Tag Archives: Robert Bartow

A Modern Man: A. J. Downing and the American Gentleman’s Country Seat

Posted on June 20, 2022 by mansionmusings

A. J. Downing (1815–1852) was full of modern ideas about landscape gardening. And he particularly wanted to create a tradition in the United States that was inspired by—but separate from—British and European precedents. He also recognized the need to adapt … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Musings | Tagged A. J. Downing, A. J. Downing and lawns, A. J. Downing Treatise, Alexander Jackson Davis, Andrew Jackson Downing, Bartow mansion, Bolton Priory, Conservatories in the 1840s, Conservatories in the 19th Century, Domestic Circle in the 19th century, Graceful Beauty, Greek Revival, Hunter Mansion, Landscape Design in the 1840s, Landscape Gardening in the 1840s, Maria Bartow Cole, Pelham Bay, Pelham Bay Park, Pelham Priory, Picturesque Beauty, Robert Bartow, Robert Bolton, Rural pursuits in the 19th century, The Picturesque, Thomas Cole, William Rickarby Miller | 1 Comment

Through the Looking Glass: A Pair of New York Pier Mirrors by Hosea Dugliss

Posted on February 6, 2021 by mansionmusings

Robert and Maria Bartow had a house to furnish. In 1842, when the couple moved into their brand-new residence on Robert Bartow’s ancestral Pelham Bay estate, they had probably purchased some furnishings for the superb Greek Revival interiors from shops … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged 19th-century pier mirrors, Astor House New York City hotel, Barnum's American Museum, Bartow mansion, Bartow-Pell collection, Chatham Row New York City, Hosea Dugliss, Hosea Dugliss 1793-1867, Isaac Platt, Looking glass makers and merchants in 19th-century New York, New York 19th-century mirrors and looking glasses, Park Row New York City, Park Theatre New York City, Richard Bridgens, Robert Bartow | 3 Comments

A Carpet of Velvety Green: Lawns on 19th-Century Country Estates

Posted on May 25, 2020 by mansionmusings

A beautiful undulating carpet of fresh green grass was an essential luxury on 19th-century country estates. Today, that idea may seem fairly obvious, but why? And how did the landed gentry plant and maintain their expansive (and expensive) lawns in … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Musings, Mansion Musings | Tagged A. J. Downing, A. J. Downing and lawns, Andre Parmentier, Attingham Park, Bartow estate, Claude Lorrain and A. J. Downing, Croquet in the 1870s, Elisha King, English influence on American landscape gardening, English style of gardening, Hawkswood, History of lawns, Humphry Repton, Hunter's Island, John Hunter, Lawn scythes, Lawn tools in the 19th century, Lawns, Lawns and the picturesque, Lawns on 19th-century estates, Martin Euclid Thompson, Mount Vernon, Pelham Bay estates, Pelham Priory, Robert Bartow, Robert Bolton, The Picturesque, Thomas Payne Knight, Uvedale Price, William Rickarby Miller | 5 Comments

A Taste for Poetry: R. & W. A. Bartow, Asher B. Durand, Mozart’s Librettist, and British Verse

Posted on April 22, 2018 by mansionmusings

Poetry got people excited in the 19th century. Some readers appreciated its literary value, and others enjoyed it as a fashionable pursuit. It could cross the line between highbrow intellectualism and pop culture. Poetry set a certain tone and created … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Asher B. Durand, Asher B. Durand book illustrations, Asher B. Durand engravings, Book trade in 19th-century New York, British poets, British reprint trade in New York, Clarina Bartow, Clement C. Moore, Italian emigres in 19th-century New York, John Durand, Julia Livingston, La Profezia di Dante, Livington family in 1820s New York, Lord Byron, Lorenzo da Ponte, Michele Pekenino, Poetry in the 19th century, Publishing in early 19th-century New York, R. & W. A. Bartow, Richard Westall, Robert Bartow, Robert Burns portrait, Robert C. Bruen, Simon de Bolivar, The Pleasures of Hope Thomas Campbell, William A. Bartow, William Harris Columbia College, William Jewett | 3 Comments

A Bartow Thanksgiving, 1843

Posted on November 16, 2017 by mansionmusings

Thanksgiving on December 14? Yes, that’s right, if we’re talking about New York in 1843. At that time, individual states determined when—and if—an official recognition of the Thanksgiving holiday would occur. In fact, the New-York Daily Tribune reported on November … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged 19th-Century Servants, Bartow mansion, Immingration in the 19th century, James Bolton, Pondfield Farm, Robert Bartow, St. Paul's Church Eastchester, Thanksgiving 1843, Thanksgiving customs 1840s, Thanksgiving in the 19th century | 2 Comments

The Bartows and Art: A Lost Portrait, Famous Relatives, and Artistic Neighbors

Posted on June 10, 2017 by mansionmusings

We don’t know if the Bartow family had an interest in art, but we do know that they lived in the midst of artists, collectors, and a thriving art market. Robert Bartow and Maria Lorillard married in 1827 and set … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Asher B. Durand, Bartow mansion, Bartow Portraits, Bolton Priory, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, Christ Church Pelham, Clarina Bartow Bartow, Edgar John Bartow, Holy Trinity Brooklyn, Hunter Picture Collection, Hunter's Island, James A. Suydam, John Bolton, John Hunter, Maria Bartow Cole, National Academy of Design, Pelham Priory, Reginald Heber Bartow, Robert Bartow, Robert Bolton, Samuel F. B. Morse, Thomas Cole, William Jay Bolton | 3 Comments

Greek Revival Mystery: Who Designed the Bartow Mansion?

Posted on July 17, 2016 by mansionmusings

The present proprietor has lately erected a fine stone house, in the Grecian style, which presents a neat front with projecting wings. Robert Bolton Jr., A Guide to New Rochelle and Its Vicinity, 1842 Robert and Maria Bartow wanted to … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Greek Revival, Robert Bartow | 3 Comments

Summer Mourning: Death at Bartow, June 24

Posted on June 17, 2016 by mansionmusings

On June 24, 1867, twenty-seven-year-old Robert Erskine Bartow died at his family’s bucolic country estate. Exactly one year later, his father, Robert Bartow, followed him to the grave at the age of seventy-six. Both are buried in the family plot … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Bartow graves, Funerals in the 19th Century, Mourning, Robert Bartow | 1 Comment

Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Bartow!

Posted on March 14, 2016 by mansionmusings

One hundred and eighty-nine years ago, on March 20, 1827, Robert Bartow (1792–1868) and Maria Rosina Lorillard (1800–1880) tied the knot. He was thirty-five, and she was twenty-six, a bit on the old side for a first marriage at that time. … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Maria Lorillard, Marriage in 19th-Century New York, Robert Bartow | 4 Comments

Living on Hope and Moonbeams: Bartow Tutor Augustus Moore

Posted on March 4, 2016 by mansionmusings

On June 17, 1838, a young man named Augustus Moore penned a chatty letter full of news from Pelham, New York, to his sister Lydia in Frankfort, Maine, comparing himself to “a roving planet” with “comet-like” movements, “living on hope and … Continue reading →

Posted in Mansion Musings | Tagged Augustus Moore, Bartow tutor, Letters in the 19th Century, Middletown, Robert Bartow, Steamboats | 2 Comments