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Peacock Feathers and The Scottish Play: Bad Luck Superstitions and Their...
In the words of Michael Scott: “I’m not superstitious but I am a little stitious.” While October is the time when the veil between our world and the next is at its thinnest, we find ourselves doing...
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The Origin of The Headless Horseman
For The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving based several characters on real people. Ichabod Crane was based on Kinderhook, NY school teacher Jesse Merwin, with the name possiblyWashington...
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Shooting Ghosts
No need to call the Ghostbusters, it’s not that kind of shooting! But would you be able to tell if you shot a ghost on film? It’s a question that has raged since the invention of the camera....
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Some of the Lesser Known Livingstons of the American Revolution
On this blog we often talk about Robert R. Livingston, Henry Beekman Livingston and Margaret Beekman Livingston and their importance during the American Revolution. However there were more than a...
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Tableau Vivant: From Parlor Game to The ‘Gram
In a typical year at Clermont, December would’ve seen us doing our traditional Tableau Vivant event. But, as we’ve heard so many times, 2020 is no typical year. So instead, let’s take a little look at...
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Never Fear! The Holidays Aren’t Over Yet! Twelfth Night in the Colonies
Twelfth Night. A wildly funny Shakespeare play. The inspiration for the marathon song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Perhaps an early version of Fortnite (okay, not that one but I wanted to appeal...
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I'm Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today: Henry Beekman Livingston and the...
Following the Battle of Monmouth Henry Beekman Livingston took a furlough and traveled to Rhode Island on personnel business. What that business was he never said but he must have known he...
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Pointy End Toward The Bad Guy: Chancellor Livingston's Sword
The Chancellor's colichemarde from the collection of the New-York Historical SocietyChancellor Robert R. Livingston was nothing if not a fashionable man. As such he frequently carried a sword. He was...
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We have written here in the past about the successful duel that Brockholst Livingston fought over the size of his nose (Read all about it here) but not all the Livingstons had as much luck...
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The Career of Henry Brockholst Livingston: Soldier, Lawyer, Judge
Henry Brockholst Livingston or Brockholst Livingston as he preferred to be called was born on November 25, 1757, the son of William Livingston, future governor of New Jersey, and his wife...
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The Twisting Tale of the Hamilton-Livingston Family
Maturin LivingstonMaturin Livingston (1769-1847) was the great-grandson of Robert (the nephew) Livingston who had come to New York to assist his uncle Robert Livingston, First Lord of Livingston Manor...
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The Maple Sugar Bubble of the 1790's
Sugar Maple TreeAcer Sacharinum, The sugar maple tree. Every year, about this time, thousands of Sugar Maples are tapped so that the sap can be collected. Boiled it becomes syrup or even...
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The Mysterious Muscoe Livingston: A Hunt Through History For A Man With a...
Muscoe Livingston, aka Musco and occasionally Muscow. This name has popped up in my research since 2018. He has proved to be elusive since then. Appearing in a document here and there but...
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Pierre-Etienne du Ponceau: The Indispensable and Long Lived Man
Pierre-Etienne du Ponceau or Peter Stephen du Ponceau after he anglicized it arrived in America at the age of 17 in the Company of the Baron von Steuben. Von Steuben had hired him, as a translator...
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Ambition and Slander: Chancellor Robert R. Livingston's Run For Governor in 1798
Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Chancellor Robert R. Livingston was an ambitious man. He secured several prominent political positions for himself, including Chancellor of New York and...
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Cooking with Rex McVitty: Lamb Curry
Rex and Honoria McVittyToday I present to you another blog written by Rex McVitty. This time it is his recipe for curry. This recipe was obtained by a visitor to Sylvan Cottage while Rex and Honoria...
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The Children of Katharine Livingston Livingston Timpson: Theodore Livingston...
This is the first in a series of five blogs that will explore the life of Katharine Livingston Livingston Timpson’s children. If Katharine was Clermont’s forgotten daughter, her children are...
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The Children of Katharine Livingston Livingston Timpson: Katherine Livingston...
This is the second in a series of five blogs that will explore the life of Katharine Livingston Livingston Timpson’s children. If Katharine was Clermont’s forgotten daughter, her children are the...
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The Children of Katharine Livingston Livingston Timpson: Robert Clermont...
This is the third in a series of five blogs that will explore the life of Katharine Livingston Livingston Timpson’s children. If Katharine was Clermont’s forgotten daughter, her children are the...
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The Children of Katharine Livingston Livingston Timpson: John Alastair Timpson
Alastair rowing on an African lake during an R & R leave. Note the bandages on his hands covering blisters from his work in the desert. This is the fourth in a series of five blogs that will...
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The Children Of Katharine Livingston Timpson: Helen Rosamund Timpson
Rosamund as a young womanThis is the fifth in a series of five blogs that will explore the life of Katharine Livingston Livingston Timpson’s children. If Katharine was Clermont’s forgotten daughter,...
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Henry Livingston Sr. – Poughkeepsie Enslaver
Today we give you a blog originally posted on the Poughkeepsie Public Library District Page, written by their Historian (and former Clermont tour guide extraordinaire) Shannon Butler. In the blog...
View ArticleA Guest Post by Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, Benjamin Franklin,...
In Congress, July 4, 1776The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands...
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Unintended Consequences: Henry Knox's Artillery Train and The Invasion of Canada
It is easy to imagine bits of history happening in a vacuum. In fact, this is how history is often taught, one event after another, one date at a time. However, history is almost never that neat and...
View ArticleThe Mystery of Crazy Bob: Robert Le Roy Livingston
The War of 1812 is to historians what the common cold is to doctors: an embarrassment. It should be pretty simple, but its causes, nature, and ending are maddeningly elusive. Thankfully, the War of...
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