One of the gowns worn my Mrs. Anna Larrabee and displayed in what was their bed chamber.
The Larrabee's dining room. The children ate at this table when they had learned to conduct themselves as proper young ladies and gentlemen. Until then they ate in the kitchen and practiced their manners. This table has no leaves but is made larger by removing the half rounds of the top and replacing them with a larger size. There are five sizes. Note the glasses, you most often see cobalt but look at the color of these. The wee swans are salt sellers and the small rounds are butter pats.
"Montauk" the home of Iowa's twelfth governor, Wm. Larrabee. Built in 1874.Montauk Historic Governor's Home
You know I am human, right. Well, being human I do make mistakes and last week's piece had a mistake that I need to correct for all of the history buffs out there. Iowa became a state in 1846 not 1848. I guess I failed Iowa history 101.
Hey, I hope everyone had a great long weekend and lots of fun celebrating our nations birthday. We did opt out of going camping this weekend as we figured with almost all of the local campgrounds, having had flood damage last summer, would be WAY full this weekend. We will make up for missing it, so count on seeing us out there in the next few weeks. Still, not having gone camping we still have had a great time on the fourth.
Despite the rain Den, Buddy and I bundled in to the car with bag chairs for each of us (you heard right, Buddy get's his own chair for parades), a cooler filled with liquid refreshments and a few snacks and we grabbed our "bumbershoots" and hit the road. It was raining softly but "The Weather Underground" assured us that it was clearing in Independence so we should be driving out of the rain. Let me tell you those guys are just throwing darts, Margie. It was raining when we arrived and barely let up the entire hour or so that we stood watching the parade. The marchers were braving the wet with banners held high, horns tooting and drums firing out the rhythm. Ronald McDonald was there as were the Shriners and their "Wee Winnie's". Winnebago's, cute though I couldn't tell if they were Braves or Chieftains. Pretty well soaked, especially Buddy, we made our way back to our car and headed out to see one of Iowa's Historic sights.
The pretty little town of Clermont in northeast Iowa was home to the twelfth governor of our state. Do you have any idea how many governors Iowa has had? Well, Margie, I looked it up, we have had 41 governors. The twelfth one was Governor William Larrabee. He came here from Connecticut. Mrs. Larrabee's father was a sailing man and the Montauk lighthouse on the Long Island, New York coast was a beacon to him that he was finally home. It was this lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in the state of New York, for which the Larrabee home in Clermont is named.
Larrabee came to own some 200,000 acres of farmland in the state of Iowa and adjoining states, of which, 100,000 were in Iowa. My husband grew up on one of the farms that the Larrabee family owned in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Montauk and it's buildings are set high on the hill over looking the town of Clermont and the Turkey river. It was built in 1874 and was the Larrabee family's third home. The home was designed by the same architect that designed the Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien. The house is built of brick inside and out. Yes, Margie, the walls between the rooms are brick. Made it kind of tough to modernize back in 1910 as the electrical conduits had to be run where it shows. All of the pictures and artwork (of which there a great deal) had to be hung from "picture rails" installed around each of the rooms. It was built with running water and had a hot water system that served the kitchen, two bathrooms, and six bedrooms (each with a marble sink and running water). The house has twelve rooms all with very high ceilings and almost each with two entrances. The Larrabee's had seven children and two that never married. Anna Larrabee died well into her 90's in the 1960's having lived almost her entire life in this wonderful old home. Upon her death the house and it's contents were willed to the state of Iowa and is now one of the places that your family and you might enjoy touring. The admission is free of charge. Their tours start every 15 minutes from 12:00PM until 4:00PM and are handled by three very knowledgeable and friendly docents. http://www.clermontia.org/VTOURmontauk.htm
The area offers lots of things to see and do, check it out at http://www.clermontia.org/. We intend a return visit so we might see you there.
There are lots of things "Across Iowa and Maybe a Bit Beyond" that are easy day trips if you care to do a bit of exploring. So, I hope to see you around the next corner enjoying the great state we live in!
Gov. Larrabee's desk. Think of the old secretary desk only more commanding. When Gov. Larrabee was away he would close the desk up and lock it. There was a mail slot for mail to be deposited in his absents but when he returned everything was as he left it with the exception of the accumulated mail.
The Larrabee's dining room. The children ate at this table when they had learned to conduct themselves as proper young ladies and gentlemen. Until then they ate in the kitchen and practiced their manners. This table has no leaves but is made larger by removing the half rounds of the top and replacing them with a larger size. There are five sizes. Note the glasses, you most often see cobalt but look at the color of these. The wee swans are salt sellers and the small rounds are butter pats.
One of the gowns worn my Mrs. Anna Larrabee and displayed in what was their bed chamber.
God Bless,
Linda
You know I am human, right. Well, being human I do make mistakes and last week's piece had a mistake that I need to correct for all of the history buffs out there. Iowa became a state in 1846 not 1848. I guess I failed Iowa history 101.
Hey, I hope everyone had a great long weekend and lots of fun celebrating our nations birthday. We did opt out of going camping this weekend as we figured with almost all of the local campgrounds, having had flood damage last summer, would be WAY full this weekend. We will make up for missing it, so count on seeing us out there in the next few weeks. Still, not having gone camping we still have had a great time on the fourth.
Despite the rain Den, Buddy and I bundled in to the car with bag chairs for each of us (you heard right, Buddy get's his own chair for parades), a cooler filled with liquid refreshments and a few snacks and we grabbed our "bumbershoots" and hit the road. It was raining softly but "The Weather Underground" assured us that it was clearing in Independence so we should be driving out of the rain. Let me tell you those guys are just throwing darts, Margie. It was raining when we arrived and barely let up the entire hour or so that we stood watching the parade. The marchers were braving the wet with banners held high, horns tooting and drums firing out the rhythm. Ronald McDonald was there as were the Shriners and their "Wee Winnie's". Winnebago's, cute though I couldn't tell if they were Braves or Chieftains. Pretty well soaked, especially Buddy, we made our way back to our car and headed out to see one of Iowa's Historic sights.
The pretty little town of Clermont in northeast Iowa was home to the twelfth governor of our state. Do you have any idea how many governors Iowa has had? Well, Margie, I looked it up, we have had 41 governors. The twelfth one was Governor William Larrabee. He came here from Connecticut. Mrs. Larrabee's father was a sailing man and the Montauk lighthouse on the Long Island, New York coast was a beacon to him that he was finally home. It was this lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in the state of New York, for which the Larrabee home in Clermont is named.
Larrabee came to own some 200,000 acres of farmland in the state of Iowa and adjoining states, of which, 100,000 were in Iowa. My husband grew up on one of the farms that the Larrabee family owned in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Montauk and it's buildings are set high on the hill over looking the town of Clermont and the Turkey river. It was built in 1874 and was the Larrabee family's third home. The home was designed by the same architect that designed the Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien. The house is built of brick inside and out. Yes, Margie, the walls between the rooms are brick. Made it kind of tough to modernize back in 1910 as the electrical conduits had to be run where it shows. All of the pictures and artwork (of which there a great deal) had to be hung from "picture rails" installed around each of the rooms. It was built with running water and had a hot water system that served the kitchen, two bathrooms, and six bedrooms (each with a marble sink and running water). The house has twelve rooms all with very high ceilings and almost each with two entrances. The Larrabee's had seven children and two that never married. Anna Larrabee died well into her 90's in the 1960's having lived almost her entire life in this wonderful old home. Upon her death the house and it's contents were willed to the state of Iowa and is now one of the places that your family and you might enjoy touring. The admission is free of charge. Their tours start every 15 minutes from 12:00PM until 4:00PM and are handled by three very knowledgeable and friendly docents. http://www.clermontia.org/VTOURmontauk.htm
The area offers lots of things to see and do, check it out at http://www.clermontia.org/. We intend a return visit so we might see you there.
There are lots of things "Across Iowa and Maybe a Bit Beyond" that are easy day trips if you care to do a bit of exploring. So, I hope to see you around the next corner enjoying the great state we live in!
Gov. Larrabee's desk. Think of the old secretary desk only more commanding. When Gov. Larrabee was away he would close the desk up and lock it. There was a mail slot for mail to be deposited in his absents but when he returned everything was as he left it with the exception of the accumulated mail.
The Larrabee's dining room. The children ate at this table when they had learned to conduct themselves as proper young ladies and gentlemen. Until then they ate in the kitchen and practiced their manners. This table has no leaves but is made larger by removing the half rounds of the top and replacing them with a larger size. There are five sizes. Note the glasses, you most often see cobalt but look at the color of these. The wee swans are salt sellers and the small rounds are butter pats.
One of the gowns worn my Mrs. Anna Larrabee and displayed in what was their bed chamber.
God Bless,
Linda
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