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Morris-Jumel Mansion
The Morris-Jumel Mansion, often
referred to as the Roger and Mary Philipse Morris House sits atop a
small knoll in the historical section of Washington Heights, and is
the oldest house still standing in Manhattan, where the British and
the American forces would be headquartered in the great American
Revolutionary War; and perhaps a place of hauntings. The beautiful
structure was built in 1765, by Roger Morris, and is a marvelous
example of the Palladian style of architecture. Roger was the nephew
of a very wealthy English architect, and duely influenced by the
designs of a 16th century architect, Palladio, which is so evident
in his home, which includes a wonderful portico and pediment, held
up by outstanding Tuscan columns, and a big, two story octagonal
addition to the rear of the house. This octagon space is considered
to be the first of its kind in this country. Its history is
marvelous, with General George Washington coming here in 1776,
sometime between September and October, using the magnificent
mansion as the temporary headquarters when he and the army were
pushed out of Brooklyn Heights, after they had lost a battle to the
British army. The British were led by General William Howe and the
battle of Long Island was the one lost. The mansion is one of the
marvelous landmarks that still stand after the Battle of Harlem
Heights, when it would become the headquarters of British Lt.
General Sir Henry Clinton and his Hessian commander, Baron Wilhelm
von Knyphausen. Other distinguished visitors included; Thomas
Jefferson, John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Alexander Hamilton. In
1810, Stephen and Eliza Jumel bought the house and after he passed
on, Eliza would marry the enigma ex-vice president Aaron Burr, who
lived here during the a short time in the 1830s, and after he passed
on in 1836, Eliza would live there by herself until she passed on in
1865. In 1882, the Morris descendants would split up the property's
110 acres into 1058 lots. The city bought the house in 1903 and it
was made a National Historic Landmark in 1961. It has been featured
on the Bob Villa A&E Network show, Guide to Historic Homes of
America in the year 1996. It is completely furnished with the period
furniture and furnishings, with replicated carpets and wallpapers of
the era and open for public tours as a historic museum house. Roger
Morris was a British officer that had served in the French and
Indian War, and after retiring from the army in 1764, came to New
York City with his American wife, Mary Philipse and built his
mansion the next year, calling it Mount Morris. He and Mary left in
1776, just after the start of the Revolutionary War, since he was a
staunch loyalist; passing on in 1794 in York, England. Mary lived
until 1825, and then she also passed on at the ripe old age of 96.
Two of their sons would become captains in the Royal Navy. Eliza
Jumel was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Phebe Kelley Bowen, a
prostitute, which Eliza followed into, but was able to keep her
secret as she married Stephen Jumel, a rich French wine merchant, in
1804. Because she was of low social standings, the social circles in
New York rejected her, even though they moved into the Morris-Jumel
Mansion in 1810. She and Stephen went to France in 1815, going to
Paris and getting into trouble there, all the while spending
Stephen's wealth. He had found out she had a rather dubious past and
stayed in France when she went back to New York City, asked to leave
France by the king. The marriage started to fall further apart as
the couple was apart, and she slowly started selling her husband's
holdings and using the money to try to buy her way into the society
of the city. Stephen passed on in 1832, with the rumor that Eliza
had let him bleed to death, and 14 months later she would marry
Burr, in hopes of using his name to get into the society that she so
emphatically desired, while Burr hoped to get some of the money he
believed she still had. He would go on to misuse the rest of her
estate, and they would divorce on September 14, 1836, the same day
that Burr passed on.
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