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Image provided by: Guilderland Public Library
The Altamont Enterprise - Thursday, July IS, 2004 11 From the historian's desk The original young mistress of the Schoolcraft Mansion Left behind By Alice Begley Caroline Canfield Schoolcraft has been but a faded image among all the stories written about John L^ Schoolcraft, Congressman and builder of the early Gothic house on the Great Western Turnpike in Guilder- land. We've learned of School- craft's European travels that brought him to build the faux brownstone mansion upon his return from Europe. We've written of Schoolcraft's ris& in the business and banking world in Albany and of his political rise to become a Congressman from New York in 1848 to 1852. Now we will learn a little about Caroline Schoolcraft who became the wife of Guilderland's illustrious resident in 1853 after her graduation from Emma Willard School in Troy, N.Y. When they married, he was 47 years old and Caroline was 18. She was the niece of Governor William H. Seward, John Schoolcraft's close friend. Caroline was born to Dr. Mahlon D. Canfield and.Louisa Seward Canfield in 1835 in Geneva, N.Y. For her education, she was sent to the exclusive boarding school in Troy. The librarian of the Emma Willard School sent us a record of Caroline's studies while she attended there. She studied 197 pages of French grammar, 16 pages of Latin, reading, piano, oil painting, drawing and composition. These lessons were persued for a term of five months, ending in July of 1851. An additional study term to Feb. 11, 1852 found Caroline learning more French -grammar and Latin, reading six books, algebra, singing, and dancing. These were typical studies for a young lady of that time Caroline's mother, Louisa, had also attended Emma Willard. Guilderland's John School- craft married Caroline on Aug. 6, 1853, a year after she finished at Emma Willard and the year he declined to run for a third term in Congress. The wedding took place in the First Presbyterian Church on State Street in Albany, N.Y. John Schoolcraft and Caroline had three children in their short seven years of married life: Oliver Johnson Schoolcraft, John L. Schoolcraft Jr. and Marie - Seward Schoolcraft. Congressman Schoolcraft died in 1860 upon his return trip home from a political conven- tion in Chicago where his good friend, William Seward, had lost the presidential nomination to Abraham Lincoln. The young widow, Caroline, had never really cared for staying in the Gothic mansion her husband built in the distant Guilderland outpost. She had been born and bred a city girl. Within two years, she made preparations to sell the School- craft house and all her holdings in the Guilderland township. Caroline Canfield Schoolcraft married Congressman John L. Schoolcraft in 1853, when she was 18 and he was 47. She pre- sided over Guilderland's Schoolcraft Mansion for just seven years before her husband's death in 1860. After spending a year in the Lodge Street residence in Albany where John had resided during his business and political deal - ings, Caroline moved with her three children to a house in the cantonement in East Greenbush. aid, 28, was the groom. All were born in Ireland except Havarack who was from Germany, and McDonald, who was born in New York. Three years later, in 1866, Caroline Schoolcraft married The young widow, Caroline, had never really cared for staying in the Gothic mansion her husband built in the distant Guilderland outpost. It is believed she rented one of the officer's houses after the Cantonement Greenbush was abandoned by the army. A contonment is a large military camp. During the War of 1812, extensive barracks were erected on the hills of Greenbush village. It was the headquarters of the Northern Division of the United States Army of 1812. The cantonment contained accom- modations for 4,000 troops and hospital facilities for 100. There were also large houses built for officers. East Greenbush census papers of the year 1863 reveal Caroline Schoolcraft also brought six servants with her. Catherine Smith, age 49, was the nurse; Anna Hogan, 50, was the cook; Jane McGuigan, 30, was the chambermaid; Winifred Malone, 24, was the waitress; Henry Havarack, 28, was the gardener; and Thomas Mc Don- Dr. Harry Beattie of Scotland. They moved to Richmond, Va. and she had six more children. The Schoolcraft children Caroline and John School- craft's daughter, Marie, was born June 29, 1860 — three weeks after her father had died on June 9, 1860. Marie died at age five in 1865. John L. Schoolcraft Jr. moved to Richmond with his mother and Dr. Beattie. In January 1877, he became the owner of the Richmond Inquirer. He later became president of the R.S. Railway Company and secre- tary, treasurer of the Stock Exchange. His house in Rich- mond on the corner of West Franklin and Jefferson Streets is noted as a fine example of the Mansard style of English elegance of the 1880's. I visited the house eight years ago and found it in excellent condition. The Oliver J. Schoolcraft story is an interesting one. He married Mattie Ould of Richmond who died giving birth to their first child. He then spent some time serving in the United States Navy and then . moved to England. English records from probate and divorce court state that Oliver married again in 1881 to Eliza Isabella Beauchamp, whom he had met \in the streets of London.