Martin Van Buren – Lindenwald June 2, 2012

Miniature Lindenwald

The first time we saw Martin Van Buren’s house, it was no bigger than a shoebox and made entirely of plants.

This was at the “Season’s Greenings” exhibition at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., in December 2011, which featured reproductions of famous structures including several presidents’ houses. So there was Martin Van Buren’s little house encircled by a train track on which ran a tiny train carrying coal and fuel.

The next time we saw Lindenwald, it was for real, just outside Van Buren’s birthplace, the Village of Kinderhook near the Hudson River/ in the Hudson River Valley in New York.

Our first stop was the unimpressive visitor’s center—essentially a trailer with some books, a timeline on the wall, and a short video, “The Red Fox of Kinderhook.”



The Real Lindenwald

Dennis Andreas, the ranger who greeted us, got off to a rocky start by asking Tom if he qualified for the senior citizen’s discount. When Tom asked him how old one needed to be to get the discount, Mr. Andreas replied, “65.” “I’m 54; do I look that bad?” Then Mr. Andreas announced that he was brand new on the job – three weeks – and he going to be our tour guide. We were a bit concerned … but the tour turned out to be great. Mr. Andreas knew his stuff inside and out, both the history and the furnishings. He even hunted us down on the grounds of the estate after the tour was over to correct a minor mistake he had made.

 To reach Lindenwald, take Interstate 90 East Highway 9 to Highway 9H. Note that the house is only open from mid-May to October 31, so plan accordingly. The entrance fee, including a tour, is $5, individual and $12, family.

His Life
Van Buren’s long life (1782 – 1862) spanned the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. His political career of 40 years enabled him to meet almost every president from Adams to Lincoln. (He traded stories one night with a young Abraham Lincoln.).

Although he only served a single term, he is an important historical figure because he founded the modern Democratic Party. The Democratic Party he established consisted of an amalgamation of merchants and manufacturers in the Northeast and planters in the South. The party stood on the principles of states’ rights and strict interpretation of the Constitution. At the same time, as represented by Andrew Jackson, the Democratic Party was steadfastly committed to the preservation of the Union.

The founding of the party was a gradual process. In 1824, then Senator Martin Van Buren was organizing for the election of William H. Crawford of Georgia, who was running for president. Crawford’s opponent that year was John Quincy Adams, and we know how that turned out. But the campaign gave Van Buren valuable lessons on how to bring like-minded people together for a common purpose.

His talents were noticed by those who wished to see Jackson elected as the next president, and Van Buren was recruited to help. Van Buren was instrumental in helping to elect Jackson as the first Democrat. But following the win, he returned to New York for a successful run for governor.




Martin Van Buren

 
Once Jackson reached the White House, he recruited Van Buren as secretary of State. The vice president’s post was already taken by John Calhoun, who had also served as vice president for John Quincy Adams. However, Calhoun took the wrong side on many issues, including nullification—the concept that states could ignore laws that they considered unconstitutional. So his days in the White House were numbered. During Jackson’s second term, Martin Van Buren was named vice president and was well on his way to being president.

With Jackson’s support, Van Buren won the 1836 presidential election. Unfortunately for him, he began serving just in time for the Panic of 1837. According to author Ted Widmer (2005), the Panic was fueled by an “orgy of growth and speculation, beginning on Wall Street but fanning out to the four corners of North American and hardly stopping there.” It would soon spread to the financial institutions in Europe. (This was not the first United States panic but it was the worst in America to that point.) The Panic was a result of mass consumerism, land speculation, easy credit, and overinvestment in canals and railroads. Some of the easy money came from the first federal budget surplus, which was distributed to the states for investment in infrastructure. Once the economy began to contract, credit became scarce, unemployment rose, and bankruptcies became rampant. The resulting depression would last five years. (Sound familiar?)

Van Buren worked with Congress to pass legislation allowing lawsuits against banks to be suspended so that the banks could continue to operate. He also put more money into circulation and eventually authorized an independent Treasury. But — even though the Panic was not of his making — the damage to his presidency was severe and he had little hope of winning another term.

Some other highlights of Van Buren’s presidency:
• He continued Jackson’s policy of removing eastern Indian tribes to the West. This included the infamous “Trail of Tears," which happened on his watch.
• Van Buren issued an executive order to reduce the workday to 10 hours for federal employees.

Van Buren, deeply wounded by the deep financial recession, had little hope of winning reelection. During the campaign of 1840, both he and his opponent, William Henry Harrison, openly campaigned for the job — the first modern campaign in America. Van Buren lost and returned to Lindenwald.

Maybe the most interesting legacy of Van Buren is the use of the word O.K. In 1839, O.K. was used as an abbreviation for a new expression, ‘oll korrect.’ Van Buren’s supporters expropriated the abbreviation for “Olde Kinderhook” and used it as Van Buren’s political signature. He even used O.K. when he signed his name. Today, the average American uses that expression seven times a day, every day (Widmer, 2005).

Lindenwald
Lindenwald, named for the many linden trees planted by Van Buren, sits on a farm that was once 220 acres. Van Buren bought it in 1839 while still president, but he did not live there until after his presidency.


