Martin Van Buren National Historic Site ⓘ

During Martin Van Buren's twenty-one year residency at Lindenwald, an intriguing collection of people lived within his home and in the nearby communities. There was a stream of family, politicians, friends, guests and children constantly coming and going. Additionally, there was a ever-changing mix of domestic and agricultural employees. Together they represented a diverse cross section of American society. To read some of the people associated with Lindenwald and President Van Buren, explore the links below:

Though history may not remember him as a Founding Father, Van Buren was an influential and instrumental member of the second generation of politicians tasked with making the experiment in self government into a working reality.

Martin and Hannah Van Buren had four sons who lived into adulthood: Abraham, John, Martin Jr., and Smith Thompson. Check out their individual biographies to learn more about their personalities, accomplishments, and families.

A lawyer and contemporary of Martin Van Buren, Van Ness famously served as Aaron Burr’s second in the duel between him and Alexander Hamilton.

Although the entertainment landscape was in many ways different from our own, there were many entertainers, musicians, and actors who captured the admiration of fans in Martin Van Buren’s time. Find out if you recognize any of them!

Explore the following pages to learn more about the world in which Martin Van Buren lived.

In 1839, Van Buren arranged to purchase Lindenwald, a 137-acre estate with a house of more than 30 rooms, only two miles from Kinderhook, where he was born and raised, for use when he retired. Renominated by the Democrats in May 1840, he hoped to serve another term. When he lost the 1840 election, he returned to Lindenwald and took up the life of a gentleman farmer while continuing his political activities and later while writing his autobiography.

Martin Van Buren ran two failed presidential campaigns from Lindenwald and continued to be active in politics for the rest of his life. Van Buren certainly did not consider his career over when he moved back to Kinderhook, and this was much more than a retirement home.

Slavery was the major political, social, and moral question of Martin Van Buren’s generation, and his relationship with the institution was incredibly complicated. Van Buren’s political connections to slavery, and the lives of enslaved people who lived, worked, and visited Lindenwald, are stories integral to our understanding of the site.

Born during the American Revolution, Van Buren lived to see the beginning of the Civil War. His generation of Americans were tasked with taking the founders ideas and putting them into practical use, and the fate of the union was anything but certain.

Martin Van Buren’s political life and his experience as a gentleman farmer are sometimes treated separately, but they are deeply interconnected. His dedication to progressive farming practices were tied to his belief in free soil and his attempts to illustrate that land on the East Coast was still viable for cultivation.

Scholarship is critical to the work that is accomplished at Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. The need for current, factual, balanced historical research is, of course, essential to the preservation of the physical resources of the site. It is even more important to the understanding and interpretion of President Van Buren and the ante bellum period of American history. National Park Service professionals and noted national scholars have conducted many of the studies. Much of the research is arranged through the National Park Service's agreement with the Organization of American Historians . Other research has been produced through a partnership with the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation . Some of the more recent studies can be accessed below:

Irish Immigrant Workers in Antebellum New York: The Experience of Domestic Servants at Van Buren's Lindenwald

The Little Magician after the Show: Martin Van Buren, Country Gentleman and Progressive F armer , 1841-1863

Agricultural Management Guidelines: Martin Van Buren National Historic Site A Farmer in his Native Town: Cultural Landscape Report for Martin Van Buren Farmland

When Martin Van Buren was born in 1782, the Founding Fathers had just laid the foundations for the new nation in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The actual workings of the government were far from settled. Issues that separated political activists included states’ rights, the establishment of a National Bank, a standing army, international commerce and the powers of the Federal Government, to name a few.

This ability and his organizational skills served him well when the New York Assembly sent him to Washington as their United States Senator. Anticipating the presidential election of 1828, he used the influence of the Albany Regency, in concert with Southern planters, to win the White House for Andrew Jackson; thus, sealing this new coalition’s place in history as the first ever national political party. In other contributions, he was a long time advocate for greater participation in the democratic process. He helped to break the mold of wealthy elites dominating the White House with the election of Jackson. As President, he also helped to settle the issue of the handling of federal monies by convincing congress to establish a National Treasury. Diplomatic inroads with England finally brought to end animosities along the New York and Maine borders with Canada. By vying for the Presidency in 1844 and 1848, though unsuccessfully, he advanced the national conversation of slavery’s expansion westward. Though history may not remember him as a Founding Father, as a professional politician, he used his skills, intuitive nature, and shrewdness to bring to conclusion issues that had burdened the nation for four decades. He was an influential and instrumental member of the second generation of politicians, leaving a legacy of building on the Founding Fathers’ foundations and making this experiment in self-government into a working reality.