\ He sent her to a Heidelberg seminary to be educated and \polished.\ She ran away from there and left her husband for America in 1888. In 1892, he had the marriage annulled on the grounds of Eliza's \misconduct with a cow- boy of the American wild west.\ Cambridge University records reveal that Oliver had become a clergyman of the Church of England in 1891. Caroline Schoolcraft died on March 5, 1922 at 87 years of age. Correspondence with two of her three great-great-great-grand- daughters, Kim Ford and Betsy Anderson, provided the accom- panying copy of her portrait. She is buried in the historic Hollywood Cemetery in Rich- mond, Va. Restoration The ongoing Schoolcraft House restoration is in a new phase with Western Building Restoration Company complet- ing the foundation at this time. The exterior of the house will be completed this year. Stop by and see Schoolcraft's new look. Fun week in Knox To the Editor: The Knox Youth Committee would like to give a hearty thank-you to all the adults and young adults who volunteered their talents at the very suc- cessful and very fun Hilltown Summer Program last week. Over 60 kids plus 15 teenaged helpers kept the teachers hop- ping in classes like \Memory Boxes\ (complete with Knox pillbox!), \Inuksuk (Inuit rock figure) Building,\ the ever-pop- ular \Tennis \Self-Defense \Fish Drawing,\ and a sur- prising favorite, \Running\! Special guests Rob Traina and Katie Moller shared their tai kwon do expertise to the delight (and kicks!) of all the attendees. And of course the spirit of fun was all spearheaded by camp ringleader Dan Capuano and his amazing parachute-rope games. A huge thank-you again to all that made that first week after school let out a fun one, a one of community. P.S. The Hilltown Ramblers will play at the Knox- park Friday, July 23, from 6 p.m. on, and it's free. Jean Forti Knox Youth Committee By Frank L. Palmeri There is a series of wildly popular books out called Left Behind. The premise is that the True Believers all start to disappear, leaving the rest of us behind in an increasingly tumultuous world. Don't know if I'm on board with all that, but at least, if it does happen, you would hope that the lines down a t the Department of Motor Vehicles would be a lot shorter. As it happens, I'm involved in a twisted version of Left Behind in the office where I work. It happens whenever the New York State Lotto jackpot gets real big. Everyone in the office goes in for a bunch of tickets, and you have to get in the pool because, if the group should hit, you don't want to be the only one in the office who is Left Behind. Get it? What's strange is that the group doesn't play unless the pot gets really big — as if they are not interested in splitting a lousy $10 million or so. Of course, the general public thinks the same way; that's how the pots get so big in the first place. As I'm writing this the pot is over $280 million, and I'm out over $50. If somebody doesn't win soon I'll be broke for sure. The sad thing is I've long ago gotten rid of my gambling habit. I spent many a fine Saturday, even foregoing nice weather and a myriad of outdoor activities, sitting in one of the many OTB bars betting horses, playing numbers, and indulging in many and varied libations. That was fun at the time, yet I was sure my gambling days were done, until this dreaded Lotto madness took over. If you talk to the members of the lotto-playing group in my office, you'll quickly determine that winning the big prize is not the major motivation for playing. It really comes down to the fact that no one wants to be the \sucker\ who was Left Behind, the jerk who was too cheap to pony up $5 and is now out thousands if not millions of dollars. Think about it. If you don't play and the group wins, you'll be the only one left in the office. You'll have to suffer the indignity of seeing your former co-workers smiling in the newspaper, getting interviewed on the radio, maybe even laughing it up with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show couch. Nobody wants to be left out of all that, yet we're all slowly going broke trying to prevent it! It's almost like paying insurance premiums; you don't like doing it, yet you must because there's always a chance something bad will happen if you don't. I sure hope someone hits the Jackpot soon, because I'm tired of eating peanut butter and jelly for lunch. 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