Kent DeLord

postcard courtesy of the Kent DeLord house

As you walk into the white house with the white picket fence on 17 Cumberland Avenue, a woman who holds the history of Plattsburgh at her fingertips will most likely greet you. The woman I am referring to is Christal Russell and she is the museum educator for the historically encapsulated Kent DeLord house.

According to Russell, the house gives a service to the public. "With any history, this is how children learn, and how adults don't forget," Russell said about the historical house. "If a child picks up a candle here, they know you couldn't plug anything (into an outlet)."

A Little History

At first glance, one would think that this house is just like any other, but what it actually holds inside are war memorabilia, from the war of 1812, and colonial artifacts. According to James M. Lindgren, history department chairmen of Plattsburgh State, the Kent DeLord house is an "excellent example of late 18th

photo by Mike Betts

Walking toward the Kent DeLord house

century settlement, and is architecturally the most important house in Clinton County." The house was built by Thomas Bailey who passed it onto his daughter, who at the time couldn't hold a deed. It was a law that women couldn't hold this responsibility. So, the deed was signed over to her husband James Kent. A man by the name of Henry DeLord bought the house from Kent after that and moved in with his wife Betsey. Hence the name, Kent Delord house. Taking a walk inside you begin by learning that the house was created in a federal style, meaning that both sides of the house are decorated and built the same. If there are red flowers outside on the left lawn in the springtime, then there are red flowers on the right side of the lawn as well. Henry DeLord redesigned the house this way, mocking a typical style back in the day. DeLord moved with his wife Betsy Ketchum from Peru, New York, during the 1800s in order to take advantage of the big city of Plattsburgh and the Lake Champlain trade route. Here he and partner William Bailey created the "Red Store," a general store where baked goods and what DeLord grew on his property were sold. After providing war credits for the war going on at the time, DeLord became bankrupt because of the congressional refusal to pay those debts.

The Twin Rooms

The first room you encounter, the Gold Room located to the right of the entrance, contains walls adorned with paintings of Henry DeLord, his wife, his daughter and others from his lineage, depicting three generations of DeLords. Having your portrait painted during the 1800s was a sign of wealthy stature. The ceiling of this room is higher than a normal house's would be due to the fact that during this century, a high ceiling also showed the wealth of a family. Cherrywood furniture fills every nook and cranny of this room and a rustic looking rug is accentuated by a tea table where DeLord's daughter Fannie, threw parties. Surrounding the tea table are chairs set down low, designed especially for women with hoopskirts, another popular trend during this era. The room to the left of the entrance, the study, looks almost exactly like its partner, again following the federal style. The room is set up in a religious manner with paintings of The Last Supper, The Last Communion of St. Jerome, and St. Francis of Assisi adorning the walls. This was said to be the study belonging to Frank Hall, a minister whom Fannie later on married and occupied the DeLord residence with. It matches its sister room in its size and structure and the placing of certain objects such as the Girondel, or candelabra.

The Healer

According to Russell, the Plattsburgh area during the wartime couldn't afford any doctor assistance and had very little healthcare. Fannie was not a practiced medicator but she did provide free assistance to people in need. She created many healing remedies such as "Fanoline," a 25-cent salve, which Russell proclaimed, "could cure anything." The room next to the Winter Room, known as the warmest room in the house, was where Fannie kept her remedies in a medicine and had a fainting bed. The bed was used for women at her tea parties who would pass out due to the extreme amounts of food that they put into their corseted-bodies. Fannie opened a home in the 1800s called "Home for the Friendless" where donators would give what they could in a donation box to people in need.

Dining and Eating Facilities

The dining room has yet again, many portraits of the family including one of a woman in full-figure. Showing appendages such as arms and legs were more expensive to paint which signified great wealth in those times. While touring this room, Russell said that British officers during the War of 1812 used the house as headquarters for five days straight. A butler's pass through - - a little window opening connecting to the kitchen on the other side of the dining room, was where food was passed to the servants. The kitchen was plain, the etiquette decorated for the standards of the servants at the time, and a cooking fireplace and bathtubs are located up against the wall. The room has a vintage telephone, yet no electricity and running water were used in the house.

The Ending

A painting of Catherine Dowling, servant to Fannie, resides in the house. Dowling took over the house when the DeLord lineage died off and William Miner later on purchased the house for $25,000 and gave it away to be preserved as a memorial to the family and of the war. An old map of Plattsburgh was the last stop on the list and it showed Plattsburgh smaller than it is today, with only a few houses scattered here and there.

Present Day House Events

The Kent DeLord house sponsors many educational programs such as a reenactment of the Battle of Plattsburgh where British and American soldiers are realistically portrayed in battle. Next to the carriage barn outside the house, concerts called Music at Dusk are held on Fridays. For an educational insight into Plattsburgh, visit these events and find out where you're truly from.

Do you know of any great historical places in Plattsburgh?