Peter Van Ness was born in 1734, the son of Wilhelm and Gertrude Van Ness in Claverack, New York. Much of his childhood and early adult life remain a mystery. However, Peter did serve as an officer in the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). In the former, he was appointed Colonel of the Ninth Albany Militia and saw action at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, which saw the surrender of British General John Burgoyne.

Peter started his career as a wheelwright, a person who makes or repairs wooden wheels. Around 1792, Peter became attached to a canal building project with the Northern Inland Lock Navigation Company. The project aimed to create a canal from the Hudson River to the Finger Lake region and beyond. Ultimately, the project failed, but such an ambitious project aided in the development of the Erie Canal.

When it came to politics, he was in a long power struggle with the Van Rensselaers of the Hudson Valley. Van Ness was a member of the state convention that adopted the Federal Constitution, elected a senator from New York, and served as Justice of the Peace. He was appointed the first Chief Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Columbia County, where he owned an estate called Kleinrood. He had purchased the land around 1787 from the Van Alstyne family, who were British loyalists during the American Revolution. Here he constructed a large brick home in 1797, a status symbol for the time as masonry work was expensive. This large structure served as his primary residence until his death on December 21, 1804.

His family consisted of his wife Elbertje (1743-1806) and five children: Catherine Van Ness (1767-1825), John Peter Van Ness (1769-1846), Gertrude P. Van Ness (1772-1852), William Peter Van Ness (1778-1826), and Cornelius Peter Van Ness (1782-1852). According to the 1790 Census, his household also included 10 enslaved people. George, a man enslaved by Van Ness, escaped the family in 1804, mere months before Peter’s death. An escape notice was posted on October 15, 1804, which offered a $40 reward for his capture. It is unknown whether George maintained his freedom, as no further record exists.

Upon his death, Kleinrood was divided up amongst his three sons. His eldest, John Peter, received an old stone house and 123 acres of land. William received 137 acres of land and the new brick home, while Cornelius, his youngest son, received an undisclosed amount of land east of the Old Post Road near the property. Also included in the will was a determination on many of the enslaved people. Three enslaved women, Hannah/Naun, Bet, and Sattin were outlined to be liberated and discharged from further service while a young girl named Hannah was outlined to remain enslaved until age thirty. " I also give to my said wife Albertie the Small Black Girl named Hannah, Who shall remain a Slave and Servant to her, and her assigns, until she the said Girl shall arrive at the age of Thirty and shall then be liberated..."

Martin Van Buren later purchased much of the Van Ness land, including the brick home, which he renamed Lindenwald.

William Peter Van Ness, son of Peter and Elbertie Van Ness, was born on February 13, 1778, in Ghent, New York. Little is known about his early childhood, but he attended Washington Seminary, the same school as Martin Van Buren. He then graduated from Columbia College, now Columbia University, in 1797. In 1800, at age 22, he read law with Edward Livingston and then began running his own private practice. Through the years, he had practices in Albany, Hudson, and New York City. In 1800, he married Anne McEvers in Red Hook, New York. In 1801, he served as a delegate to the New York Constitutional Convention, which was called to amend the 1777 state constitution. Van Ness was a close friend of Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson's Vice President. On July 11, 1804, Van Ness served as Burr’s second in the famed duel between he and Alexander Hamilton. During the duel, Van Ness loaded Burr’s pistol and was present for the fatal shooting of Hamilton. Fearing persecution for his involvement in the duel, Van Ness returned to Kinderhook and sought the informal counsel of his friend, Martin Van Buren. Van Buren had finished his legal studies with Van Ness at his New York City office in 1802. Not long after the duel, his father, Peter Van Ness, passed away on December 21, 1804; his property, called Kleinrood, was divided among his three sons. William received the newest structure, a brick home constructed in 1797, and 137 acres of land. From 1804–1810, William took a particular interest in the property, planting a garden and raising livestock. However, his political fortunes began to rise, and he soon relocated back to New York City. In May 1812, he was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of New York by President James Madison. Then, in 1814, he was reassigned to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Van Ness would maintain this position until his death on September 6, 1826, at age 48. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, alongside his wife. Prior to his death, Van Ness in 1824 had sold the Kleinrood estate as a repayment for a debt. The house and property sat vacant until 1839, when President Martin Van Buren purchased it and changed its name to Lindenwald. William and Anne had five children: Edward Van Ness (1801-1879), Harriet Mary Van Ness (1803-1825), Eugene Van Ness (1804-1862), Matilda Eliza Van Ness (1806-1869) and Charles William Van Ness (1807-1883). The household also included at least four enslaved individuals, whose identities are unknown, according to the 1810 United States Census.

