Hostess and Partner

In 1868, Ellen and Henry welcomed a son whom they named Paul. The family now numbered ten children. Ellen’s took on the roles of hostess and partner as Roseland Cottage and the Brooklyn Heights mansion became focal points for entertaining and Henry’s growing public activities. In 1870, Henry revived an early nineteenth-century tradition of Fourth of July celebrations with a commemoration in Woodstock that continued and grew for twenty-five years. Guests of honor included three presidents (Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, and Rutherford B. Hayes) and William McKinley, who visited Roseland Cottage on July 4, 1892.