History Chat with Germantown Historian Tom Shannon: The Records of William Smith, Jr.

Join us for a History Chat with Tom Shannon, the town of Germantown historian, about the remarkable life of William Smith, Jr., and the invaluable record he left behind of the Revolutionary War on Livingston Manor.

William Smith, Jr. was a well heeled and well connected attorney in New York City prior to the Revolutionary War. Married into the extended Livingston family, after war and personal tragedy intruded, he and his family took up residence at Peter R. Livingston's just-built home, Hermitage, in 1776. Publicly neutral but privately skeptical of the cause of American independence, Smith had no political home during the war. An erudite gentleman, he kept extensive notes of his daily travels, interactions with neighbors ranging from Palatine tenants to Robert Livingston, Jr. and Chancellor Robert Livingston, and musings on the political and military maneuverings taking place in the Hudson Valley in 1777. Some of what he documented is what he was told by slaves and servants coming and going through the Hermitage. His intent, never followed through on, was to construct a history from these notes after the war. While his documentation of the burning of Clermont is disappointingly brief, his notes shed extensive light on the personality and political temperament of Robert Livingston, Jr., the Third Lord of the Manor, the political inclinations of the mass of tenants on Livingston Manor at the time, the so-called Battle of Egremont, part of which occurred in Elizaville, and a curious layover by the Marquis de Lafayette at the Livingston Manor house in early 1778. Refusal to take loyalty oaths to the new State of New York forced Smith to return to British occupied New York City in mid-1778.

This talk will take place in our Visitor Center.

Please note: This event is free of charge. Reservations are not required but appreciated.

You may also like the following events from Clermont State Historic Site:

• This Sunday, 10th August, 02:00 pm, Curatorial Tour of the Mansion in Malden On Hudson
• Next Saturday, 16th August, 11:00 am, Harvesting History: Fall Seed Starting! in Malden On Hudson
• Next Sunday, 17th August, 02:00 pm, The Livingston’s Landscape Walking Tour in Malden On Hudson

Also check out other Nonprofit events in Malden on Hudson.