Steamy behavior during the Gilded Age detailed at Amenia Free Library talk

Steamy behavior during the Gilded Age detailed at Amenia Free Library talk

Regaling his listeners with scandalous tales of the Gilded Age, Don Fraser, educator at the Staatsburgh Estate, spoke at the Amenia Free Library on Thursday, March 27.

Photo by Leila Hawken

AMENIA — Rampant unseemly escapades, the norm among members of the social set during the Gilded Age, were detailed during a colorful talk at the Amenia Free Library on Thursday, March 27. The Gilded Age extended from about 1865 to 1914.

The featured speaker was Don Fraser of the Staatsburgh Estate, a state historic site with a stately summer mansion overlooking the Hudson River. His presentation included a selection of images which illustrated the historic narrative of the life and home of Ruth Livingston Mills, her capitalist husband, Ogden, and the wealthy socialites and aristocrats who kept themselves amused by seamy society events and sordid sleepovers at homes such as Staatsburgh.

Fraser emphasized, however, that Ruth Mills herself modeled impeccable morals, unlike many of her houseguests.

Staatsburgh had been the 25-room childhood home of Ruth Livingston, which was expanded to 79 rooms in 1895, designed by noted architect Stanford White, in keeping with similar homes overlooking the Hudson River. The Mills’ son, also Ogden — Secretary of State under Herbert Hoover — donated the home to the state in 1938.

Fraser noted that it was Mark Twain who coined the descriptive phrase, The Gilded Age, to indicate that the lifestyles “looked good from the outside in the face of squalor and corruption.”

“All that glitters is not gold,” Fraser reminded his audience. The stories of sexual adventures and dalliances he recounted during his talk that named names drew audible gasps from his modern-day local listeners. His concluding contrast with the lives of tenement dwellers during those years brought home his point.

The Staatsburgh Historic Site offers a series of themed tours, including one devoted to the scandals, along with other themes such as Titanic connections, or lives of the servants, Fraser said, inviting listeners to plan a visit to tour the mansion that is open year-round.

Latest News

Amenia’s Elk Ravine Farm funds conservation through unique tours

Jim Archer of Elk Ravine Farm takes a seat on Billy the water buffalo on Wednesday, Sept. 10.

Nathan Miller

AMENIA — Jim Archer doesn’t look like a typical “influencer.” He doesn’t have a podcast and he doesn’t take jet-setting trips to Bali for advertising shoots.

But he has amassed a following of more than 100,000 people across his Instagram and TikTok accounts. Archer shows off his unique collection of farm animals and produces educational content about ecology and the environment all from Elk Ravine Farm, his property on Smithfield Valley Road in Amenia.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sharon Dennis Rosen

SHARON — Sharon Dennis Rosen, 83, died on Aug. 8, 2025, in New York City.

Born and raised in Sharon, Connecticut, she grew up on her parents’ farm and attended Sharon Center School and Housatonic Valley Regional High School. She went on to study at Skidmore College before moving to New York City, where she married Dr. Harvey Rosen and together they raised two children.

Keep ReadingShow less
‘Garland Jeffreys: The King of In Between’ at the Moviehouse

Claire and Garland Jeffreys in the film “The King of In Between.”

Still from "The King of In between"

There is a scene in “The King of In Between,” a documentary about musician Garland Jeffreys, that shows his name as the answer to a question on the TV show “Jeopardy!”

“This moment was the film in a nutshell,” said Claire Jeffreys, the film’s producer and director, and Garland’s wife of 40 years. “Nobody knows the answer,” she continued. “So, you’re cool enough to be a Jeopardy question, but you’re still obscure enough that not one of the contestants even had a glimmer of the answer.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Haystack Book Festival: writers in conversation

The Haystack Book Festival, a program of the Norfolk Hub, brings renowned writers and thinkers to Norfolk for conversation. Celebrating its fifth season this fall, the festival will gather 18 writers for discussions at the Norfolk Library on Sept. 20 and Oct. 3 through 5.

Jerome A. Cohen, author of the memoir “Eastward, Westward: A Lifein Law.”Haystack Book Festival

Keep ReadingShow less