photos added after March 11

John Burroughs and his family click on any picture to see enlargement
Many of these photos have been received from Edward J. Renahan Jr., the author of John Burroughs, An American Naturalist, who lived at Riverby when he was a student at SUNY New Paltz during the 1970s. When John Burroughs received an appointment as a bank examiner for counties along the Hudson River in early 1973, he left Washington DC and searched for suitable land, with the intention of returning to farming. After searching through Long Island, Walt Whitman's home territory, he settled on nine acres in West Park NY along the Hudson River facing south and east, and ideal for growing grapes and currants. The deed was dated mid-September 1973. John called his farm "Riverby". He planned to build the house from rocks found on the property. He designed the original house without consulting his wife, who remained in Washington, closing their house there and looking after Walt Whitman. . Later on he added twenty acres to the original farm. Seeking solitude, he purchased 120 acres further inland with a partner. The land was a bog. John decided that his part of the property would grow celery, and in 1895 he and his son Julian spent the summer blasting rocks to reduce the swamp effect. He built a rustic cabin and named it "Slabsides". This has been kept in good condition by the Burroughs Association and the Nature Preserve has been made possible by grants from several sources, including Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Helen Gould Shepherd and Theodore Roosevelt's widow, Edith. Later, Henry Ford purchased the mortgage on the original family farm in Roxbury and gave it to John.
	<== John Burroughs photographed in front of his study at Riverby with Julian and Julian's family, in the summer of 1908. Granddaughter Elizabeth age 5, sits in the lap of Julian's wife Emily MacKay. Ursula sits in John's lap. Another grandson, John II, would be born two years later. photo from Bettmann Archive and copied from Renehan's biography John Burroughs.		<<===Slabsides, the rustic cabin built by John Burroughs in 1895, is now a historic site. Land for the area (separate from Riverby) was augmented by transfers from the Gordons. photo November 2001 by Victor VanCarpels
"The Nest" at Riverby, plus outbuildings, built by Julian Burroughs just after the turn of the century as a home for himself and his new bride. ===>> photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003		"Roxy" built at Riverby by Julian Burroughs in the 1920s a few yards east of "The Nest". This has three levels: a lookout tower at top, a long-unused studio apartment in the middle, and an open storage shed at bottom. The name for this ornate and weird structure comes from the ostentatious film palace "The Roxy Theater" in Manhattan, built about the same time ===>>	photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003
	<<===Another view of "The Nest" photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003		<<=== "The Workshop" built by Julian Burroughs just to the west of "The Nest" in the 1920s photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003
West face of the top of "Roxy" with a shed roof below. ===>> photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003		Bridge from "The Nest" to the top floor of "Roxy," with a cistern of Julian's construction showing below ===>> photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003
	<<=== The door to "Roxy" mid-level studio apartment. photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003		<<=== "Roxy" east face overlooking the Hudson River. photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003
Julian's shad-boat in the shed that constitutes the lowest level of "Roxy." ===>> photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003		A cistern of Julian's construction. ===>> photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003
photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003	<<=== Home of Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley at Riverby. She was a frequent visitor to the Brothers during the 1980s and 1990s.	photo by Edward Renehan taken summer 2003	<<=== The remains of Julian's Fordson tractor. He loved to play with concrete and actually put a concrete steering wheel on this machine.

photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006	photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006	<<===Richard Barley has been a tenant at Riverby since the early 1970s. Here he poses in front of Julian Burroughs' art studio, now in decayed condition. The Burroughs descendants hope to have all of Riverby declared a National Historic Site and eventually restore the buildings to their original state. Richard Barley lives in the house Julian built for his own family.
▲ photos by Rich Foy 1 July 2006 ►	<<=== a stone set in the wall of Julian Burroughs' art studio at Riverby. See enlargement for history of the stone.	Besides Renehan, Richard has had several co-tenants over the decades. His brown lab greets visitors with a warm welcome. Barley is a descendant of the Beaver family, who arrived from England in the early 1700s and many of whose descendants still live in Esopus. ===>>	photo 1 July 2006 by Richard Foy
A shard from a plate originally used on the Aphrodite, whose name is inscribed across the anchor. ===>>			photo 1 July 2006 by Richard Foy

In an August 2004 e-mail to Richard Foy, Ed Renehan gives some details about Riverby: "These days I live in Rhode Island, and don't frequently get back to Esopus. But I can give you some details on the Riverby property "You are right that the current owners, Burroughs descendants, discourage visitors. "After Julian's death in 1954, the Riverby estate was divided three ways between his three children. Ursula Burroughs Love got a section of the property that includes the main "stone house" built at Riverby by John Burroughs in 1873. John Burroughs II, Julian's son, got a section of ground containing the arts & crafts cottage built by Julian just after the turn of the century, along with the various outbuildings associated with the cottage (a workshop, and a large, three-story lookout tower called "Roxy".) (When the leaves are off the trees, both Julian's house and Roxy can be glimpsed when looking south from the bend in the driveway at Holy Cross Monastery.) Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley received a plot of Riverby ground on which she built a red-brick house just below Roxy. All three distinct Riverby properties share a right of way down that unfriendly driveway from 9-W. " The stone house and EBK properties are now owned by descendants of Ursula Burroughs Love. (EBK, who died just a few years ago, had no descendants.) Julian's arts-and-crafts cottage is owned by the two daughters of John Burroughs II, and is rented to a Richard Barley who is probably listed in local directories and would probably show you the place if you asked. Rich was one of my roommates when I lived in Julian's house as a student so many years ago, and has remained there. If you explained your research to him he'd probably be sympathetic/interested. In fact, he is a descendant of the Beavers."
	<<===Ursula North was John Burroughs' wife. She is buried in Tongore Cemetery, located in what is now called Olive Bridge but was once called Tongore. Ursula was a devout Baptist; John felt she ought to be buried with her family, also very religious. John Burroughs was buried according to his wishes in the grounds of the Burroughs family farm in Roxbury NY. Photo 27 November 2004 by Richard Foy		<<=== Ursula North is buried in the North family section of an old cemetery. Her parents and two siblings are in graves in the foreground. Photo November 2004 by Richard Foy
Ursula's father was Uriah North, buried in the family plot. ===>> Photo November 2004 by Richard Foy		Ursula's mother, Lydia Schutt North is buried next to her husband. ===>> Photo November 2004 by Richard Foy
	<<=== Other members of the North family are buried in a separate plot over the hill beyond the original North family section.

most recent revision 5 July 2006
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