Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 June 1894 — RELIC OF EARLY DAYS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

RELIC OF EARLY DAYS

FAMOUS JUMEL MANSION IN NEW YORK CITY. Where Washington and Other lUugtriotu Ken Were Guest* and Where Octogenarian Aaron Burr Won a Wife—Had a Haunted Boom. Associated with Washington. Connecting New York of to-day with the New York of ancient times and associated with some of the leading characters of that age of illustriojs men is the Jumel mansion, one of the oldest pieces of architecture in the metropolis. Grand and picturesque in outline,

the old mansion has crowned one of the highest spots of ground on Manhattan Island since 1758. when it was built by Mary Phillipse, George Washington’s first sweetheart, later the bride of Roger Morris. Time has only baautified the place by weaving around it traditions of love, war, and peace. Historians claim that no story of the revolution is complete without the history of the Ji.mel mansion. George Washin ton and other men whose names are part of the history of the republic dined in its banquet hall, slept in its spacious chambers, and oanced on it; polished floors. It is said

that Washington planned many of his battles in the council chamber at the end of the halL It was into this room, while Washington was meditating upon some stroke of policy, that:o,l Indians, arrayed in feathers and bright paint, slow y filed, bearing wreaths of laurel which they laid at the General’s feet, calling him the “Great Father.” After the marriage of Mary Phillipse the house was known as the Roger Morris place, and was use by Gem Knyphausen, the commander of the Hessians, when the capture of Fort Washington resulted in the whole island tailing into the hands of the British. One of the most noted hostesses of the Jumel mansicn was the wife of Stephen Jumel, from whom the place received its present name. The Jumels bought the mansion in 1810, and spared neither time nor money in mak-

ing it the most impressive house on the island. Those were the red-letter days of the mansion. Never before or since have such grand entertainments been given. How Airo'J Barr Woo a Wife. M. Jumel lost the greater part of his fortune in 1822, and his wife returned to her native land in the hope of being able to economize. It is said that this woman, who had been a brilliant belie, renowned for her charity and generosity, became eccentric and miser’y, and would spend her time looking after petty details of the household. The poor of Washington Heights no longer watched for a coach drawn by eight horses, from which pennies would be sprinkled by the much loved hostess of Jumel. After the death of M. Jumel,

who was thrown from a carriage and killed, Mme. Betty Jumel was met and wooed by Aaron Burr, then nearly 8u years of age. though not entirely devoid of the fascination with which he had wton the hearts of many beautiful women. Many stories are told of the persistence with which Aar An Burr fought the heart ot Mme. Jumel. She'&ave him no encouragement, never guessing perhaps that he carred for her. *To her surprise one day, as he was taking hereto dinner, ce said, with a low bow, “My hand is yours, tea dam, my heart has belonged to you lor aw&ng tiifee. , *|Tbe t\oro she re*u)M»d to listen to his pleadings, the

to her refusals, but would bring a minister and thus end the discussion. Never dreaming that Burr would carry out his threat, Mme. Jumel was astonished one day to see her suitor march Into the drawing-room where she was seated, aeoompanied by Rev. Dr. Bogart So dismayed was the fair lady that the peppnasions used by her own relations capped her to give way, preferring to marry Burr rather than be a party to the .scandal which she '“lt must follow now that the thing had been carried so far.

A Ha unfed Roorr. At the head o's the old colonial staircase is a square room, said to have been Mme. Jumel's chamber, now known as the haunted room. It was in this room that Mme. Jumel died. Some of those who have slept in it say that at 12 o’clock each night a panel slides down near the fireplace, and the rustle of Mme. Jumel’s brocade gown can be heard. On some nights she stops through the panel, walks to the mirror and arranges her toilet. There are people who have slept in that room who accuse her of being wickedly vicious, and pinching the arms of any one who happen to be found in her bed. In the cellar, the place where Harvey, the English spy, was chained, is yet to be seen. Many efforts have been made to find the subterranean passage which is said to exist and run from the mansion down to the river. It is through this passage that the Tories are said to have escaped.

MARY PHILLIPSE. [Washington’s sweetheart]

THE JUMEL MANSION.

HALL ASS BALL BOOM. [Where Gen. Washington held some of his councils.]

TEA ROOM, JUMEL MANSION.