Elmira, NY (10/1/2020)

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Leaving Buffalo, NY, the hillsides
were beginning to show autumn colors

First stop in Elmira, NY:

Quarry Farm was purchased by the Langdon family in 1869
as a summer home, but soon became the home of the sister of
Olivia Langdon, the wife of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain

The Samuel Clemens family spent their summers here at Quarry Farm, and their three daughters were born in Elmira, NY. Because his sister-in-law did not like cigar smoke, she had a separate octagonal study built for Clemens/Twain. (Or was it just to give him peace and quiet?!) It was located on a hilltop above Quarry Farm with a view of the Chemung River. Here Mark Twain wrote "the better part of three book-length travel narratives, two plays, dozens of stories and essays, and four novels, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

The Mark Twain Study (1874) is now
located on the campus of Elmira College

View inside the Mark Twain Study

Cowles Hall (1855, by Farrar) of Elmira College (founded
1855, as a college for women only, granting degrees
equivalent to those given to men at the time)

Olivia Langdon Clemens graduated from Elmira College in 1864.

Gillette Memorial Hall (1892, for the music department)

Entrance to Woodlawn Cemetery (1864) in Elmira, NY

John Arnot, Sr grave marker

John Arnot immigrated from Scotland as a merchant. He later worked as a cashier at Chemung Canal Bank and 15 years later was the bank president. His son, John Arnot, Jr, served as mayor of Elmira, and also as a representative to the United States Congress, once as a nominee of both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Memorial (1937) to Mark Twain and
Ossip Gabrilowitsch, a pianist and composer,
erected by Clara Clemens Gabrilowitsch

Samuel Langhorne Clemens grave marker
(note cigar stub left on the gravestone)

Also buried at Woodlawn Cemetery is Hal Roach, one of
the early film producers who was influenced by Mark Twain;
Hal Roach worked with comedians Harold Lloyd,
Laurel and Hardy, and the Our Gang kids

Directions (1977, by William Dickey King)

Sculpture at the Arnot Art Museum (KSS)

The grooves in the lawn show why you are encouraged
to mow your lawn in a different pattern each time,
but perhaps the art museum liked the artistic effect!

We were able to visit the Arnot Art Museum for free through our membership with Tyler Arboretum and NARM/North American Reciprocal Museum Association.

Arnot Art Museum (1833, in Greek Revival style
as residence for John Arnot, Sr)

John Arnot's youngest son Matthias, a banker and philanthropist, began collecting art in 1869 by traveling regularly to Europe. In the 1890s he had a gallery constructed as an addition to the residence.

This is a rare example of a 19C private picture gallery
that retains its original art collection as displayed salon style

Skylight in the picture gallery

The Marabou: At the Door of His House
(by Jean-Léon Gérôme) (KSS)

Apple Gatherers (c 1852, by Jean-François Millet) (KSS)

On the Oise (c 1861, by Charles-François Daubigny)

A Mountain Stream (c 1860, by Gustave Courbet)

A Flemish Fair or Village Landscape with Cattle Market
(1613, by Jan Brueghel the Elder) (KSS)

Since 1913 when the museum opened to the public, it has acquired further artworks including by American artists.

Match (2003, by Wes Hempel)

The Name is Never Given (2020, by Treacy Ziegler);
Remember that in the Erie Art Museum we saw
Ziegler's works made from letters of prisoners

A few paintings from an exhibit showing American Art through the ages:

Portrait of a Gentleman (William Thomas Parke)
(c 1785, by Gilbert Stuart)

The Overturned Basket (1897, by George W Water)

Untitled (1957, by George Biddle) (KSS)

There is also sculpture:

One of the Chevaux de Marly

The other of the Chevaux de Marly (after
the Chevaux de Marly/Horses of Marly (1745,
by Guillaume Coustou) of which the originals
are in the Louvre in Paris, France

More in Elmira, NY:

On the L: District Attorney's and Treasurer's Building (1836,
by Pierce & Bickford in Greek Revival style);
on the R: Chemung County Court House (1861-1862,
by Horatio Nelson White in Italianate and Classical style)

County's Clerk Office (1875) and Courthouse Annex (1895)

Chemung Valley History Museum (1832-1834, in
Greek Revival style with Federal features,
as the Chemung Canal Bank)

We were able to visit the Chemung Valley History Museum for free through our membership with Tyler Arboretum and NARM/North American Reciprocal Museum Association.

Two vaults were added in 1903 (by Pierce & Bickford)

The original vault is seen among the museum displays

Shirt cuff autographed by Ernie Davis, who attended
Elmira Free Academy where he received two All American
honors in football; he continued at Syracuse University where he
became the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy

The "Big Horn" Mammoth Tusk represents one found by
the Algonquin along the banks of the river they named
Chemung, meaning "place of the big horn"

Historic photos included the Mark Twain Study in its
original location above Quarry Farm (KSS)

Photo of Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain in his study (KSS)

On the L: Silk dress (c 1885) worn by
Olivia Langdon Clemens was colored by the
first synthetic aniline dye, called mauveine;
on the R: Strapless silk dress dyed with an
1870s aniline green dye that replaced the
only bright green dye available earlier: arsenic

The current Chemung Canal Trust Company
Main Bank (1970, by Haskell, Conner & Frost
in Modern style...)

Next: Bethlehem, PA II.