Ruth Livingston Mills and the Use of Revolutionary War Iconography in Staatsburgh’s Interior Decoration

When the mansion at Staatsburgh was remodeled by Ogden and Ruth Livingston Mills in 1895, it had been more than a century since the Revolutionary War and the formation of the United States. Yet the history of Staatsburgh was closely tied with the late 18th century and the early years of this nation. The estate was originally founded in the 1790s by Ruth’s great-grandfather, Morgan Lewis. Over 100 years later, when the mansion was remodeled and redecorated, the interior décor included countless nods to Ruth’s family and key figures who were involved in the Revolutionary War and the creation of the fledgling United States. Ruth Livingston Mills was a top society hostess during the Gilded Age. Most leaders of society had mansions decorated in the French aristocratic style, but Ruth also leaned on her Revolutionary War heritage to further cement her legitimacy as the potential next “Queen” of society.

As we celebrate the Semiquincentennial of the nation in 2026, this essay will explore the ways that Ruth Livingston Mills leveraged her Revolutionary War heritage in the interior decoration of Staatsburgh. This messaging appears throughout the entire mansion, but this essay will focus on the library, which has the largest and most varied concentration of Revolutionary War collections. Since Staatburgh was Ruth’s ancestral home, it was the ideal location to showcase her venerable pedigree and show her guests the importance of her illustrious heritage.

Gilded Age Love Stories: Chauncey Depew's Second Chance at Love

There were many sensational love stories and romances during the Gilded Age, and there is no need to look further than the Mills family and Staatsburgh’s guests to find some of the people who were part of them. As we research all of the approximately 150 individuals who signed Staatsburgh’s guestbook between 1899 and 1908, many interesting personalities and stories have emerged.  One of them involves Hudson Valley native and US Senator Chauncey Depew who found love in both his first and second marriages.  Many of Staatsburgh’s guests were involved in politics, but it is noteworthy to mention that Depew was the only sitting US Senator to sign Staatsburgh's guestbook when he visited in September 1900. Chauncey Depew was elected as a Senator from New York in 1899 and then re-elected in 1905.

Chauncey Depew (1834-1928), circa 1901
Image: Library of Congress

How Frank Became Francis: The Rediscovery of a Free Black Community in Staatsburg

Staatsburgh’s former Historic Site Assistant, Zachary Veith, published an essay in the Dutchess County History Society's 2025 Annual Yearbook, which is a compilation of work he did while at Staatsburgh, researching the African American residents of Staatsburg, Hyde Park and Rhinebeck.  His entire essay can be found HERE, but this blog essay includes excerpts from the article that are most closely related to the hamlet of Staatsburg.

The Dutchess County Historic Society is located in Rhinebeck, NY and the organization is committed to serving as archival repository, providing interpretation, and presenting the history of Dutchess County to the public. Image: Dutchess County Historical Society

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Gilded Age Travel: The Mills Family, Friends & Servants

During the 2025 holiday season, the mansion was decorated with a travel theme to recognize the importance of travel to the Mills family, their servants, and friends.  Rooms featured specific countries where family or friends traveled as well as countries reflecting the origins of collections within the house.  Ruth and Ogden Mills traveled to Europe nearly every spring.  They often went to visit family, but they also traveled to see landmarks, museums, and the natural beauty of other lands.  Technological advancements during the Gilded Age created the ability for wealthy Americans to travel for leisure purposes and as the era progressed, more middle class families also began to travel for vacations. 

World Map, Circa 1900

Eulabee Dix: Gilded Age Miniaturist

In 2023, the site received an amazing donation from a Mills family descendant, Dorothy Fell Farrelly, a granddaughter of Dorothy Fell Mills, widow of Ogden Livingston Mills. She and her husband Louis donated three miniature portraits of family members including Margaret Lewis Livingston, Darius Ogden Mills, and a painting never before seen by us, of Ruth Livingston Mills. After some research, we were able to find out that the artist who painted the portrait of Ruth was a woman named Eulabee Dix (1878-1961), an artist who specialized in miniature portraits.

