Deep Pockets

Deep Pockets. How'd An English Gent' End Up Here?. , In 1806, George Clarke said goodbye to his first wife and 5 children in England and traveled to New York. He settled in Albany and employed Richard Cooper to manage his properties. Richard died prematurely and George married his widow, Ann, in 1814. Soon after, the Clarke's moved into Hyde Hall. , Throughout his life, George Clarke invested in New York's early industries including canals, railroads, Hudson River docks, and an iron and glass manufactory. With his growing growing wealth, he developed roads, established villages, and controlled a vast empire of tenant farms on his land holdings. , One Lump or Two? , In 1825 George Clarke inherited Swanswick, a sugarcane plantation with hundreds of enslaved people in Jamaica. This contributed to the family's wealth and helped to fund the construction of Hyde Hall. , ( photo captions ) , , Ann Low Cary Cooper Clarke Portrait. Courtesy of the Fenimore Art Museum Cooperstown, NY N0284.1976 , , Hyde Hall in Cheshire, England.Print from James Pigot and Co's Directory, 1794 , , Sugar Cane Harvest, William Clarke, 1823. Courtesy of John Carter Brown Library , , Sugar tongs and sugar bowl ( c. 1830). Hyde Hall’s Collection , This project was supported with fund from the NYS Park and Trail Partnership Grants and New York's Environmental Protection Fund. Park and Trail partnerships are administered by Parks and Trails New York, in partnership with the NYS Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation.