By Jason Emerson
Editor
Lorenzo State Historic Site turned 50 this year — marking the golden anniversary of when New York state acquired the Lorenzo mansion and approximately 86 acres of land from the eight heirs of Jane Strawbridge Ledyard Remington. The heirs also gave to the state the estate outbuildings, complete contents of the mansion and an easement on the 13.5 acres of land between Cazenovia Lake and Route 20 to protect Lorenzo’s lake view from future development.
“The vision of the Lorenzo heirs and the State of New York resulted in a monumental gift to the people of Cazenovia and CNY in 1968. From the majestic setting and cultural landscape, the campus of significant historic structures and the vast site collections — the legacy of the founding family and four successive generations of the Ledyard/Lincklaen family have come to symbolize Cazenovia’s rich history,” said Barbara Bartlett, Lorenzo site manager from 2002-20017. “Generations of CNY students have visited the site to learn local history first-hand, and tens of thousands of patrons have visited Lorenzo for a wide array of special event, educational and interpretive programs over the last five decades. With a deep commitment to the preservation and ongoing maintenance of Lorenzo, the local community has demonstrated how important their investment has been in enriching the lives of Cazenovians over the last half-century — and for generations to come.”
In October 1968, Lorenzo became the 27th out of 38 state-owned historic sites and historic parks — the first was Washington’s headquarters in Newburgh, acquired in 1850, and the last was Walkway Over the Hudson in Highland, which opened in 2009.
The Federal style Lorenzo mansion, completed in 1808 for John Lincklaen, founder of Cazenovia, was home to Lincklaen’s descendants for the next 160 years. The last resident, five generations after Lincklaen died, was George S. Ledyard. The house in unique in the state historic system in that it preserves 160 years of American history as experienced through one family. It contains more than 200,000 archival documents and 50,000 objects.
The acquisition of the estate by the state of New York was announced Saturday, October 5, 1968, during a reception at the mansion attended by state and local dignitaries and the eight property heirs, about 50 people in total. It was announced in the Oct. 9 issue of the Cazenovia Republican.
James Hubbard, one of the heirs and a trustee of the estate, said in his remarks on that day, “This was Uncle George Ledyard’s dream. He worked to get the state to take the property for 10 years before he died,” Hubbard said. “As a Cazenovian, I’m particularly pleased. I think the entire community has a great asset here.”
Dr. Louis C. Jones, vice chairman of the state historic trust, said, “We’re saving not only a piece of architecture, a house, but a mood and a spirit. We’re saving it not only for our children, but for our grandchildren, to save Cazenovia from Syracuse,” Jones said. “I’m a professional villager, and I’m for everything we can do to save the village from urban blight.”
The blight Jones was talking about was not just general development or urban sprawl on the Lorenzo estate lands, but a specific plan sought by a developer to build a motel in what was then — and remains today — a corn field to the west of the mansion, across the street from the lake. According to reports at the time of the acquisition, a long-range planning study of Cazenovia had also marked the corn field as “an excellent spot for a high-rise apartment.”
According to a report in the Cazenovia Republican, when George S. Ledyard, who had life residency of the property under the will of his late sister Jane Strawbridge Ledyard Remington, died at age 92 in October 1967, the Cazenovia community was concerned over what would happen to the property. The Remington heirs in 1967 included several Cazenovians: Ledyard’s son John D. Ledyard, R. James Hubbard, a trustee of the estate with the Chemical Bank New York Trust Co., Mrs. Walter Oakman and John P. Ledyard.
During the Oct. 5 reception, however, it was learned that George Ledyard had been working for 10 years to get the state to acquire Lorenzo, and for the ensuing year after his death, Hubbard and multiple state officials had been “quietly” working out the details of the transfer that occurred in October 1968.
The Cazenovia Republican editorial for the week echoed Jones’ comment that the Lorenzo preservation will save Cazenovia from becoming like Syracuse. “It will be a solid bulwark to protect the cherished atmosphere of the community,” the editorial stated. “Because the continuation of Lorenzo as it always has been carries such profound ramifications for the community, the debt of gratitude owed to the heirs of the estate should be acknowledged.”
Still today, public officials acknowledge and appreciate the preservation of the historic mansion and lands by the Ledyard family and the state.
Town Supervisor Bill Zupan said Lorenzo’s preservation has been “nothing but positive for the village and the town,” and that he gives “a lot of credit to the Ledyard family for donating the property to the state to be preserved.”
Mayor Kurt Wheeler said, “Lorenzo is an absolute treasure for our community — not only as a priceless core of our local history, but as a venue for major events throughout the year and as a valued open space for those of us who love to walk and hike.”
Current Lorenzo Historic Site manager, Michael Roets, who has been on the job for one year, said it is amazing to him that the Lincklaen heirs had such a preservation mindset that when they knew they could no longer care for the property they looked to the state to acquire it.
He said that in the last 50 years, the house and grounds have basically remained the same as they were left by the family, with restorations and upgrades to items like the wallpaper, carpeting, plaster, roof and fences. The landscape was also restored and preserved, particularly the Jane Shipman Garden, which was brought back to life in the 1980s by Master Gardner Jeannine Golub. And a new addition to the site was made in the 1990s with the donation and physical move of the Rippleton Schoolhouse to the property.
“Over the next 50 years, our goal is to continue to be a key part of the community, to continue to preserve the resource that’s here, to also try to make accessible more of our collections and archives through the digitization process,” Roets said. “Our incredible archive tells the story of the family, the story of Cazenovia, the story of our country.”
Who lived in Lorenzo?
Colonel John Lincklaen, an agent for the Holland Land Company, founded Cazenovia in 1796. In 1807, Lincklaen built the federal-style mansion, Lorenzo, at the south end of Cazenovia Lake. He and his wife, Helen Ledyard, had no children, but they adopted Mrs. Lincklaen’s brother, Jonathan Denise Ledyard and made him their heir.
After the death of Lincklaen, Jonathan Ledyard looked after the family interests. He married Jane Strawbridge of Philadelphia and their eldest son was named Lincklaen Ledyard. In an attempt to perpetuate the name of the family benefactor, he had his name legally reversed to Ledyard Lincklaen. Ledyard’s Lincklaen had one daughter, Helen Lincklaen, who married Charles S. Fairchild (who served as secretary of the treasury under President Grover Cleveland).
On the death of Mrs. Fairchild in 1931, Lorenzo was willed to her cousin, Mrs. Eliphalet Remington who died in 1953, leaving it to her brother, George S. Ledyard, the last occupant of the mansion with his son, John Ledyard.