Richard Mentor Johnson (1780–1850) rose from a Kentucky frontier background to become the ninth Vice President of the United States under President Martin Van Buren. Born in 1780 at Bryant’s Station, Virginia (soon to be Kentucky), Johnson left the family farm at sixteen to attend a grammar school and later studied law at Transylvania University. Johnson passed the Kentucky Bar in 1802 and set up a law practice in Great Crossings. His father gave him a plantation with enslaved laborers, placing him firmly within Kentucky’s slaveholding elite.

Johnson entered politics early, serving in the Kentucky legislature at age 23. He later served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1807–1819, 1829–1837) and in the Senate (1822–1829). He became known for supporting debtors, opposing imprisonment for debt, advocating for veterans, and pushing for military reform, though he was often burdened by personal financial debt.

His military career was closely tied to the War of 1812. Johnson raised mounted riflemen in Kentucky and fought in the Northwest campaign. At the Battle of the Thames in 1813, he was wounded. Some accounts credited him with killing the important Shawnee leader Tecumseh, though this claim remains unproven. Johnson nonetheless capitalized on the death of Tecumseh and used it to significantly bolster his political reputation. 1

A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a political neighbor of fellow Kentucky enslaver Henry Clay, Johnson positioned himself within the Democratic Party’s rising nationalist and populist wing. When Martin Van Buren sought re-election in 1836, Johnson was placed on the ticket to balance the party geographically and ideologically. He was a Southerner loyal to Jackson with the military credentials Van Buren lacked. But Johnson’s personal life and conduct made him a liability to the Democratic ticket.

Johnson failed to secure an Electoral College majority in 1836, and under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment, the Senate selected him as Vice President. He remains the only Vice President in U.S. history elected this way.

Johnson enslaved people throughout his life. Around 1815, following his father’s death, he began a non-consensual sexual relationship with Julia Ann Chinn, a child he enslaved at his Blue Spring Plantation. Historian Dr. Amrita Myers, in The Vice President’s Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn (2023), has shown that Chinn was likely between 14 and 16 years old when this exploitation began. Under Kentucky law, she remained legally enslaved and could not consent to marriage or partnership.

Chinn and Johnson had two daughters, Imogen and Adaline, whom he publicly acknowledged. This was unusual among white enslavers. Chinn herself played a central role in the operation of his estate. She managed Blue Spring plantation in Johnson’s absence and served as the doctor for both the plantation community and the nearby Choctaw Academy, which Johnson oversaw.

The Choctaw Academy was established in 1825 on Johnson’s land at Blue Spring with funding from the federal government and from the Choctaw Nation. For Johnson, the Academy functioned primarily as a business. Deeply encumbered by debt, he admitted privately that “nothing but being in debt would ever have induced me to undergo what I have." 2 His position allowed him to shape policy at the Indian Office, to avoid effective government oversight, and to prioritize his own advatage over the interests of the Choctaw. 3 Julia Chinn died in 1833 during a cholera epidemic devastating the Choctaw Academy, still enslaved. After her death, Johnson initiated sexual relationships with other enslaved women. These women and their children were later sold, reflecting the pervasive sexual violence and commodification of enslaved people within the system of slavery.

