LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS - SEPTEMBER 20, 2015
Lorenzo
byLynneBelluscio
Monday I traveled toCazeno-
via to share some stories about
thechanges that tookplace in the
American kitchen between 1820
and1920.The titleofmy talkwas
“IfYouCan’tStand theHeat,Get
Out of theKitchen –AHundred
Years in aHot Kitchen andWhy
MyGrandmotherCalledaFrying
Pan aSpider.”
I spoke to the docents ofHis-
toric Lorenzo, the home of Col.
JohnLincklaen. It is now aNew
York StateHistoric Site and it is
awonderfulplace. Ioftenwonder
if Herman LeRoy imagined to
build such aplacehere inLeRoy
for his upstate mansion. When
LeRoy House was built, there
werenootherhomeson thesouth
side of the road. LeRoy House
was set on a huge piece of land,
with a view of the creek and the
town park in front and spacious
gardens in back.
But unlike Lorenzo in Ca-
zenovia, the Wadsworth home
in Geneseo and the Granger
Home in Canandaigua, LeRoy
Housewas set close to the road.
Never the less, I imagine that the
LeRoys had a sense of grandeur
much like their friends.
John Lincklaen was born in
Amsterdam,Holland in1768and
came to theUnitedStates in1790.
(JacobLeRoy’sgrandfathercame
fromHolland in1740.)Twoyears
later, Lincklaen traveled into the
unsettledareanearCazenoviaand
wrote in his journal: “situation
superbfine land.”
He (like Joseph Ellicott) be-
came the landagent for theHolland
Land Company. He envisioned a
“great commercial city in thewil-
derness.” (I amof theopinion that
HermanLeRoy felt the sameway
about the86,000acresof land that
he owned inLeRoy.)
In 1803, Lincklaen began
plans for his house at the south
end of Cazenovia Lake. His first
house was destroyed by fire, so
when work was begun on his
secondhouse in1807, itwasbuilt
ofbrickwithbrickon the interior
partitions as well as the exterior
walls.Heandhiswifemoved into
themansion onOctober 8,1808.
(Jacob LeRoy didn’t arrive
inLeRoy until 1822, but hemay
have been aware of John Linck-
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laen’s spacious home.) In 1816,
theeconomywasstrongand land
values were high and the Hol-
land Land Company was ready
to sell off its unsold property
and offered it toLincklaen, who
assumed a quartermillion dollar
debt to acquire the land.
John Lincklaen died in 1822
and his wife put Lorenzo up for
sale, but noonewas interested in
buying. In themeantime, theErie
Canal opened in 1825 and there
wascheaper land to thewest.Lo-
renzo remained in the Lincklaen
family, and became a summer
home. The last family member
died in 1967 and the NewYork
State Historic Trust took title to
Lorenzo complete with furnish-
ings and archives.
When I consider that LeRoy
House, has but only two pieces
of furniture and only a handful
ofpapers from theLeRoy family,
and a teapot, a sugar bowl and a
recipe book of CharlotteLeRoy,
I have to admit that I ammost
envious of the folks at Lorenzo.
They have ledgers and receipts
for thebuildingand the furniture.
Theyhave setsof china, and toys
andcoverlets. It is trulyamazing.
Right now they have an ex-
hibit about diningand food. The
tables are set with original china
from the Lincklaen family. (The
faux food is something to see!)
If youare looking for agreat day
trip, Cazenovia is a beautiful
place to visit and there is great
shopping and wonderful restau-
rants. It’s only 30minutes south
of Syracuse onRoute 20.
