Sit a Spell
by Marianne Campolongo
Title
Sit a Spell
Artist
Marianne Campolongo
Medium
Photograph - Fine Art Photograph
Description
Three green windsor chairs on the front porch of the main house, John Jay Homestead State Historic Site, Katonah, New York. The original building was built in 1787 for the farm manager, then renovated and completed by Jay in 1801 as the main house when he moved to the property full time. A stone wing was added in the 1920s.
John Jay is probably best remembered as the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, appointed by George Washington, but as a Founding Father of our nation, he held many high offices. His grandfather, Jacobus Van Cortlandt, purchased property for the farm in what is now Katonah, New York, in Westchester County, from the Native American sachem, Katonah, in 1703. The grounds include historic outbuildings including this main house, four formal gardens, fields, a pond, and wooded trails on 62 acres.
John Jay was President of the Second Continental Congress, Minister to Spain during the American Revolution, and Secretary for Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation. In 1777 he was principal author of the first state constitution and also served as its chief justice, and as governor. Along with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, he negotiated the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolution, as well as going to England in 1794, as chief negotiator and author the controversial treaty, known as the Jay Treaty, which resolved a number of differences with Great Britain, delaying open conflict until the War of 1812.
His youngest son William, an abolitionist, inherited the farm and like succeeding generations continued the family tradition of public service. Eleanor Jay was the last family member to live there. After her death in the 1950s Westchester County purchased the property and it became a New York State Historic Site.
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Uploaded
December 15th, 2014
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