The Chancellor
Clermont field trip
The Livingston family made Clermont their home for generations. The most famous of the group was The Chancellor, Robert Livingston. He gave George Washington the oath of office, which you know is the #1 fact that I dorked out over.
Livingston also helped draft the Declaration of Independence (but didn’t sign it!) and the New York State constitution, was instrumental in the Louisiana Purchase, and helped co-invent the steamboat with Robert Fulton. I had no idea that last fact was so interesting until I read Bobs’ Folly: Fulton, Livingston and The Steamboat, by Travis Bowman.
[Here’s a reel with my doodles]
Full Steam Ahead
Historian Henry Adams (JQA’s grandson and John Adams’ great-grandson) noted that the launch of the steamship transformed everything — it “separated the Colonial from the independent stage of growth.”
One of Livingston’s cousins was skeptical about the whole thing, saying “Bob has had a bee in his bonnet before now, but this steam folly will prove the worst one yet.” Spoiler: his cousin was wrong.
With the first steamboat, a trip from NYC to Albany would take 32 hours. Less than a decade later, the same trip would take 18.
For a while, the Roberts (Fulton and Livingston) dominated the Hudson River with their monopoly. It ended with a court case — and was replaced with a new monopoly. Vanderbilt came on the scene and priced his service so low there wasn’t any competition.
Perpetual friendship
Steamboats laid down telegraph lines. President James Buchanan announced that the transatlantic cable was “a triumph more glorious…. than ever won by a conqueror on the field of battle… may the Atlantic telegraph, under the blessing of heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred nations.” He used it to chat with Queen Victoria.
Today
The mansion itself is currently undergoing a facelift and isn’t open to the public, but there’s still plenty to do! The grounds are expansive and gorgeous (a perfect place for a walk on the trail and a picnic overlooking the Hudson River). There’s also a full calendar of upcoming events to check out.
The Harvesting History Teaching Garden shown below serves 1,600 kids in the region. The kids learn how to harvest the food, how to prepare it, and then get to bring it home.
Stay tuned
More on Clermont in the future. A new exhibit will be unveiled soon in the visitors’ center and I can’t wait to see it!
Have you visited Clermont? Let me know in the comments below.
PS In 1909, the Henry Hudson Tri-Centennial Committee that planned the Hudson-Fulton Celebration included Grover Cleveland, Frederick Grant (Ulysses S. Grant’s son), and Robert Roosevelt (uncle of sitting president, Theodore Roosevelt).
The doodle with Livingston’s resume was inspired by 499 Facts about Hip-Hop Hamilton and the Rest of America's Founding Fathers by Stephen Spignesi. For more sources, see my full bibliography.
