Governor's Council, and reputed one of the most brilliant personages of his generation : " The well-bred gentleman and polite companion, the splendid economist and pinident father of a family, the constant enemy of all exorbitant power, and hearty friend to the liberties of his country," His death occurred in 1744, at the age of seventy. His daughter, Eveljni Byrd, has given her name to countless lovely descendants in Virginia. Her portrait is that of a young lady of sweet seventeen, with curling hair, a com- plexion all roses, a smile of exquisite innocence, and a neck as white and gi-ace- ful a.s a swan's. She is in a l)eautifully fitting blue-silk dress, which reveals to great advantage her slender, graceful figui'e. •is-4 Mayeox, The seat of the Harrisons is but a step to the south of " Westovei'," and bears the ancient name of " Maycox." The present mansion replaces the ori- ginal dwelling of the pioneer, which was one of the oldest in Virginia. A little 60 THE HOMES OF AMERICA. farther on is " Shirley," the estate of the old and worthy Carter family; and also " Berkeley," where President William Ileuiy Harrison was born. "Powhatan," the seat of the old and respectable family of the Mayos, was long supposed tn ha\ c been the scene of Smith's rescue by Pocahontas. Minute Powhatan Seat, on the Jnmes River, Virginia. investigation has discovered the fact, liowevei', that this i'anioiis ineident took place (if at all) on the ])anks of the Yoik, in (iloucester; l)ut it is clearly estab- lished that the great Indian enii)eror Powhatan had a hunting-lodge, or sunniier residence, near or at this spot, and the locality thus possesses great historic attraction. Descending the livei-, the traveler finds himself arrested at every steji by ol)jects of anti(|uarian interest in the sha])e of old houses, who.se ancient apjjear- ance aiul I'ieh inteii:;il (h'coiatioiis of a long-]ia.-^ OF AMERICA. where he resided. This ailorded occasion for Dick , a neisxhlxM" unfriendly to him, to sav, "It is vciy well for Colonel Mason not to run in Fairfax, as the people well know that his mind is failing liiin frmn aLfc." ]\Iasnn heard of the speech. "Perha])s I am declining," he said, with a grim smile. "I am ceitaiidy growing old, and my mind may be failing fi'om age. But Dick has in ///.s cji.se one consolation, at least. AVhen h'lK mind fails \\\\\\, tiolxxlij will ever din- cover it ! " He died in 1 T'.'i', aftei' which " Gunston Hall " passed out of the Mason family, who had held it for six generations. It lias within a few yeais l)een jiuivliased by Colonel Edward Daniels, who has restored it to something of its former elegance. Mount Vernon, reposing peacefully upon the Virginia shore of the beau- tiful river, is more tenderly familiar to the |iublir eye llian any other of the Colonial homes of America. The estate, consisting originally of twenty-five hundred acres, wa.s one of the various ])ieces of ])i-oi>ei-ty which tlie father of George Washington possessed at the time of his death, in 174."{, and was be(|ueatlied to his eldest son, Lawrence Washington, who \vas somewhat of a military genius, connnanding a battalion of Americans under Admii'al Vernon at Carthagena in 174n. Returning liomc, he married one of the lovely daugli- ters of AVilliam Faii-fax, an opulent English gentleman of noble lineage, who had been his militaiy a.ssociate in the Sjtanish war, and who resided on the neighboring estate of " I'elvoir," some eight miles from his own legacy, which, in honor of the popular naval hei'o, he called ISbmnt Vei'iion. Ujhmi a swell- ing; height, crowne