"Mrs. Ogden Mills" by Eulabee Dix, 1907, Watercolor on Ivory

Groundbreaking Women in the Guestbook: Eleonora Randolph Sears

Since receiving the amazing gift of an original Staatsburgh guestbook in 2017, the site has been researching all of the people who signed its pages. The guestbook covers the years 1899-1908 and includes approximately 150 individuals who visited Staatsburgh. There are many different people who signed the guestbook including relatives, friends, and neighbors of the Mills family as well as politicians, businessmen, sportsmen & women, and even the President’s daughter! This essay will look at one of the remarkable and barrier breaking women who signed the guestbook, Eleonora Randolph Sears (1881-1968).

Eleonora Randolph Sears, circa 1901, Bain News Service

Cover of Staatsburgh's guestbook dating from 1899-1908

Hidden Treasures of the Collection: "Mehemet Effendi, Ambassadeur Turc, arrive aux Tuileries, 21 mars 1721"

The walls of Staatsburgh’s drawing room are covered with many paintings that are nearly impossible to examine from the tour carpet. Continuing with our “Hidden Treasures of the Collection” series, this essay will take a closer look at the painting seen below, which is on the south wall of the drawing room. The oil on canvas painting depicts Mehmet Effendi, the Turkish Ambassador, and his entourage visiting Paris for the first time to have an audience with King Louis XV. It is one of many objects in the collection that is French or depicts France.

Painting in the style of Charles Parrocel, "Mehmet Effendi, the Turkish Ambassador, Entering the Tuileries to go to his audience with the King, March 21, 1721," Staatsburgh State Historic Site, NYS OPRHP

Patriots, Prisoners & Passengers: Women's History Month

“I long to hear that you have declared an independency ... I desire you would remember the ladies” - Abigail Adams to husband John, 1776

At Staatsburgh, portraits of Ruth Livingston Mills’s ancestors feature prominently throughout the house. This was by design, as Ruth’s pedigree—alongside her family’s generational wealth and her impeccable hostessing skills—was one major factor in her quest to become queen of Gilded Age Society. On a tour of the mansion, the accomplishments and prominent offices held by the men in her family are highlighted, as they feature so greatly in American revolutionary history. But the women associated with Ruth’s family—Elizabeth Lewis, Margaret Livingston, Catherine Livingston, and Mary Lincoln—have their own stories of courage, duty, and perseverance amidst the turmoil of revolutionary America.

A Whole Lotta Bull: Love, War & Gossip in the Gilded Age

There were many sensational love stories and romances during the Gilded Age, and there is no need to look further than Staatsburgh’s guests to find some of the individuals involved in them. As we have been researching the approximately 150 individuals who signed the guestbook, several interesting stories and personalities have emerged.  The story of Henry Worthington Bull and Maud Livingston is just one of those stories.  This story reveals the tale of a broken-hearted young woman who lost her fiancé only to later fall in love with his close friend.

Henry W. Bull (1874-1958)

The Red Fox at Staatsburgh: Martin Van Buren & Morgan Lewis’s Letters

Have you ever read someone’s handwriting that’s just un-readable...looked over a note from a friend or loved one and said, “how do you expect me to read this?!”

We found ourselves in this exact situation while examining three handwritten letters in Staatsburgh’s archives. Unfortunately, we could not ask the sender what they had written, because the sender was the 8^th President of the United States, Martin van Buren (who has been dead for 162 years!). However, the researchers at the Papers of Martin Van Buren Project at Cumberland University were kind enough to stand-in for the President and transcribe his difficult handwriting for us. These three letters reveal a complicated political relationship, but a close personal friendship, between Van Buren and Staatsburgh’s founder, Morgan Lewis. 

