By Jason Emerson
In the 50 years that the historic Lorenzo mansion and grounds in Cazenovia have been preserved as a state historic site, only three people have been its site manager — and the latest, Michael Roets, has recently celebrated his one-year anniversary on the job.
Roets, an archeologist by training, came to Lorenzo last fall to succeed retiring site manager Barbara Bartlett, who lead the site for 15 years.
“It has been a fascinating year of discovery and learning,” Roets said. “There is so much here to keep me occupied.”
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 and 68 acres of surrounding land were acquired by the state of New York in 1968 — and the site recently celebrated its 50th anniversary as a state historic park. The house preserves 160 years of American history as experienced through one family. It contains more than 200,000 archival documents and 50,000 objects.
This rich, and intact, history at Lorenzo is one of the major reasons Roets was drawn to come here, he said.
“I am interested in the layers of history here: the archives, the collections, the buildings — everything [the Lincklaen family and descendants] did is in here, in one site within the community,” he said. “For me, as an archeologist, instead of the history being in the ground, at Lorenzo it is in the house, in the papers and in the people who lived here.”
Roets has an MA and a PhD in anthropology from SUNY Buffalo, and has research interests and achievements in North American historical archaeology, including military sites, colonial sites and Mayan and Mesoamerican cultures. His resume includes a long list of achievements in presentations, reports, exhibits, teaching and field experience, including years of archeological work in Central America and at historic sites across New York State.
Roets previously worked for nine years as a scientist (archaeology) at Peebles Island State Park in Waterford, N.Y., and for two years as the historic site manager for Crown Point State Historic Site in Moriah.
He began his tenure as site manager at Lorenzo State Historic Site in September 2017 where he is responsible for supervising all the daily activities associated with the operation of the historic site and coordinating interpretation and event planning at the site.
Over the past year, Roets said he has been getting to know the Cazenovia community and area and discovering and understanding what he calls the “amazing treasures” at Lorenzo.
“Russ [Grills, first site manager] and Barb [Bartlett] did a great job laying the groundwork, and I’ve got some big shoes to fill,” Roets said. “I want to continue their legacy to preserve this place and continue moving forward.”
Roets said his goals are to continue getting the message out about Lorenzo and keeping it “relevant” to the community and to the visitors. He said he also plans to try to make the site’s collections and archives more publicly available through the digitization process.
Roets said that with such a great staff and group of volunteers, an “excellent” Friends of Lorenzo group and vast community support, he is confident Lorenzo will continue to be “an important part of the community.”
