History of the Jay Estate

Stewards of the Jay Estate - Timeline

Explore the history of this land – including and beyond its owners – to recognize the imprint of Indigenous and enslaved people, servants and land stewards, visitors, neighbors and friends.

Follow this page as we fill it with the stories of many people- not only John Jay and his family – but also First Peoples who shaped the land, fished on the Sound, hunted and farmed this expansive, fertile place. You will learn about the Budds of Rye who first purchased the property in 1661 before leasing and then selling 450 acres to the Jay family in 1745. What was their imprint?

Meet Hannah, Mary and Clarinda, James F. Brown, Caesar Valentine and the Valentine Family, Giles and Elizabeth Green, John Foshay, Thomas Haviland, James Fenimore Cooper, Timothy Dwight, William P. Chapman, James Talcott, Warner van Norden and Grace Talcott, John E. Parsons, Daisy Lopez, Junius Spencer Morgan, Edith Parsons Morgan, Henry Ives Cobb, John Connor, Harvey E. Thomas, Zilph and Walter Devereux and many more.

(Photo of Striving for Freedom with actors Christa Victoria and Joy Kelly as they retell the story of enslaved sisters Mary and Clarinda)

Timeline

Native New Yorkers with Roots in Rye

John Jay, one of our nation’s greatest Founding Fathers, a peacemaker, jurist and chief negotiator of the Treaty of Paris grew up in Rye, New York.

Throughout his career, John Jay’s Rye home was a refuge from public life. After working with Franklin and Adams to negotiate the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War, he returned to Rye to celebrate with friends and family. His wife Sarah van Brugh Livingston who had accompanied him to Europe was also glad to return home. Today, you can stand where they stood and look out at the same view they saw when they imagined new horizons for the American people.

(Photo – Ivory miniature of John Jay, Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain by Uriah Pratt – Gift of F. William Scholtz II)

A Dutch Financier and a Daughter of Hartford Preserve a Touchstone

After 159 years in the Jay family, the Jay Estate passes into the hands of two families with an appreciation of Dutch heritage and Early American history.

(Photo James Talcott (standing), Warner M. Van Norden sitting, Grace Talcott Van Norden, Edith Talcott and Louise Rowland Talcott- Gift of Joy Van Norden, Julie Van Norden Wynne and Family)

Two Generations of Princeton and Sailing Pedigree

Respectful of the rich Livingston and New York Yacht Club history of the site, philanthropist Edgar Palmer and his wife Zilph Hayes purchase the Jay Estate and the property remains in their family for over half a century.

(Photo by Edwin Levick of Zilph Hayes Palmer and daughter Zilph aboard Guinevere – Gift of Waddell Stillman)

History of the Jay Estate

Stewards of the Jay Estate - Timeline

Explore the history of this land – including and beyond its owners – to recognize the imprint of Indigenous and enslaved people, servants and land stewards, visitors, neighbors and friends.

(Photo of Striving for Freedom with actors Christa Victoria and Joy Kelly as they retell the story of enslaved sisters Mary and Clarinda)

The Jay Family (1745-1904)

Native New Yorkers with Roots in Rye

John Jay, one of our nation’s greatest Founding Fathers, a peacemaker, jurist and chief negotiator of the Treaty of Paris grew up in Rye, New York.

(Photo – Ivory miniature of John Jay, Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain by Uriah Pratt – Gift of F. William Scholtz II)

The Van Norden & Talcott Families (1897; 1905-1914)

A Dutch Financier and a Daughter of Hartford Preserve a Touchstone

(Photo James Talcott (standing), Warner M. Van Norden sitting, Grace Talcott Van Norden, Edith Talcott and Louise Rowland Talcott- Gift of Joy Van Norden, Julie Van Norden Wynne and Family)

Zilph and Edgar Palmer (1911-1935); Zilph and Walter B. Devereux (1935-1966)

Two Generations of Princeton and Sailing Pedigree

(Photo by Edwin Levick of Zilph Hayes Palmer and daughter Zilph aboard Guinevere – Gift of Waddell Stillman)