The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Table of Contents | |
Section | Page |
Start of eBook | 1 |
1 | |
THE MANOR HOUSE OF LACOLLE. | 1 |
A Description and Historical Sketch of the Manoir of the Seigniory of de Beaujeu or Lacolle
By
W.D. Lighthall, K.C.
President
of the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society of Montreal.
Privately printed for the author
by
C.A. Marchand, Printer.
Montreal.
By W.D. Lighthall, K.C.
The Manor House of the Seigniory of Lacolle or De Beaujeu is situated in a retired neighborhood, on the New York State border-line about four miles south-west of Lacolle Village, and one mile north of the village of Champlain, N.Y. and about forty miles from Montreal. The highway from Lacolle to Champlain runs through the property. The traveller from the north finds himself entering well-wooded lands and at length passes the heavy low stone-walls and large, white gate of the grounds and sees the home nearby on a slight elevation to the right. A sloping lawn and old trees extend in front, the gardens are at the north-side, and a hundred yards further, a wooded park of about a hundred acres. On the-opposite, or west, side of the road, the tall old elm grove forms part of a hillside farm. The Manorhouse itself is large, constructed of wood, and having an extensive stone gabled wing, the whole ornamented with vines. In front, six tall, slender, fluted pillars with Ionic capitals give Colonial character to the verandah and meet the roof above the second story. The massive oak front door is divided into an upper and lower half, with large brass knocker. The interior is mostly finished in polished hard woods, with broad fire-places and colonial mantels in most of the rooms. The main part of the house was built in 1825 by Mrs. Henry Hoyle, formerly Mrs. Major Henry Ten Eyck Schuyler, of Troy, N.Y., under the following circumstances:
As Sarah Visscher she had inherited a large fortune from her grand-uncle Lieutenant-General Garret Fisher (Visscher), a Loyalist officer of Sir Adolphus Oughton’s regiment, the 55th, which was present at the taking of Montreal, and who died at Manchester Square, London, in 1808, after a distinguished career. This fortune arrived at the beginning of the war of 1812, just before the death of her first husband Major Schuyler, nephew of General Philip Schuyler, and descendant of the well-known colonial military family of that name. He left three daughters and a son. They possessed other very valuable property in Troy, including a handsome farm and mansion at the South end, shown in old pictures of the city, on which about a fourth of Troy was afterwards built. In 1816, Henry Hoyle, who was a Lancashire man, married her for her fortune, which he soon found belonged to the children by strict law. He therefore, making great pretensions
Finally, by William Plenderleath Christie’s will of 1842 and death in 1845, the Seigniory of Lacolle passed to the two sons and the grandson Gabriel, of the Reverend James Tunstall, of Montreal. Portraits of General Christie, his wife, his son Napier, two of his brothers, and two of his children, are in the Chateau. The good old Tunstall family, representatives of the Christies, remained the Seigneurs proprietaires of Lacolle until its sale in 1902 to the Credit Foncier. Mrs. Hoyle, represented by her husband, early entered into dealings about the Seigniory affairs, they being residents within its limits. One of their Terrier books begins in 1843. After the Tunstalls became Seigneurs-proprietaires, they found it convenient to continue the arrangement, since they lived in Montreal. The arrangement consisted in one of the singular transactions of which the old feudal laws present examples. There were various kinds of Seigneurs. In this case the Seigneurs-proprietaires, for a large cash sum advanced to them, gave up to Mr. Hoyle (who as we saw really acted for his wife) the entire possession of the seigniorial rights, with even the honors, avec les droits honorifiques, as Seigneur usufruitier. A few years afterwards one sixth of the ownership was also added, making the Hoyles co-Seineurs proprietaires. (Since the moneys more strictly belonged to the Schuyler heirs, it may be said that equitably they were the real Seigneurs). Thus the matter continued for generations, the old house being the annual scene of the quaint visits of the censitaires, until the recent sale to the Credit Foncier. In the latter sale, the then co-seigneur, Henry Hoyle III, reserved his own lands en seigneurie, with the title of “Seigneur of Lacolle” and the permanent designation of the house as “The Manor House of Lacolle”, but of course these were merely points of sentiment. The demesne estate at one time comprised about 2500 arpents. Up to recently they still comprised about 1300, but are now only about 600 or 700. The Manor, “Rockcliff Wood”, was a treasure house of old furniture,