Last fall, we visited the Lorenzo mansion at Lorenzo State Historic Site in Cazenovia, New York. The village of Cazenovia was a lake resort community. It still is well worth the visit.
Colonel
John Lincklaen, founder of the village of Cazenovia, had this mansion built in 1807.
President Grover Cleveland visited and had dinner in the mansion in 1887, had dinner, and spent the night. Why don't we step in his footsteps?
Closeup of this beautiful display.
The outside of the mansion. Let's go in. (Take the tour; it is well worth the money.)
A chest.
Artwork.
Fun fact, no one knows why it was called Lorenzo, according to the man who gave us the tour. No one of that name was ever associated with the house, as far as we know.
Not fun fact, enslaved men and women were kept and utilized for their unpaid labor at Lorenzo. (You'll have to scroll partway down the page for some information. While we think of Southern states when it comes to slavery, Northern states did have legalized slavery - and, in fact, New York, while it did pass a gradual emancipation law in 1799, did not totally emancipate all of its enslaved residents until 1827. (Massachusetts was the first Northern state to free its enslaved residents).
New York has a number of state historic sites. I hope to feature another one of them later in this Challenge.
"L" day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme: Gardens, History, Art and The Unexpected.
Beautiful pictures
ReplyDeleteThat looks an interesting house.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot rewrite history, though many try to. We have to accept that unacceptable things happened and be thankful that the world is a slightly better place - for some.
The room's deco is looking so fine
ReplyDelete...slavery was a scourge across America.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying this trip through New York with you. I visited NYC years ago on a high school trip but other than that your state is foreign to me. Foreign but fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThat's so strange no one knows why it's called Lorenzo! Maybe the first owner just made it up and no one ever asked him about it. Cazenovia has that Z too, maybe that's connected? Such pretty anemones.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photo tour of the mansion ~ awesome gardens ~ hugs,
ReplyDeleteWishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
I bet there's a great story as to why it's called Lorenzo, but those with that knowledge have died with it, so we'll never know. Looks like a lovely house. It's good to remember that slavery happened even in the north. We can't let our history be buried.
ReplyDeleteLovely mansion
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. I'm curious about whether there is an acknowledgement in the house of the labor done by enslaved workers -- without whom the house could not have been maintained.
ReplyDeleteThat would have been during Cleveland's first term in office... I didn't know Adlai Stevenson I was his VP. I went to school with IV.
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a flowery bedroom. I love visiting historic mansions. This is part of the U.S. history that is sad and can still feel the the thoughts of this way of thinking even today. One must teach it a d showcase it so history never repeats
ReplyDelete