Welcome to King Manor!
King Manor is the historic home of Rufus King and his family, and
your visit to King Manor will allow your students to learn about life in
the home of this anti-slavery Founding Father. They will learn about
life and customs in New York in the early 19th century and will be able
to draw comparisons between today and the past. Please review the
teacher packet and feel free to contact the staff at King Manor if you
require additional assistance.
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Life at King Manor will meet the following goals:
1. Encourage an appreciation of New York and American history.
2. Introduce that the study of history is engaging and ongoing.
3. Introduce the concept that history is all around us, using King Manor and its
artifacts.
4. Emphasize the importance of speaking out for what one believes is right, through the example
of Rufus King=s anti-slavery speeches.
5. Practice observation, analysis, individual research and teamwork.
Students will be able to answer the following questions:
1. Who is Rufus King?
2. What was Jamaica/Queens/New York like 200 years ago? How were people’s lives different
than ours?
3. Why should we care about the past?
TEACHERS:
Please review the
following
materials with your
students
BEFORE
your visit to
King Manor Museum.
King Manor Recommended Instructions for Teachers
Lesson 1 - Pre-visit
Rufus King Biography
If possible, provide each student with a copy of the Rufus King
biography and have each student highlight 10 facts.
For teachers unable to make individual copies for each student,
please read aloud and encourage students to remember/write down
interesting details.
Use the facts recorded by each student to make a classroom timeline of Rufus King’s life.
Use a classroom map and find where all of the activities on the time
line took place.
Recommended Activity
Review the King Family Tree. Ask students to speak to a parent or
grandparent and create their own family tree, identifying as many
generations of their family as possible. Include images, if possible,
or special family anecdotes.
Lesson 2 - Pre-visit
Life at King Manor
If possible, provide each student with a copy of Life at King Manor
and have each student highlight 10 facts. This will serve as a basis
for Worksheet #2, Fill-In King Manor.
For teachers unable to make individual copies for each student,
please read aloud and encourage students to take detailed notes.
Each student should have at least 10 facts about Life at King Manor.
Fill-in King Manor
Assign, either individually or in groups Fill-In King Manor.
Recommended Activities
-Learn a 19th century dance
-Plant seeds and watch them grow
-Create a paper quilt depicting 19th century recreation or work
UPON COMPLETION OF LESSON 2, YOU ARE READY FOR YOUR VISIT.
Your site visit will consist of:
1. A tour of King Manor (Parlor, Dining Room, Library & Kitchen)
2. Optional additional craft workshop – ie. craft, historic games, artifact discovery
3. A visit to our 2nd Floor Gift Shop
Lesson 3 - Post visit
What I learned Chart
Complete the included “what I learned” worksheet. If
students have any unanswered questions, write to the staff of King
Manor!
Write a Story
Write and illustrate a story about life at King Manor, including as
many aspects of the King family story as possible. Possible
storylines include a King family dinner party, the activities of Rufus
and Mary’s children, etc.
Rufus King and King Manor Museum
Rufus King: b. 1755 – d. 1827
Question: How has Jamaica changed over time?
Things to Think About
o What is a family? Who is in your family? Who was in Rufus
King’s family? What is the role of each family member – then?
Now?
o What kind of chores do children have today? Would those
have been different 200 years ago?
o What kind of needs to families have today? Where do we get
food? Clothing? What kind of homes do we live in today in
Jamaica? What kinds of transportation do we use? How were
these things different in Rufus King’s Jamaica?
o What kinds of toys and games do children enjoy today? How
are our games different (or similar) to games of the past?
o What other activities do we enjoy today that people in the past
enjoyed? Dance? Music?
Suggested post-visit activities
o Create a puppet show based on Rufus King and life in
Jamaica.
o Draw a family tree and compare it to Rufus King’s (included).
o Create a quilt on which each square depicts a different form
of recreation, then and now.
o Learn to dance like Rufus King did and learn the minuet.
o Plant seeds and watch them grow.
Rufus King Family Tree
Richard King (1718 – 1775)
m. 1753 Isabella Bragdon (1731-1759)
m. 1762 Mary Black (1736-1816)
Paulina
Mary
Rufus King m. 1786 Mary Alsop
(1755 -1827)
John Alsop King
(1788 – 1867)
m. 1810
Mary Ray
(1790 – 1873)
Charles
Richard
Mary
Cornelia
Ellen
Caroline
Elizabeth
John
Charles King
(1789 – 1867)
m. 1810
Eliza Gracie
(1789-1825)
m. 1826
Henrietta Liston Low
(1799-1882)
Eliza
Rufus
Esther
William
Charles
Alice
Archibald
Emily
Elizabeth
Richard William Isabella
Dorcus
(1769 – 1819)
James Gore King
1791 – 1853
m. 1813
Sarah Rogers Gracie
(1791 – 1878)
Anne
Cornelius
Gertrude
Mary
Augustus
Harriet
Fanny
Fredericka
Mary
James
Archibald
Alsop
Sarah
Henry
Harriet
Caroline
Edward
Edward King
1795 – 1836
m. 1816
Sarah Worthington
(1800 – 1877)
Rufus
Thomas
Mary
James
Edward
Frederick King
1802 – 1829
m. 1825
Emily Post
Cyrus
WHO WAS
RUFUS KING?
