Mrs. Pratt had five of them. The largest collection outside of russia, more than the queen of england owns and she had them here in this house. Later on she donated them to the Virginia State museum. So today you could see them in one of the rooms down there. She predeceased mr. Pratt by a number of years. He lived here by himself up until 1975 when well into his 90s he died and at that point he gave the house to the National Park service. Realizing its historical importance. Thanks to the jens rossty of this man that we are able to show the house to you. I hope you enjoy it. If the you have any questions ask me and of course, we have a lot of interesting things going on on the front grounds today as well. So please take advantage of those as well. The gardens were on the front of the house. Entirely obliterated. If you look at pictures, we have one on the fireplace, of that side of the house during the war, youll see no garden. After the war was over in the 1920s they then moved the g
Jacksons life, he added land to the property. He bought and sold property all around the edges. So by the time he died in 1845, the plantation was about 1,050 acres. Jackson understood clearly that part of your power derived from the stage that youre on. And they were building a grand stage set for him and the the family. The front of the house is very grand. Its the style is called greek revival, which was the height of style in the United States in the 1830s. We know of jackson or think of jackson as representing the growing democracy of the country. And the greek revival style appealed to americans because of the greek democracies. So as you approach the mansion coming up the driveway thats shaped like a guitar, very appropriate for nashville, the front of the mansion you see a twostory portico that runs across the house with a gallery and wings running off to the side. That is clearly very state of the art for 1835. And just a very imposing house that became the model for many othe
Roosevelt as Vice President didnt have all that much to do. He was actually in buffalo three times. He came to open the pan American Exposition on president s day. William mckinley was supposed to be here, but his wife ida, who was in ill health, prevented him from coming, so roosevelt substituted for him in may of 1801. And then of course, when mckinley was shot on september 6th of 1901, roosevelt was looking for a hotel room and just by chance bumped into Ansley Wilcox and mr. Wilcox offered him his home to stay while he was in buffalo tending to the wounded president. The family is on mt. Marcie, the highest peak in new york state. Camping, hiking, a runner coming up the mountain, no small feat in and of itself to let roosevelt know the president has taken a turn for the worst and he needs to immediately get back to buffalo, that there is really no hope for the president. So its a 30mile journey to the north creek station, railroad station. And he takes three carriages, three teams
In July 1987, a thief stole Theodore Roosevelt s watch from an unlocked, glass-enclosed case at the Wilcox Mansion on Delaware Avenue. For 36 years, its whereabouts have been unknown. That
Since July 1987, whe a thief stole Theodore Roosevelt s watch from an unlocked, glass-enclosed case at the Wilcox Mansion in Buffalo, its whereabouts have been unknown. Until now.