This Month's Tour: Mount Gullian
 Location
145 Sterling Street, Beacon, NY 12508 Phone: (845) 831-8172
Hours: Open mid-April through December, Wednesdays and Sundays,
1-5 p.m., and by appointment. Group and school visits year round.
Admission charge.
Directions
Take I-84 to exit 11. Take 9D north approximately
1/10 of a mile. Turn left into Hudson View Apartments. Make an
immediate left onto Lamplight Street, which becomes Sterling Street.
The site is at the end of the Sterling.
Overlooking The Hudson:
“Mount Gulian” (pronounced “Goo-lee-an”
and rhymes with “hooligan”) is the name of the manor
house you see before you. It was built about 1740 by a descendent
of Gulian Verplanck, also named Gulian Verplanck.
Why There’s No Mountain:
The first thing you’re sure to notice is
there’s no mountain at Mount Gulian. In the 18th century,
the term “mount” was common title for an important
home. “Mount” was used poetically. Washington called
his home “Mount Vernon”, even though there is no real
mountain by that name. Phillip Freneau, poet of the Revolution,
called his home “Mount Pleasant,” even though it’s
on the very level coastal plain of New Jersey.
Indians:
People have lived on this river for about 6000 to 11,000 years.
Indians lived at this very location for much of that time. A detailed
archeological study of the Native American aspect of this site
is planned. “Castle Point,” where the veteran’s
hospital is located, is nearby. It was named after the Indian
fort or “castle” once located there. (In the 18th
century, the term “castle” was used to describe any
fortified place, even farmhouses.)
Other local pre-Columbian sites have been destroyed
by road building, mining, and construction projects. In 1966,
an Indian rock shelter tentatively dated to 1000 BC was destroyed
when I-84 was constructed. (NY Daily News, Aug. 7, 1966). The
shelter was located in Dutchess County near the present I-84 Ludingtonville
exit. The site at Mount Gulian was probably inhabited by the same
Native-American community.
Gulian Verplanck:
Gulian Verplanck was born in New Amsterdam on January
1st 1637. He went into business in the beaver trade with his father
Abraham. In 1674 the authorities listed the 200 wealthiest men
in New Amsterdam. Gulian’s name was 28th on the list. His
estate was valued at 5000 florins.
Francis Rombout:
In 1653 Francis Rombout (“Frans Rombouts”
in his native Flemish language) was 17 years old when he came
to New Amsterdam (the Dutch name for New York City) as a clerk
on the ship “New Amsterdam.” He stayed two years then
went back home to Hasselt, Belgium just long enough to settle
his personal affairs. He then returned to New Amsterdam and went
into the fur trading business together with Gulian Verplanck.
In 1664, Peter Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to the English,
who named it New York. From 1673 to 1678 inclusive, Francis Rombout
served as Mayor of the City of New York.
The Rombout Patent:
The Rombout Patent is a legal document. It was
issued by the King James II of England. In it, the king granted
Francis Rombout and his associates the right to own land that
was then claimed by England.
In 1683, Gulian Verplanck and Francis Rombout purchased
approximately 85,000 acres from the Wappinger Indians. That includes
the property upon which you are now standing, as well as most
of the rest of Southern Dutchess County. The price, about $1,250.00,
was paid in guns, shot, powder, blankets, wampum, alcohol, cloth
and other goods. The Rombout Patent was finally granted in 1685
to Verplanck, Rombout, and Stephanus Van Cortlandt. In 1706, when
the land was divided among their heirs, the Verplanck family held
35,000 acres, including over a mile of river frontage.
The Manorial System:
Mount Gulian was the central home on an estate
that was set up as a manor. Feudal manors were legal and numerous
in the Hudson Valley until the New York State Constitution was
rewritten in the 1840s. With the single and remarkable exception
of Francis Rombout’s daughter Catheryna Brett, (whose estate
was also a manor) lords of the manor would lease, but would never
sell the land they owned. Under the manorial system, ordinary
persons wishing to live in the area had to agree to live on the
land as tenant farmers and work for the lord of the manor. The
only known tenant farmer’s residence still standing in the
Hudson Valley was part of this manor. It’s located at nearby
Stony Kill.
James F. Brown:
James F. Brown was born into slavery in Maryland
in 1793. He escaped to New York City when he was 25 years old.
His freedom was purchased by the Verplanck family from those who
enslaved him. Brown was then employed by the Verplancks as a coachman
and waiter. Mary Anna Verplanck taught him to read and write.
In 1828 Brown moved to Mount Gulian, the Verplanck’s
country home, where he supervised a gardening staff. A year later
he started his journal which he continued to write until 1866.
His journal entries make many references to the planting of crops,
the purchase of supplies (from A.J. Downing’s nursery in
Newburgh) and weather conditions. Under James Brown’s care,
Mount Gulian’s gardens became famous for their beauty.
The formal English gardens Brown nurtured were
created in 1804. Volunteers are now in the process of careful
restoration.