Martin Van Buren and Morgan Lewis silhouette portraits by Auguste Edouart, c. 1841.
Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Uncle Ogden: Ogden Livingston Mills & the Sands Children

Ogden Livingston Mills (1884-1937) was many things including a lawyer, politician, husband, and guardian. At Staatsburgh, we often mention that Ogden Livingston Mills did not have biological children in order to explain why his sister inherited the house after his death. However, we don’t usually get a chance to talk about the ways that Ogden Livingston (O.L.) Mills was a father figure to several individuals in his life. In 1914, he was named one of two guardians for two young siblings, Anne Barbara Sands and George Winthrop Sands, along with their grandmother, Anne Harriman Sands Rutherfurd Vanderbilt. The children were the orphaned niece and nephew of his wife Margaret Rutherfurd. Ten years later, O.L. also became a stepfather,[1] and the children all affectionately referred to him as “Uncle Ogden.” In order to understand this aspect of O.L.’s life, let us take a look at O.L.’s history as a guardian for the Sands children and the connection between the Mills family and the Sands family.

 

Ogden Livingston Mills, 1915

Gilded Age Christmas Gifts: The "Mystery Dollhouse" from FAO Schwarz

Long before children in the 20th century were requesting a Barbie dreamhouse for Christmas, girls in the 1890s had dreams of receiving dollhouses that were no less elaborate than what we might see today! If you visit Staatsburgh during ‘A Gilded Age Christmas’ this year, keep your eyes open for a large dollhouse. The dollhouse was first put on display in 2023 and then again this year as a representation of the type of Christmas gifts one of the Mills daughters may have received.

1890 "Mystery dollhouse," donated by Joseph and Susan Feeks in 2023

A Geologist's Jaunt through Staatsburgh

Our guest essayists for this blog, local geology luminaries Robert and Johanna Titus, are faithful supporters of Staatsburgh’s "Gilded Age Tea & Talk" series. They made several geology finds while here for a Tea this winter! Their latest book, The Hudson River Schools of Art and their Ice Age Origin, was recently published by Purple Mountain Press. For information about their upcoming lectures, geology hikes, and new publications, visit their Facebook page @TheCatskillGeologist

Guest essayists Johanna and Robert Titus.
Courtesy of the Catskill Center.

“Your Friend and Brother Soldier”: Lafayette’s 1824 Visit to Staatsburgh

The Hero of Two Worlds

On a late September morning, the steamship James Kent laid anchor in the shadow of Staatsburgh House. Stepping off the dock, 67-year-old French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette made his way up the hill to the Lewis family mansion. His host for the day, Staatsburgh’s founder Morgan Lewis, served with the French nobleman in the American Revolution. This year, 2024, marks the 200^th anniversary of Marquis de Lafayette’s triumphant visit to the United States—and Staatsburgh.

The original Staatsburgh, c. 1806.
P. Lodet, 1806 drawing from the Hudson River Sketchbook. 
Courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY.

Olympic Sports of Yesteryear: Polo

It has been a century since Paris hosted the Olympic Games, and undeniably the 2024 Summer Olympics will look quite different from the 1924 Olympics. The 1924 Olympics had 17 sports and 126 medal events, while the 2024 Olympics features 32 sports and 329 medal events. Only about 5% of athletes in 1924 were women, while in 2024 that number is around 50%. In 1924, 44 nations were represented, but in 2024, there are athletes from 206 nations competing in the games. A highlight of the 1924 Olympics included the performance of Johnny Weissmuller (who later became an actor known for his portrayal of Tarzan) who won three gold medals in swimming and a bronze in water polo.

     

Paris has now hosted the Olympics three times: 1900, 1924 & 2024. While many sports have been added, others have faded away. One sport which was part of the 1900 & 1924 games, but will not be part of the 2024 games, is polo. What is polo, why is it no longer part of the Olympics, and what is the sport’s connection to Staatsburgh?

