Dyckman Farmhouse Museum

Last week the DFM staff and interns got the chance to go explore the South Street Seaport Museum's new exhibition called "Maritime City." We absolutely loved it, especially the cabinet of curiosities which you can see at the end of the video. The exhibition opened March 12th, make sure you go check it out!

March is Women's History Month, which is a time to remember and reflect on the contributions and achievements of the women and girls around us. Two of the most influential women to ever grace the Dyckman Farmhouse and the reason we're all here are Mary Alice Dyckman and Fannie Fredericka Dyckman Welch. Mary and Frannie who were the daughters of Isaac Michael Dyckman who was the last Dyckman Child to grow up in the farmhouse. Later in their lives, Mary and Frannie were faced with the possibility of losing the farmhouse, and they responded by undertaking a major restoration and furnishing project in attempts to bring the house back to what was believed to be its earliest appearance. They went on to source objects from family and friends to furnish the house, and by 1916 the farmhouse was open as a museum to visitors. During this Women's History Month we're especially grateful to the women who gave us the opportunity to connect with the Inwood Community and keep the last remaining farmhouse in Manhattan alive.

#FromOurCollection this would have been shot from a cannon, believe it or not! Used in naval warfare, often by pirates, this is called a dismantling shot or bar shot. This would have been used to damage a ship's sails and rigging, slowing the ship down. Made of hammered (wrought) iron, a bar shot is made by two hemispheres, which are called bullets, joined in the middle by an iron bar. A bar shot is a “battering projectile,” and when it was shot it would have spun at high speed, cutting through sails, ropes, and any unfortunate sailor who stood in its way like a buzz saw. The bar shots only downfall was it’s limited range which meant it could only be used effectively when ships were close together.

The weather is thawing and the garden at the Dyckman Farmhouse is once again growing! We're starting to see our garlic come up from our garden beds, and we have the first two species of flowers making their reappearance! The yellow flowers are known as Dutch yellow crocus or snow crocus, which is native to Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The purple flowers are another kind of crocus known as early crocus, named because it blooms early, usually appearing in late winter and early spring - like right now! As the temperature continues to get warmer, we'll see more and more flowers and vegetables poking out of the ground.

As it (finally) starts to get warmed, check out this cool spot to visit in the Spring weather! Just a few minutes walk away from the DFM is the Inwood Nature Center located in Inwood Hill Park. It just reopened after a closure used to update the center and make it even better. The nature center has so many cool things to see, from animal friends to spectacular views, it's not to be missed! The next time you stop by the DFM, make sure to swing by the nature center too!

#FromtheDFMCollection this is a snuffbox. Snuff, which is a type of ground tobacco that could be ingested by way of inhalation through the nose began to become popular in the eighteenth century. It was small and fine, which meant it needed a vessel to contain it, leading to the rise of snuffboxes. Though they were originally created for utility, snuffboxes turned toward ornamentation and personal representation quickly, and in turn, became an important symbol for wealth and status. How someone took their snuff was also a marker of class. You needed to remain dignified when ingesting the tobacco, if you had a noisy reaction it was considered rude. Snuff eventually garnered a feminine connection because it was one of the only forms of ingesting tobacco that was available to women. While the DFM’s snuffbox is more muted, a simple silver box with a hinged lid and a scalloped design from between 1825-1875, you can see from the other pictures of snuffboxes found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art how luxurious these containers could become. The second photo is a Jeweled Snuffbox from 1765 made of glass, gold, silver, diamonds, and rubies. It was likely commissioned by the Prussian king, Frederick II (1712 - 1787) along with 125 other objects that have become known as the “Potsdam boxes.” The third photo is an American snuffbox made by Samuel Johnson and engraved by Peter Rushton Maverick. It was one of only five gold snuffboxes presented to patriots of the American Revolution, and this one specifically was created for John Jay.

March is Women's History Month, so now is the perfect time to take a look at a few of the influential women who visited the Dyckman Farmhouse. Madame Eliza Jumel, born Betsy Bowen, spent most of her youth as an indentured servant in Providence, Rhode Island. By twenty-three, Eliza moved to New York to start fresh, changing her name to Eliza Brown and taking up a career as a theatre extra. In 1804, Eliza married French wine merchant Stephen Jumel, until she left France in 1817, some say because she was personally asked to. Back in New York City, she quickly became one of the wealthiest women there. Stephen passed in 1832, and Eliza went on to marry former Vice President Aaron Burr in 1833. The marriage only lasted four months when Eliza found out Burr was mishandling the Jumel fortune, including Eliza’s beloved Manhattan mansion which is now the Morris-Jumel Mansion, and a museum in Washington Heights. Eliza died in 1865 at the age of 90. Eliza’s lawyer in her divorce from Aaron Burr was none other than Alexander Hamilton Jr., the son of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and Alexander Hamilton, who Burr had shot and killed in 1804. Elizabeth Schuyler's family was like the Dyckmans, wealthy Dutch landowners who settled in present-day Albany, New York in the mid-17th century. Alexander and Elizabeth were married in 1780. Alexander died in 1804, leaving Elizabeth with their seven surviving children. In 1886, Elizabeth helped found the Orphan Asylum Society, acting as second directress or vice-president. This was the first private orphanage in New York City and is today called the Graham Windham and continues to provide services to children and families alike. Elizabeth died in 1854 and is buried near Alexander in the Trinity Church graveyard in Manhattan.

We've added several children's books to our Front Porch Free Library! Stop by the museum to check them out.

ICYMI: On February 26th we held another installment of our lecture series "Talking About Race Matters: Join the Conversation." This lecture was called "Envisioning Seneca Village." Presented by Gergely Baics, Meredith Linn, Leah Meisterlin, and Myles Zhang, the lecture presented a 3D model of what the village of Seneca Village might have looked like in 1855. Don't worry if you couldn't make it, the entire lecture was recorded and you can see it on our YouTube channel here: https://buff.ly/4bFVIGA

Are you an Outlander fan? Check out this object #FromOurCollection! This is a reproduction uniform jacket worn by the 42nd Regiment of Foot. Also known as the Royal Highlanders, this was a regiment made of soldiers from loyalist Highland clans in Scotland after the First Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. Raised in 1740, they were the first Highlander regiment of the British Army and were positioned around Scotland for a number of years until 1743 when they were assembled to be sent for service abroad. After hearing rumors they were being sent to American plantations, the men tried to mutiny and return to Scotland but were later convinced to surrender. Years later they were sent to fight in New York. They played a role in several battles and became the first Scottish regiment to fight in North America, even going on to defeat George Washington at the Battle of Long Island in 1776. The regiment fought all over, serving in both Egypt and Spain during the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, and was even mentioned as being dispatched for service at Waterloo in 1815. The regiment got the name 'Am Freiceadan Dubh,' or the Blackwatch, in part because of their unpopular nature and their dark green government issue tartan. The regiment wore kilts as part of their everyday uniform until 1940.