| CONSTABLE HALL
Constable Hall is a beautiful old house, in a perfect setting. In it, an outstanding collection of rare antiques delight all who enter. Visitors may be shown through the house and grounds daily except Mondays and Tuesdays from May 31st to October 15th 2008. |
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| THE CONSTABLES |
Constable Hall open from May 31st to October 15th at 4PM
THE CONSTABLES Five generations of the Constable family lived at Constable Hall from the day William Constable, Jr. moved into his beautiful new mansion in 1819 until the sale of the estate in 1947 for restoration as an Historic House Museum. Yet the Hall preserves memories of seven generations of this intriguing family. Here the visitor sees the surgeon's kit belonging to Dr. John Constable, army doctor who came from Dublin to serve his British Majesty during the French and Indian Wars. Guides at the Hall point out the sea chest used by William Constable, and the deed to approximately 4,000,000 acres which made the surgeon's son one of the biggest landowners of post-Revolutionary New York State. The colorful William Constable started his business career as an agent in the fur trade, rose to national prominence as an exporter and importer whose ships ranged the Atlantic coast and made trading voyages to the West Indies and Europe. In partnership with Robert and Gouveneur Morris he was one of the first Americans to trade with China.
His son, William Constable, Jr. settled in the North Country and Built the lovely Hall on the pattern of a family-owned estate in Ireland. He was seriously injured when workmen were setting the 10-ton stone which floors the front portico, an died two years after the mansion was finished. The builder's son, John, loved sports, brought back many trophies from his hunting trips, and beautified the estate by leveling the meadow in front of the mansion to make a one-mile race track. The next heir, John's son Casimir, carried the family's adventurous spirit into the progression of engineering, and he is remembered as a pioneer in the introduction of the Bessemer process which transformed the steel industry of 19th century U.S. Another graduate engineer, John III, inherited the estate from his uncle. An inventor, he worked for awhile in the laboratory of Thomas A. Edison. The last generation of Constables who lived at the hall left the estate when they were children. Their memories, together with scholarly research and careful acquisition of family and period pieces, have recreated a 19th century home of significant an unusual charm. UNCHANGED THROUGH PASSING YEARS
Constable Hall is most fortunate to have retained much of its original furniture. The Hall itself has remained unchanged in plan or architectural detail through the passing years. It still houses much of the Constable Library...many original papers and smaller articles - preserves today the atmosphere of the era in which it was built. It stands, remote and undisturbed, the beautiful setting chosen for it so many years ago. THE HISTORY OF CONSTABLE HALL
LOCATION OF CONSTABLE HALL
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William
Constable is remembered best for his part in the Macomb
Purchase, the giant real estate speculation which
included about a tenth of New York State. One of three
New York City capitalists who negotiated the Purchase, he
became the principal owner and chief developer. In
selling huge tracts to European and American Land
companies, and in attracting individual families from New
England, William Constable opened up the settlement of
the North Country.