5 Love & Marriage Rules According to HBO's The Gilded Age

At Staatsburgh, we enjoy watching television shows and movies that take place during the Gilded Age. It is enlightening to see the era come alive onscreen through the clothing, the setting, and even the etiquette! While not every attempt to portray the Gilded Age onscreen is completely accurate, most Gilded Age aficionados would agree that Julian Fellowes and HBO’s The Gilded Age do a very good job recreating the era! On top of visually reconstructing the era, Fellowes also fashions characters and behaviors that reflect 19th century social mores. And of course, a television show must have love stories and romance! Many of the plot points on the show regarding relationships reveal rules and etiquette common to the era. With that in mind, we created a list of five relationship rules according to HBO’s The Gilded Age.

(*Spoiler Alert* - If you haven’t watched both seasons of the show and plan to watch it, this essay may reveal some minor plot points.)

Photo: Courtesy of HBO

Gilded Age Opera Wars: The Academy of Music vs. The Metropolitan Opera

One of the major plot points running through the second season of HBO’s The Gilded Age was the clash between the Academy of Music and the Metropolitan Opera.  Although the battle between the two opera houses was historically documented, the conflict was amplified on the show for maximum drama.  The Academy of Music had been New York’s established opera house since the 1850s and only those with “old money” and connections had boxes.[1]  With the influx of “new money” into New York, many families were unable to get a box due to the academy’s exclusivity and lack of space.  As a result, families with “new money” decided to pool their resources and build a brand-new opera house, the Metropolitan Opera.  When the Metropolitan Opera opened its doors for the very first time in 1883, they did so on the same exact night as the opening for the Academy of Music.  This set up the two opera houses for a clash where only one would triumph in the end! But which opera house did Ruth & Ogden Mills choose?  Read on to find out!

Puck Magazine, a publication often using humor or satire to depict current events, showcased the clash in the October 31, 1883 edition, Artist Joseph Keppler, Library of Congress.

Is That Napoleon?

That's Napoleon.
(ML.1974.242)

No, that's not Napoleon.

Hanging in Staatsburgh's library, the life-size portrait of Staatsburgh's founder, Morgan Lewis, dressed an early 19th century military uniform, often prompts the question "Is that Napoleon?" 

While Ruth Mills' great-grandfather is not the French emperor, there are certainly reminders of Napoleon Bonaparte throughout the house. Tucked away in the southwest corner of Staatsburgh's library is a leather-bound, four-volume set titled Napoleon Bonaparte: A Life. Sitting upon Mrs. Mills' desk in her boudoir is a small brass sealing wax stamp crowned with a bust of Napoleon Bonaparte. Besides it, there sits a small tortoise box with a cameo of Napoleon Bonaparte. Outside of the guestrooms for unmarried ladies upstairs, hung among the portraits of American presidents such as George Washington and Theodore Roosevelt, hangs a print of Jacques-Louis David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps.

In anticipation of the upcoming Napoleon Bonaparte biopic, Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular emperor, we wanted to share some of Staatsburgh's own connections to the wider Bonaparte family. For a woman who vied to be Queen of New York Society, Ruth Mills seemed to surround herself with images of French royalty. Yet her and her family's ties to the Bonaparte family went beyond interior decoration. Several generations of Ruth Livingston Mills' family had connections to the famous French imperial family, reaching from the gilded palaces of Paris to the American Wild West.

"Thuggery, Intimidation and General Foul Play": O.L. Mills v. Organized Labor

Who are these men and women picketing? What are they upset about?

Like all great mysteries, it started with a clue. In this case, a photograph.

Giddy Up! - Notes on Staatsburgh's Carriage Collection

Dick Lahey amongst the 
carriages.

 In May 2023, Staatsburgh State Historic Site staff toured our off-site storage facility with local carriage collector, Dick Lahey. 

A board member of the Carriage Association of America and a former educator with decades of expertise in Hudson Valley-made vehicles, Mr. Lahey was able to share with us insights into our unique carriage collection - everything from the Mills' high-end Brewster "Brougham" carriage and farm yard "spring wagons" to elegant bob-sleds for wintertime fun - noting that all of the carriages and sleighs were in outstanding original condition. 

The notes below are taken from our conversation with Dick.