Grades 1 - 3
This is the story of a man who lived over 200 years
ago in Jamaica, Queens. His name was Rufus King.
Rufus was one of the men who helped create the
United States. He worked in our government for most
of his life. When he wasn’t in Washington, D.C. for
work, Rufus loved to be at King Manor, his home in
the country. King Manor was part of a large farm.
The farm had many parts. There was a large forest
with trees, plants and wild animals. Another part was
open flat land where the farm animals ate grass and
hay. Near the house, Rufus planted two gardens.
The garden had beautiful plants, bushes and trees.
Rufus and his family probably sat here to relax and to
look at their beautiful garden.
In the other garden, Rufus planted plants for food. He
had apple trees, peach trees and apricot trees. This
garden also gave Rufus strawberries, corn, potatoes
and other vegetables. He also grew fields of grains
including wheat, oats, and alfafa.
The farm also had other buildings. There was a barn
where the chickens, cows, sheep and pigs lived. The
horses lived in another building called a stable. Rufus
kept his carriages and wagons in the carriage house.
The most important building was King Manor. It was
a large house with 29 rooms. Rufus lived here with
his wife Mary and their five sons.
Rufus also lived with servants. Servants were people
Rufus paid to help do the chores in the house and
farm. There were many chores to do at King Manor.
Servants cleaned the house, cooked food and cared
for the farm animals. Rufus sometimes had 15
servants at King Manor. Some of these servants, like
the maids and cooks, worked inside the house.
Others, like the farmers and the coachman, worked
outside.
The largest rooms of King Manor are the Parlor,
Dining Room and Library. In the Parlor, Rufus spent
time with his family and friends. It was a room where
the King family entertained their guests. They
probably talked about many things in this room.
Sometimes they played cards and other games.
Rufus also had a piano in the Parlor.
The Dining Room was the biggest room in King
Manor. The family didn’t need a room this big when
they ate dinner as a family, but they often had fancy
dinner parties. Because this room was so big, it
could even have been used for dancing!!
The Library was Rufus' favorite room. Rufus kept
many books here which he read. He also spent time
writing letters.
King Manor also had two kitchens, a pantry, many
bedrooms and other rooms where the servants did
the chores. Some of the servants lived in King
Manor, too.
Today, most of Rufus King’s farm has houses and
apartment buildings built on it. The part surrounding
King Manor is a park. The park has a playground,
basketball courts and benches for people to sit and
relax. Some of the trees in the park were planted by
Rufus.
King Manor is now open for people to
visit King Manor to learn about Rufus
family. They also learn how Jamaica
long time ago when there were many
Manor is the oldest house in Jamaica.
visit. People
King and his
looked like a
farms. King
Life at
King Manor
King Manor Museum
Jamaica, New York
Grades 1 - 3
King Manor was the home of Rufus King and his family from 1805 to
1827. The manor was preserved because of how important Rufus
and his sons were in New York City and United States history.
However, in some ways, the manor is more important than Rufus
himself. This is because the house has stories it can tell about what
life was like in Jamaica 200 years ago for the people who lived in and
near King Manor.
King Manor was a home with
children running up and down the
stairs and friends and family
coming to visit. It was the family’s
country home. To avoid New York
City=s summer heat and disease,
the King family stayed in the
manor from early spring through
late fall. The family usually spent
winters in Manhattan or where
Rufus worked in Washington, D.C.
Rufus spent a great deal of his
time in the library at King Manor
managing the farm, writing letters
to friends and family, and reading
the thousands of books that filled the library=s shelves. Mary helped
entertain guests, raised her children, and supervised the household
servants.
When Rufus and his wife, Mary, moved into King Manor in 1806, they
brought their two youngest sons, Edward (11) and Frederick (4). The
three older sons went to school in Europe so were not here as much.
Even when the King boys were older and had families of their own,
they often returned to the farm to visit.
Their oldest son, John,
bought his own farm right down the road from King Manor.