Robert Newlin Verplanck:
Robert Newlin Verplanck was born at Mount Gulian
in 1842, during the time James F. Brown was employed there. Robert
Newlin Verplanck enlisted in the New York State Militia and became
an officer of African-American troops, including the 6th Regiment
of Colored Troops, training his men and leading them into battle.
It’s a fact that says more about the Verplanck family’s
attitude regarding matters of freedom and human equality than
can be put into words. Verplanck survived the war and married
Katherine Brinckerhoff in 1875. He died in 1908.
Gulian Crommelin Verplanck 1786-1870:
Robert Newlin Verplanck’s grandfather, Guilan
Crommelin Verplanck, appears to have been born with every possible
advantage. Those who knew him seemed to agree Verplanck did his
best to use those advantages for the benefit of society as a whole.
He published a special illustrated collection of poems and stories
called “The Talsiman.” It included his own work and
the work of a small circle of writers and artists. William Cullen
Bryant was among them. They would frequently gather at Mount Gulian
to go on picnics and excursions in various parts of the Hudson
Highlands. These outings and the ensuing conversations provided
inspiration for their literary work.
Lorenzo da Ponte:
Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838) wrote lyrics for Mozart's
operas, including “Figaro“and “Don Giovanni.
He was a close associate of the famous Casanova, and led a life
filled with adventure and accomplishment. He spent most of his
life in Vienna, Austria but later moved to Rhinebeck, NY.
Gulian Crommelin Verplanck knew him well and it seems unlikely
da Ponte would have missed visiting Mount Gulian. Da Ponte taught
Italian literature at Columbia in 1825 and was instrumental in
the introduction of Italian Opera to New York. Verplanck was among
those who attended da Ponte’s funeral at Calvary Cemetery
in Woodside, Queens in 1838.
 Midsommer
Nights Dreame:
Gulian Crommelin Verplanck was deeply interested
in Shakespeare. In 1844 Verplanck produced the first scholarly
American edition of Shakespeare’s complete plays ever attempted.
In honor of Gulian Crommelin Verplanck, Folkevirke
Appleseed (a group specializing in non traditional learning) presented
“A Masque Version of Shakespeare’s Midsommer Nights
Dreame,” produced by Witches’ Brew Productions under
the direction of Ruthy Rosen. The date was what made it so special.
Gulian Crommelin Verplanck was being honored exactly on Midsummer’s
Day, 1996, the 400th anniversary of the first presentation of
the play in 1596.
Birthplace of Our First and Oldest Veteran’s
Organization:
The Society of the Cincinnati, our nation’s
first and oldest veteran’s organization was founded at the
suggestion of General
Lafayette by Von Steuben and other officers at Mount Gulian.
During the Revolution, Mount Gulian was used as
headquarters for General
Von Steuben. Von Steuben’s training turned our volunteer
militia into soldiers with the skills to fight and survive both
on the battlefield and in the camp. Von Steuben knew the importance
of camp sanitation, since disease in military camps was a major
problem.
A Fire and A Ghost Tale:
On September 6th, 1931, the New York Herald Tribune
reported that Mount Gulian had been razed by fire leaving nothing
standing but stone walls. The weather was dry and there was no
water in the well. The firemen could only attempt to save as much
as they could carry from the building. Many family portraits were
lost along with irreplaceable books, manuscripts, and family papers.
Some twenty days after the fire, the United Press
carried this story: “Reports of an apparition in the 200
year old Verplanck homestead while flames destroyed the structure
recently are being discussed here. …”
As the fire was burning, a police officer and three
men who were with him all saw the same thing: for the space of
a half an hour the figure of a man could be seen plainly through
the window of an upper room. He was seated at a desk and busy
writing, while a woman stood behind him, holding a lighted candle
high enough to cast its light upon his work. His hair was long
and tied back. Both were dressed in clothes of an earlier time.
The scene disappeared only when the building finally succumbed
to the flames and collapsed.
The Mount Gulian Society:
The Mount Gulian Society, a nonprofit, private
organization, was formed in 1966 to restore the original building
which was destroyed by fire, and to promote the site as an historical
educational and cultural facility. You may wish to consider becoming
a member.
Come Back Often:
There’s the Revolutionary
War Living History Weekend, Hallowe’en storytelling in the
barn, guided tours, garden activities, the Christmas Candlelight
Tour, and special exhibits and events. Call 845-831-8172 for information
and updates.
“Promise
of Fruit” By Norma Charmaz
Within each tiny apple seed
There lives a potent force.
One plants it in the friendly soil
And hopes it grows. Of course
One must water it with hope and faith
And in every passing day
We wait to welcome life anew
That points our future way.
A green finger then pokes boldly through,
Nourished by the rain and dew,
Greeted by the subtle sun,
Promise of fruit that’s sure to come.
First presented May 5th, 1991 in the Dutch Barn
at Mount Gulian Historic Site in Beacon, NY to celebrate the founding
of Folkevirke Appleseed, a non-traditional learning community.
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