The holidays might be winding down, but there’s at least one more chance to enjoy the merriment. On Saturday, Jan. 8, the Schuyler Mansion will hold a Salutations of the Season celebration from 4 to 7 p.m.
After all, that’s how it was done in the days of Philip Schuyler, the home’s namesake.
`We celebrate Twelfth Night as it was celebrated in the18th century in Albany,` Michelle Mavigliano, the mansion’s historic site interpreter, said. `This is how it could have happened at the mansion.`
Twelfth Night, also known as the Feast of Epiphany, was one of the traditional holidays celebrated by Dutch and English families of the time. The mansion’s annual re-creation takes pains to accurately portray the period and its people, with re-enactors standing in as the Schuyler family. Philip Schuyler was a U.S. senator, an acclaimed Revolutionary War general and an entrepreneur, and the mansion played a key role in his life. Schuyler networked, strategized and socialized there. This year’s Twelfth Night celebration is set in January 1778, which Mavigliano described as a `very tumultuous time.`
A year earlier, Schuyler had been a commanding general, working to ward off British invasions into New York. But Schuyler fell ill, so he passed on command of one of the posts he was hoping to protect, Fort Ticonderoga, to Arthur St. Clair. It was a fateful decision; when the British swarmed Ticonderoga on July 5, 1777, St. Clair gave it up without so much as a gunshot. Congress replaced Schuyler with General Horatio Gates, who accused Schuyler of dereliction of duty.
In 1778, Schuyler was preparing to answer a court martial he had requested to refute Gates’ charges (he was eventually cleared). He was also busy working with the Board of Indian Commissioners, trying to convince Native Americans to join America’s side in the war, a proposition that was met with plenty of resistance.
It might not sound like the most jubilant setting for a party, but Mavigliano said the story is simply background. If visitors want to know who re-enactors are or what was going on at the time, they’ll get answers.
`People ask a lot of questions, from ‘What’s that’ to ‘Who are you?’` Mavigliano said. `We’re trying to teach history in a fun way.`
There is more traditional fun on tap, too. The celebration will feature holiday food, live music, bonfires and wassail toasts. Mavigliano said one of the highlights is an 18th century refreshment table featuring wines, juices and other items served in Schuyler’s time. The mansion has had the table at other celebrations, but it was more for show than for congregating. That’s different this year; people will be encouraged to spend time at the table.
The second floor boasts a salon, the era’s equivalent of a ballroom, Mavigliano said. There will be dancing and a king and queen will be crowned. Downstairs, meanwhile, will host the `drunken wassailers` and the live music.
Whereas the mansion typically takes visitors through on guided tours, the celebration will have an open house format, Mavigliano said. People are welcome to walk through and mingle at their own pace.
The celebration wouldn’t be possible without the re-enactors who come from the Capital District and beyond. Mavigliano said most belong to regional re-enactment groups that portray certain militias. Others are local actors.
`They’re instrumental in helping us,` she said.
The celebration is one of the mansion’s biggest draws, along with its July 4 program. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and students and $2 for children 12 and older. The mansion is at 32 Catherine St. in Albany.“