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*HISTORY LESSON*

Or, Backyard Tourism: Part I

Yesterday I visited the grounds of the oldest surviving house in Manhattan, Morris-Jumel Mansion, located on 160th Street and Edgecombe Ave, right between the Washington Heights NYPL and the fanciest C-Town in all the land. Though I was not allowed in (had a dog in tow), the mansion operates as a house museum and is open Wednesday - Sunday 10am - 4pm. While many of history's celebrities passed through the mansion, including these gents, and this Lady, the most interesting is, in my opinion, Mrs. Eliza Jumel, who referred to herself as the "Vice Queen of the United States."

But first a little backstory.

The mansion was built in 1765 by British Colonel Roger Morris and his American wife Mary Philipse Morris as a summer home. The mansion became George Washington's headquarters during the 1776 Revolution and the Battle of Harlem Heights.

Now for Eliza.

In 1810, it was purchased by a wealthy wine merchant, Stephen Jumel, and his scandalous yet financially-savvy wife, Eliza. Though Mrs. Jumel had charmed Napoleon Bonaparte, she was entirely rejected from NYC society due to her heinously embarrassing roots. Not only had she been an actress, she was also the daughter of a sailor and a prostitute, and rumored to have followed in her mother's profession for some time. Scandal followed Eliza throughout her life, the most morbid incident concerning the death of her husband in 1832. She was said to have stood by and watched Stephen bleed to death following his fall from a hay wagon. Eliza remained gossip's starlet by finding a new husband the following year -- some go so far as to say she killed her first husband off in order to make way for the second (Stephen's wealth was dwindling). Husband #2 was Aaron Burr, the former vice-president to Thomas Jefferson, who is famous for having won the duel against Alexander Hamilton (the man on the $10 bill) in 1804. (Side note: Ironically, Hamilton Grange, Hamilton's own impressive mansion, was moved from Greenwich Village to 141st Street and Convent Ave in 2006, a short walk from Morris-Jumel Mansion.) The marriage proved even more shocking when the pair separated after only four months (Burr was, allegedly, a gold-digger). They officially divorced three years later on the day of Burr's death.

Eliza lived out the rest of her life at Morris-Jumel Mansion and died there in 1865 at the age of 90. She is buried nearby in Trinity Cemetery along with her first husband.

The second picture I've included shows the names of Eliza Jumel and Emily L. Fay scratched into the glass window of the front entrance to the mansion. The date below the names, June 1881, reveals that it is not the infamous Eliza who damaged the stained windows, but the niece she took in and raised, whose full married name is Eliza Jumel Chase Caryl. According to a great little article by the NY Times, this younger Eliza refused to stay in the mansion alone as she, and many others, believed the estate was haunted by some soul from the days of the Revolutionary War and Washington's occupation. Nowadays, it is said that Mrs. Jumel's ghost haunts the museum, though, for perhaps the first time, that rumor surrounding Eliza has been denied. The staff actually resists banking on the allure of a haunted attraction, likely due to the annoying voodoo practices (dead chickens on the lawn) held by those who do believe in the presence of spirits.

I intend to actually make it inside the museum for their upcoming craft night.