Congressman John L. Schoolcraft was born in Guilderland in September of 1806. When his father, Captain John Schoolcraft, died in December of the same year, he was raised by his grandfather, John Schoolcraft.
Wealthy grandfather Schoolcraft, owned much property in Guilderland hamlet, and ran an inn and tavern. He was the first Justice of the Peace in the hamlet, an elder and trustee of the Hamilton Union Church, and a member of the first Guilderland School Board in 1813. He was also the uncle of the famed Henry Rowe Schoolcraft.
Congressman John L. Schoolcraft, under his grandfather’s tutelage, moved to Albany at the young age of 18. He lived at the City Hotel and started a profitable mercantile business. He became president of the Albany Commercial Bank, later to become Key Bank. He was groomed for the political scene by Thurlow Weed, editor of the Albany Evening Journal, winning his first Congressional election in 1848 as a candidate for the Whig Party. Schoolcraft was a close friend and confidant of Governor William Seward and married Seward’s niece, Carolyn Canfield, in 1853.
Schoolcraft built the early Gothic Schoolcraft mansion in the 1840’s, upon his return from a European journey. He used it mostly as a summer residence.
At the time that it was built, the Schoolcraft
House was "one of the most expensive, most fashionable, and architectural
[sic] distinguished houses built in the rural hamlet of Guilderland"
according to Robert Pierpont, architect. It "represents the prosperity,
sophisticated tastes and prominence of its original owner . . .",
and it is closely associated with the growth and development of the
town of Guilderland. The house may have been created as a country
retreat, as Schoolcraft owned a house in the city of Albany.
Located on Western Avenue next to Hamilton
Union Church, the house is known as one of the Capital District's
finest examples of Gothic Revival Architecture. It sits near a junction
that once was an Indian trail and a rutted dirt road. Once farmers
from Schoharie herded their livestock along Western Turnpike past
the house on the way to Albany markets. Now Schoolcraft House looks
out on a four-lane highway with 18-wheel trucks, tourists and employees
on their way to work.
The house was quite different from the
less ornate bungalows built nearby for Hamilton Glass Works employees.
Consistent with Gothic Revival, Schoolcraft House has a picturesque
asymmetrical plan, steeply pointed gables with decorative bargeboard,
carved rooftop spires and battlements as well as diamond-pane windows.
A circular skylight and a basement fireplace, which heated the rest
of the house through vents, were both features ahead of their time.
However, despite appearing to be a textbook example of this type of
architecture, the house is quite unusual in its use of cast iron decorative
elements, according to Robert N. Pierpont, architect. Look for the
cast iron tracery on the front door panels. Also, take a look at the
century-old spruce trees, which shaded the front veranda and side
parlor through the turn of the century.
During the mid 1800s Schoolcraft House
was the chosen place for gatherings, such as socials in the ballroom
and Sunday afternoon quilting bees. The house has served as office
space and before that was divided into apartments. Despite hotly disputed
efforts to convert its location into a parking lot for Hamilton Union
Church, in 1994 the Schoolcraft house was bought by the Town of Guilderland
and the Guilderland Historical Society and is being restored for use
as a community cultural center through the efforts of the Schoolcraft
Cultural Center Committee
