LeRay Mansion
About this property
LeRay Mansion is a National Register Listed Historic District located in Fort Drum, New York. The LeRay Mansion was originally built as the estate for James LeRay de Chaumont. LeRay originally came in order to regain his family's fortune. Jacques Donatien LeRay de Chaumont, James LeRay's father, was a French entrepreneur who loaned a considerable portion of his fortune to support the American Revolution. Jacques LeRay was the single largest financial supporter of the American Revolution from France, outspending the French government. This earned Jacques LeRay the title "French Father of the American Revolution." Jacques LeRay was a gracious host to members of the new Continental government at his estate in Passy, France. These guests included John Adams, Silas Deane, Arthur Lee, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin, the latter of whom taught English to James LeRay. Jacques never visited America, but by the time the American Revolutionary War ended, Jacques had nearly bled his fortune dry in his support. Instead of making the journey himself, Jacques sent his son, James, on his behalf to collect their fortune. Despite years of effort, James was never able to secure full compensation for his father's loan. Benjamin Franklin wrote an impassioned letter to George Washington that was able to secure a partial payment. While James LeRay was pleading for payment on his family's loan, he met and married a wealthy woman named Grace Coxe. The Coxe family made their own fortune through a successful newspaper business in New Jersey. After their marriage, James became a naturalized American citizen and believed he could reclaim his family fortune by investing in land in northern New York. The couple had three children : Therese, Vincent, and Alexander. James was able to obtain ownership of thousands of acres within the tri-county area in the North Country (Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence County), which included over 360,000 acres of land. Setting aside 200 acres for his estate, James LeRay built the LeRay Mansion. The first mansion was built around 1808. According to numerous records, there was a fire at this mansion in the 1820s. Some historians argue whether the fire destroyed the first mansion, and it is unclear whether the building that stands today was a rebuild or a completely different mansion. In either case, a mansion was rebuilt around 1826–1827. While there were still Native Americans residing in the area, there were no significant European-American settlements or infrastructure. James LeRay intended to rebuild his family's fortune by selling off tracts of his land to build European-American settlements. James LeRay was not discriminatory towards Christian religious denominations and encouraged settlement of Quakers, Catholics, and Protestant denominations. He gave them land for their congregations' churches and meeting houses. James LeRay was ultimately unsuccessful in reclaiming his family's fortune and almost went bankrupt. He transferred the ownership of the estate to his oldest son, Vincent, for whom Cape Vincent is named. Vincent owned the Mansion briefly before selling the property to Jules Rene Payen a geologic engineer, gun-powder chemist, and fellow French immigrant.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was LeRay Mansion listed on the National Register?
LeRay Mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1974.
What type of historic resource is LeRay Mansion?
LeRay Mansion is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for LeRay Mansion?
The period of significance for LeRay Mansion is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near LeRay Mansion?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near LeRay Mansion will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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