George Clarke was born into the English landowning class at the Clarke family manor house in Swainswick, Somerset. Through the influence of William Blathwayt , Clarke was appointed Secretary of the Province of New York in 1703. He was an able administrator and an adept politician during a turbulent period in New York, serving under three monarchs and six colonial governors. Clarke was eventually promoted to Lieutenant Governor. During his time in New York, he acquired a fort

George Clarke, Jr., was born in New York City and worked as an assistant to his father. Following the death of the unpopular and short-termed governor, Brigadier General William Crosby, he went to England in 1737 to promote his father’s case for the governorship. Although he was unsuccessful for his father, he was made Secretary of the Province for life in recompense. He remained in England and hired a deputy to oversee his affairs in New York. George, Jr., became head of the

George Clarke was born in Dijon, France, while his parents were living abroad. Clarke inherited part of his family’s American property at the age of nine and as he was a minor, it was not sequestered during the Revolution. When he came of age, he went to New York for the first time, landing on April 20, 1789. The war had left general confusion about his status as a landowner and much of the rent in arrears. He determined that his property held great promise for future develop

Ann, the first doyenne of Hyde Hall, was the daughter of Colonel Richard Cary, aide-de-camp to General George Washington, and Ann Haley Low, daughter of Cornelius Low and member of the Roosevelt family.  Ann was described as “beautiful, vivacious, high strung [and] unpredictable.” She married Richard Fenimore Cooper, eldest brother of the author, James Fenimore Cooper , in 1801 at age 18, and they had five children, three of whom lived to maturity. Following Cooper’s death, A

George Clarke was born at Hyde Hall and inherited his father’s estate at age 13. When Clarke turned 21 in 1843, he took over management of his inheritance and divided his time between Hyde Hall and a townhouse he rented in Manhattan. He built on his father’s undertakings in several ways. He oversaw the rental properties in 13 different counties and continued acquiring new farmland. Between 1843 and 1858 he expanded the original 850 acres around Hyde Hall to 3,000 acres that s

George ‘Hyde’ Clarke was born in New York City. He spent a few summer months and the occasional holiday at Hyde Hall as a young child. He moved to England with his mother and sisters in 1866 to attend school. He returned to New York to seek a law degree at Columbia in 1878. He was an exceptional athlete, winning various trophies at his schools. Among his athletic interests, he introduced court tennis to America and was designated the best cricket player at St. George’s Cricke

George Hyde Clarke, Jr., was raised at Hyde Hall and graduated from Harvard College in 1911. He started a career working for the Union Pacific Railroad in Nebraska, then Colorado and New York City. Because of his parents’ failing health, he returned to Hyde Hall to help manage the estate in 1914. In 1915 he married Emily Borie Ryerson  (1893-1960). Emily was the third child of Emily Maria Borie  and Arthur Larned Ryerson, owner of the Ryerson Steel Company of Chicago. The Ry