Johnson’s personal life made him a controversial national figure. His open acknowledgment of his mixed-race daughters sparked widespread condemnation from contemporaries. He served as Vice President from 1837 to 1841 under Martin Van Buren but proved politically divisive and was not re-nominated. Even Johnson’s former supporter, Jackson, boldly told Van Buren “I now tell you, if Col Johnson is the nominee, it will loose the democracy thousands of votes, Jeopardise this state, & surely loose Kentucky.” 4 Johnson died in 1850 in Kentucky. His legacy is marked both by his military and political roles and by his participation in and perpetuation of slavery, including his exploitation of Julia Chinn and other enslaved women. 5

Julia Chinn, whose life was long overshadowed by Johnson, is now recognized in her own right. Her story as plantation manager, community medical provider, and mother of Imogen and Adaline is the subject of renewed scholarship and public attention.

1 James Bradley, Martin Van Buren: America’s First Politician (Oxford University Press, 2024), 304. 2 Richard M. Johnson to Thomas Henderson, December 28,1833, Thomas Henderson Papers, Manuscript Department, The Filson Club, Louisville, Kentucky. 3 Ella Wells Drake, “Choctaw Academy: Richard M. Johnson and the Business of Indian Education,” The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 91, no.3 (1993); 260-97, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23382664 4 Bradley; Meyers; Tanisha C. Ford and Carl R. Weinberg, “Slavery, Interracial Marriage, and the Election of 1836,” OAH Magazine of History 23, no. 2 (2009): 57–61, http://www.jstor.org/ stable/40505990 5 Andrew Jackson to Martin Van Buren, 29 April 1840, The Papers of Martin Van Buren, https://vanburenpapers.org/document-mvb02959#; Tanisha C. Ford and Carl R. Weinberg, “Slavery, Interracial Marriage, and the Election of 1836,” OAH Magazine of History 23, no. 2 (2009): 57– 61, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40505990.

When Dutch traders and settlers began to arrive in the Hudson River Valley in the early seventeenth century, they encountered people who had been living - and farming – in the region for many centuries. The area that later became Columbia County was part of the territorial homelands of the Muhheconneok[1] people, an Algonquian speaking group that combined hunting and gathering with cultivation of crops. There were an estimated two to three thousand people before the contact period, a number that was already dropping by the time of Henry Hudson’s 1609 voyage due to the effects of new diseases that arrived with Europeans. The Dutch began acquiring land from Natives by 1630. Muhheconneok exchanged their land; or rather, permission to use their land, for various European goods, including wool cloth, alcohol, brass or copper kettles, guns, clothing, shells and other kinds of currency, tools and utensils, tobacco, and other trade items. The Dutch tried to identify “sachems”[2] and political leaders with whom they could do business, failing to understand the shifting character of the kinship-based political structures within which the Muhheconneok made collective decisions. From the Muhheconneok perspective, the Dutch were only to have “rented” for one year the right to grow crops, rather than “owning” the land itself. The European “all or nothing” system of ownership could not coexist with Native modes of settlement, and the two systems quickly came into conflict. When the Dutch colonists did manage to coexist peacefully with the native tribes, they actually learned from each other. The Muhheconneoks had been farming the land for centuries, and as the Dutch began to farm, the Muhheconneoks were the ones who taught them the practice of “crop rotation;” moving your annual crop to a different place each year. Now that the Dutch were introducing horses, cows, sheep, and pigs to North America, they taught the Muhheconneoks their method of fertilization. [1] The historic name of the "Mahican" people. [2] The Algonquin term for a "chief."

Van Buren maintained a household staff of six who received wages plus room and board. It was comprised of wives and daughters of farmhands, some seasonal help, and Irish immigrant women. His chef, Felix, was paid $12.00 per month, as was the coachman. The butler and the valet, who both doubled as waiters, each received $8.00 per month. Two household maids each received $6.00 per month. He allocated a sum of $200.00 over a six-month period for farm and garden help wages, and an annual outlay for household servants of $640.00 per annum.