Martin's Tower

The house is an elegant but odd mixture of Georgian, Gothic Revival, Victorian and Italianate features. Widmer (2005) calls it a “McMonument… that fits squarely in the long continuum joining Monticello and Graceland.” Most of the mixing of features happened when he expanded the house in 1841 to accommodate is growing extened family as well as extra servants. Richard Upjohn, a well-known architect, included a 4-1/2 -story Italianate tower that is uncharacteristic of the period. From his tower, Van Buren could look down the Old Post Road—the road from Albany to Manhattan—to see if anyone was coming to visit him.

Wedgwood Toilet

Van Buren was constantly making improvements to the house and wanted all the latest innovations. He installed indoor plumbing including flush toilets — one of them even had a porcelain bowl (Wedgwood, no less) — and sinks with sink traps. (A servant had to pump water up to a 100-gallon tank located on the second floor.)

The rooms were huge, especially compared with those of most of his predecessors.


Landscape of the Hunt Wallpaper



The main entrance hall features expensive French wallpaper, “Landscape of the Hunt,” that shows colorful scenes of fox, rabbit, grouse and deer hunts. In the middle of the entrance hall is a huge table that could seat 20 people. Amazingly, the table can be folded accordion-style into a mere 26 inches and moved into a corner. In the entrance hall are hanging lamps that once burned whale blubber.



 The formal parlor was used to sit and talk politics. Van Buren planned his unsuccessful second and third runs for president in this room. In 1844, he competed for the Democratic nomination but took an unpopular opposing position on the annexation of the Republic of Texas—which would have been admitted as a slave state. He lost the nomination on the ninth ballot to James K. Polk. In 1848, he became the nominee for the Free Soil Party, an anti-slavery third party. Of course he lost, but his candidacy was the first serious third party candidacy in history.

The breakfast room contains an original plate warmer that was used to keep Van Buren’s breakfast warm when he was late returning from his 10-15 mile morning rides on his favorite horse, Duroc. The breakfast room also features a vacuum drive/drip coffee pot.

Sleep Tight!

Six Irish servant girls lived downstairs. They slept on American rope beds that were kept taught with a rope tightener. (The term “sleep tight” dates from that time, when the ropes were periodically tightened to create a firmer support.) The servants were summoned by bells, each with a unique sound, that hung on the wall. (The Irish girls were likely some of the one million emigrants forced out of Ireland by the Irish Potato Famine, 1845-1852. When we were in Boston on our John Adams sojourn, we saw the statue commemorating the Famine.)

Bust of MVB

The library, containing a Hyriam Howers bust of Van Buren, was where Van Buren wrote his letter against the annexation of Texas saying it was not the right time. That act cost him the 1844 Democratic nomination.

Upstairs are five bedrooms connecting to a main room. One of the bedrooms, belonging to his son, John Van Buren, contains a portrait of Queen Victoria who was coroneted the same year as Van Buren won the presidency--Van Buren would serve four years, while Queen Victoria would sit on the throne for more than 60! According to our guide, John, who had met her, said she was attractive until she opened her mouth. 


Other rooms belonged to his son Abraham and wife, Angelica. Angelica, who was Dolly Madison’s cousin, served as Van Buren’s first lady. (Van Buren’s wife, Hannah, died of tuberculosis at age 36, well before Van Buren entered the White House.) Another room belonged to his son Martin Van Buren, Jr., who died in Paris at age 41, also of TB.



Handle with Care

The largest room is Martin Van Buren’s bedroom. This is where he died on July 24, 1862, surrounded by his children. Van Buren’s last thoughts were of the Union’s progress in the Civil War.



The Gift from Andrew Jackson



On his bed rests a wooden cane — a gift from Andrew Jackson. Dennis donned white gloves to pick up the cane and show us the inscription: “Martin Van Buren For the Next President.” On the cane are 13 knots each covered by a silver cap inscribed by one of the 13 letters that form Jackson’s name.

Van Buren and Slavery

Van Buren was ambivalent about slavery early in his political career and nobody was quite sure where he stood on the issue. His father willed him an enslaved person, Tom, who ran away after only three days; Van Buren did not pursue him.

During the Amistad incident, Van Buren issued an executive order to return the revolters to their Spanish “owners.” However, this order was never carried out and the case made its way to the Supreme Court, where Congressman John Quincy Adams argued on their behalf. The imprisoned revolters were eventually freed.

Later, Van Buren became staunchly anti-slavery culminating in his 1848 run for the presidency as the candidate for the anti-slavery Free Soil party.

Kinderhook
Later that day we visited the nearby Village of Kinderhook which was holding a festival. On the day we were there, they were advertising the O.K. 5K running race.

The Red Fox of Kinderhook

It is in Kinderhook that Martin Van Buren was born and is now buried. His birthplace was the family tavern on Hudson Street. Van Buren’s life size bronze statue, designed by Edward Hlavka, sits on a bench in the center of Kinderhook. Tom did his best to make him flinch, but nothing seemed to work.

His grave is in Kinderhook Dutch Reformed Cemetery, a 15-minute walk from the center of the village. A monument with a red, white, and blue wreath at its base marked the spot of his grave. He lies there with his young wife, Hannah, and other members of his family.

References

Widmer, T. 2005. Martin Van Buren. Henry Holt and Company. New York, New York. Current, R., T.H. Williams, and F. Freidel. American History, A Survey. Volume I: To 1877. Alfred A. Knopf. New York, New York.