Mount Gulian is a reconstructed 18th century

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

manor house on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

in the town of

Fishkill, New York Fishkill is a village (New York), village within the Fishkill (town), New York, town of Fishkill in Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, New York (state), New York, United States. The village is in the eastern part of the town of Fishkill o ...

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. The original house served as the headquarters of Major General

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben (born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also referred to as Baron von Steuben (), was a Prussian military officer who p ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and was the place where the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

was founded. The site is registered as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

History

Archeological studies indicate intermittent Native Americans presence since 6,000 BC. The land on which the house stands was purchased from the

Wappinger The Wappinger () were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutches ...

Native Americans by two fur traders, Francis Rombout and Gulian Verplanck on August 8, 1683. In exchange for 85,000

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (344 square kilometers) of land, they paid about 1,250 dollars in goods. The Rombout Patent which formally granted the land to Francis Rombout and Gulian Verplanck was issued by King

James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...

on October 17, 1685."The Wappinger Indians", Mount Gulian Historic Site
/ref> After Gulian Verplanck's death, his estate was eventually divided among his heirs. Gulian Verplanck II, a merchant from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, received 2,880 acres, 400 of which were on a slope overlooking the Hudson River. He named his estate Mount Gulian, in honor of his grandfather and had the first house on the site built between 1730 and 1740. The building was a small structure with an A-roof. Archaeological evidence suggests it was probably enlarged around 1767 and the characteristic

gambrel roof A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. (The usual architectural term in eighteenth-century England and North America was "Dutch roof".) The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, w ...

as well as two porches were added between this year and the American Revolutionary War.

Revolutionary War

During this war, Gulian Verplanck's son Samuel stayed at the house, while his wife Judith Crommelin remained at the family mansion at 3 Wall Street, New York City. In early 1783 Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben made Mount Gulian his headquarters."Mount Gulian Historic Site", Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
/ref> At the same time,

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

had his headquarters in Hasbrouck House, Newburgh on the opposite side of the

. On the morning of May 13, 1783, a group of officers of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

met at Mount Gulian to found the

. Mount Gulian is the headquarters of the Society's New York State branch. The building was extended by in 1804 by Daniel Crommelin Verplanck, the grandson of Gulian Verplanck II, who also laid out the garden. When

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

visited the house on his return to America in 1824, he stayed in the new addition.

James Brown

James Brown was born into slavery in Fredericktown, Maryland in 1793, and escaped via the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

to New York City, where found work as a waiter at the Verplanck's mansion on Wall St. A story handed down in the Verplanck family relates that a dinner guest recognized Brown as an escaped slave, and notified the owner in Maryland. According to William E. Verplanck, "This made necessary the redemption of James."Verplanck, William Edward. 'The History of Abraham Isaacse Verplanck and his male descendants in America'', John W. Spaight Publisher, Fishkill Landing, NY, 1892
/ref> The master was paid off and Brown was hired by the Verplancks as a coachman in Manhattan. He learned to read and write, most likely taught by Mary Anna Verplanck, eldest daughter of Daniel C. Verplanck. Brown was employed as the master gardener at Mount Gulian from 1826 to 1864. In September 1826, he returned to Maryland and purchased his wife's freedom with money he had saved while working up north. Around 1826 James Brown began to keep a detailed journal of everyday life, one of the very few journals of daily life as experienced by a black person anywhere in the North. In 1849 construction of the Hudson River Railroad cut off access to the Verplanck boat and bathhouse at the end of the property at the shoreline.Bergen, Tunis Garret. "Verplanck", ''Genealogies of the State of New York'', Vol. 2, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915
/ref> In 1803, upon the death of Judith Commerlin Verplanck, the family mansion at 3 Wall Street was closed and much of its furnishings moved to Mount Gulian.

Restoration

The original mansion was destroyed in a fire laid by an

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

ist in 1931. After this, the ruin of the house was left unattended until 1966, when Bache Bleecker, a descendant of the Verplanck family, and his wife Connie founded the Mount Gulian Society, as a nonprofit, private organization. The goal of the society was restoration of Mount Gulian which was completed in 1975. The restoration reconstructed the house to the state it was in when it served as von Steuben's headquarters. Later additions were not included in the restoration. Since then, the building has been accessible to the public as a museum. The interior contains artifacts related to the Verplanck family. Also on the site is an 18th-century Dutch barn, which was moved to this location from Hopewell Junction. The museum is open from April through October.

Location

The street address of the Mount Gulian mansion is 145 Sterling Street, Beacon, NY 12508, USA.

References

External links

official websiteArticle on the foundation of the Society of the Cincinnati
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Houses completed in 1740 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Fishkill, New York Museums in Dutchess County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Dutchess County, New York Historic house museums in New York (state) Houses in Dutchess County, New York American Revolutionary War museums in New York (state) 1740 establishments in the Province of New York Stone houses in New York (state)