Almost as soon as he arrived home from Washington, visitors started to arrive, some for a day and others for a week or two. His guests included: Thomas H. Benton, Francis Blair, the Earl of Carlisle, Henry Clay, Washington Irving, Winfield Scott, Charles Sumner, David Wilmot, and Silas Wright. The Main Hall at Lindenwald is perhaps the most important room in the house. It is commonly believed that Van Buren used it as a large dining space. Some considered it "the center of what was essentially a ‘government in exile.’" Serving styles for formal dinners went in and out of fashion, and Van Buren always followed the latest trends. He is documented as having owned green glass fingerbowls, which had become fashionable during his presidency. Thomas Hart Benton, a dinner guest, was once confronted with the unfamiliar bowls. He remarked: "I am rather chary of new customs, but after noticing Mr. Van Buren dip the tips of his fingers in the bowl and wipe them daintily on his napkin, I just raked back my cuffs and took a good plain republican bath."

Van Buren’s four sons had worked for the president in Washington, DC. Now back in Kinderhook, they were happy to be living with him, or at least nearby. Abraham, the oldest son, and his wife, Angelica, had their first child and were living in a Stuyvesant cottage. In June of 1841, John married Elizabeth Vanderpoel, and in 1842, Smith married Ellen James. The three had presented the president with his first three grandchildren, while Martin Junior would become a permanent resident at Lindenwald suffering from consumption.

Slavery was the central political, social, and moral issue of Martin Van Buren’s generation, and his relationship with the institution was complex and shaped by both personal circumstance and national debate. Van Buren’s political connections to slavery, as well as the lives of enslaved people who lived, worked, and visited the property that encompasses Van Buren's Lindenwald, are integral to understanding the history of the site.

The presence of enslaved individuals at Martin Van Buren National Historic Site is documented primarily through archival records that were created for legal, financial, and political purposes rather than to preserve personal histories. As is common in nineteenth-century records, enslaved people often appear only briefly in estate inventories, correspondence, or legal documents, frequently identified by first name, age, or monetary value, while details of their daily lives, family relationships, and personal experiences were rarely recorded. These gaps in the archival record are themselves an important part of the story, reflecting the realities of a system that did not value the individuality or voices of those held in bondage.

By examining the surviving documents and acknowledging their limitations, we seek to better understand the lives of enslaved people connected to our site and the broader world in which they lived.

Martin Van Buren’s time at Lindenwald coincided with one of the most difficult periods in American history – the twenty years leading up to the Civil War. Questions about the future and expansion of slavery, the forced removal of indigenous people from their lands, the role of the government in the economy, and even the fate of the union, were asked around family dinner tables across the nation. All these issues, and many more, have modern implications for our nation. Born on December 5, 1782, Van Buren was the first future president born a citizen of the United States. He lived to see that nation devolve into Civil War. He died as he was born, a resident of Kinderhook, NY, in a slaveholding republic at war. But in that time, nearly everything else had changed. Explore the following pages to learn about the people of Van Buren’s time, the places where history was made, and the stories that complicate our understanding of the past. Also available to help you learn more about Martin Van Buren are The Papers of Martin Van Buren . The Papers of Martin Van Buren is a joint digital/print project that makes approximately 13,000 documents belonging to the eighth president accessible. The Papers of Martin Van Buren is on his letters, speeches, notes, and other material. Be a part of telling these stories. Learn what the National Park Service and associated organizations are doing to preserve our museum collection . Also, discover how to further your research into the history of the site.

Lindenwald is not a moment frozen in time. It is both an active farm and a thriving ecosystem for plants and animals through all four seasons. The park is working with researchers from the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program to better understand this ecosystem. The group began fieldwork in March of 2020 by conducting amphibian/vernal pool surveys, then setting up two rounds of camera traps to document mammal activity on the property. They also established a set of standardized insect monitoring methods to document species richness and abundance on different parts of the property and provide a baseline for future monitoring. Their work will continue throughout the coming years. Check out some of their research in the photo essays below:

The Farmscape Ecology Pogram used motion sensitive cameras, commonly called "camera traps" or "game cameras", to document animal activity at various places within the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. See what they discovered in this photo essay!

Summer is the time when many insect species become adults. To study these insects, researchers from the Farmscape Ecology Program focused on their main food source - flowers.