Schuyler's Sites

Portrait of Philip John Schuyler

Today we visited Schuyler Mansion which is located in Albany. Since it was not far from Troy, we got there very quick. However, we would have gotten there sooner, if Professor Michael had driven faster. When we got there the curators were not expecting us so we had to wait in the art exhibit while they got ready. This art exhibit was pretty much about Schuyler and his family. In one of the labels, I read that Philip John Schuyler was the fourth generation of Albany Schuylers who had fair amount of land. Later on, he inherited a great amount of land in Saratoga. In addition, his marriage with Catharine Van Rensselaer brought him more land. Catharine’s properties passed to Schuyler’s hands since women at that time were not expected to own any property. The large amount of land that now Schuyler possessed contributed to his great success in America.  Even though I read about Schuyler briefly in Tom Lewis’ book, it was good having more details about his life. Going around the small exhibit and reading about Schuyler’s life definitely helped me a lot in understanding the facts and the stories that the curators told us. I wish we get to do that for every place we go.  I think that everybody is his or her own teacher. So giving us the chance to read and view in our own is a great way to start a tour.

Waiting Room

When the curator was ready to give us the tour, we walked to Schuyler’s mansion which was right next to the gallery. The first room of Schuyler mansion was the vestibule which was not originally part of the house. The vestibule was constructed by the later owners of the mansion after Schuyler had died. Once inside the main hallway which were where the actual Schuyler mansion started, I saw the differences in architecture and style. The architecture of Schuyler Mansion definitely has more details compared with the vestibule. For instance, the picture above shows the Schuyler mansion’s waiting room which has beautiful borders in the wall. The two windows make the room look very symmetrical which for some reason is very favorable to me and many others. The furniture seemed to me very modern for time Schuyler lived. I have not seen furniture like these ones in any of the museums we have been to.

Carpet Sample

 The curator explained that the carpets that cover the floor were remade from the original one. This remained me to our trip to Peebles Island art restoration, where works like this one are done. The picture above shows a copy of the original style of carpet that was used in Schuyler mansion.

Bible

This picture shows the bible of Schuyler’s family. It was amazing to learn that a bible was passed to different generations in his family. This tradition might have faded away because I’ve never seen that before. However, it would be could if there was a specific artifact that families today pass from generation to generation. The artifact would say a lot about a specific family and young kids will be able to have something that belonged to their ancestors.

After we went through all the rooms of the mansion, I was very astonished by the architecture and the furniture. Catherine had definitely a good taste.

Portrait of Alexander Hamilton

Schuyler had 15 children who 8 of them survived childhood. There were 5 girls who 4 of them eloped. Schuyler was not happy with this. The only daughter who did not eloped was Elizabeth who married Alexander Hamilton (shown above). Hamilton became very close to Schuyler.  Of Schuyler’s three sons, the youngest one developed a gambling problem. Due to this, Schuyler had to pay massive amounts of debts. The oldest one was in charge of some of Schuyler’s land business in Saratoga. The middle son grew up to be very successful. He became a very wealthy attorney. Schuyler’s middle son seems to be his favorite son due to the fact that Schuyler had two portraits of him.

Blockhouse

Bench at Still Water

We went to Blockhouse for lunch. After eating, we went inside the house where there was no furniture or nice architecture. However, the house itself is full of History.  For instance, in September of 1777, Schuyler made his first stand at the old military training station of Still Water which is where the blockhouse is located. In 1927, blockhouse is built for the 150^th anniversary of the battles of Saratoga. This house might be as simple as it is but it has a great history for North America.

Schuyler's House In Saratoga

After viewing and learning about the blockhouse, we went to Saratoga where we learned a little more about Schuyler’s life and the battles he fought. The picture above shows the house that Schuyler inherited from his family. This house is located in Saratoga and it was the place of many of the battles he fought against the British. British general John Burgoyne burned this house down which he thought will weaken the enemy. However, this did not cause a lots of trouble for Schuyler who was able to rebuild the house in 3 weeks.
The inside of the house seemed to me very simple. However, it might have been a very comfortable place since many of Schuyler’s friends stayed overnight. For instance, George Washington and his son-in-law alexander Hamilton. The house is very close to the Hudson River which I think marked it as a hot spot during the American Revolution. In addition, the Hudson was often used as a strategic highway to attack the enemy. Since many of the early settlers established themselves near from the Hudson River, it was easier for the British to attack. The British only had to follow the river to find their targets.