Plato. William. Belinda. Stephen. Mary. Peter Williams. Dinah.
The recorded names of people enslaved by Morgan Lewis.
 |
Morgan Lewis,
founder of Staatsburgh. |
Former governor Morgan Lewis is traveling
home from Albany. His carriage drives down the dirt roads parallel to the
merchant ships sailing in the Hudson River. Before long, he and Mrs. Gertrude
Livingston Lewis stop along their way to visit her siblings in one of the
countless Livingston estates between Albany and Clinton. Lewis soon
arrives at his own country seat, “Staatsburgh,” named for the original
Dutch land owners. Their carriage drives past the sheep grazing and horse
stables nearby, when the magnificent Federal Style brick mansion comes into view.
As Morgan Lewis steps out of his carriage, Stephen, his Black enslaved valet
dressed in European-style livery, is there to carry his bags. The cook, a Black
enslaved woman named Mary, is preparing the Lewis family’s dinner inside. The
Black domestic staff have been busy all day preparing the home for their
enslaver’s arrival.