When Rufus and his family lived at King Manor, the area around it
(Jamaica) was a village. By 1830, the village had a post office, jail,
police and fire departments, churches, schools, a library, stores,
taverns, mills and sidewalks. The village had printing offices
publishing weekly newspapers, doctors, lawyers and many
craftsmen. Rufus enjoyed riding his horses in the fields and forests
around Jamaica. He was often seen riding or hunting with his sons or
neighbors. Jamaica was 12 miles east of New York City, and there
was a road that connected Jamaica to the Brooklyn ferry that ran
across the river to the city. A stage coach carried passengers, mail,
newspapers and packages between Jamaica and Brooklyn. Rufus
sent his mail by stage coach, but he would travel in his private
carriage driven by a coachman.
Rufus was very active in the village. There was a church near King
Manor (Grace Episcopal Church), and Rufus gave a lot of time and
money to help it. Jamaica had a public school and a few private
schools for white boys and girls. Boys and girls often went to
different schools. Black children weren’t allowed to go to those
schools, and there were no schools for them until 1837. Even most of
the white children between 5 and 15 years of age spent only a few
weeks to a couple of months in school every year, enough to learn
the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. The King children
attended
private
schools with
children from
other
wealthy
families.
The residents of Jamaica could enjoy concerts, dances, debates,
lectures and horse races. Horse races were held around Beaver
Pond, across from King Manor. Usually men went to the taverns to
discuss business and news. Women met at sewing circles and
church meetings. In the winter, there were sleigh rides, and in the
summer, Rockaway Beach was a 10 mile carriage ride away. The
neighbors celebrated marriages, births, plantings, harvests and barn
raisings together. Dancing teachers arranged dances in taverns and
in the hotel in Jamaica.
In the early 1800s, many residents of Jamaica were from England,
the Netherlands, France or Africa. Most of Jamaica=s residents were
connected with farming. Gentlemen farmers like Rufus hired people
to work their fields and care for their animals. While Rufus managed
the farm, the actual work was left to his gardeners and farmers. Parttime help did specific jobs such as putting up fences and harvesting
crops. Rufus also employed coachmen, a cook and at least three
housemaids to do the cleaning, cooking, spinning, dairying and
laundry. While some servants stayed with the family over several
years, others were hired just for a few months each year.
The workers at King Manor planted and harvested the crops and
cared for the horses, sheep, cows, pigs, and chickens. Rufus spent a
great deal of time and money planting trees, caring for the lawns and
transplanting shrubs and flowers from the nearby meadows and
woods. He added peach and apricot trees to his apple orchard and
planted strawberries, vegetables, clover, English hay, grains and
potatoes. He even had his friends and family in Massachusetts send
him trees to plant!
Those
who were not
farmers or laborers were tradesmen. By reading Rufus=s account
book, we learn that he paid a blacksmith, carpenter, wheelwright,
harness maker, carriage maker, plasterer, well digger, spectacle
maker, shoemaker, chimney sweep, millers, masons, cabinetmakers
and tailors.
Jamaica also had a tinsmith, druggist, portrait painter, bookbinder,
printer, clockmaker, jeweler, teachers, lawyers and doctors. Women
cared for their own homes and sometimes worked for others as
nurses, dairymaids, spinners, cooks, seamstresses, or domestic help.
At least 8 women in Jamaica were teachers in the local schools at the
time Rufus lived in King Manor.
After Rufus King died in 1827, the farm and King Manor remained in
his family until 1897 when the village of Jamaica bought it. When
New York City grew to five boroughs including Queens in 1898, the
ownership of the house passed to the City of New York. In 1900, the
King Manor Association of Long Island, Inc. and the King Manor
Museum was formed.
Life at King Manor Vocabulary – A Teacher’s Glossary
Statesman:
Preserve:
Village:
Taverns:
Mills:
Carriages:
Stage Coach:
a respected leader in world or national affairs.
to keep in unchanged condition; to help something last
a small town
a place where people gather to drink, eat; taverns
historically provided lodging for travelers.
a place where some material is processed for use. I.e. a
sawmill cuts wood to form boards; a grist mill crushes grain
into flour.
wheeled vehicles drawn by horses
a 4-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle used to transport mail and
passengers over a regular route.
gathering crops from a field. I.e. picking ripe apples in an
Harvests:
orchard.
Gentlemen farmer: a farmer who is wealthy enough that he can farm for
pleasure rather than for income.
Craftsmen:
a skilled artisan who creates functional and/or decorative
pieces, such as furniture or pottery.
Spinning:
to twist fibers into thread/yarn
Dairying:
the act of producing, processing, or selling milk and milk
products such as cheese and butter.
Blacksmith:
a person who shapes iron with an anvil and hammer in order
to produce nails, horseshoes, etc.
Carpenter:
a skilled worker who makes, finishes, and repairs wooden
objects and structures.
Wheelwright:
someone who makes and repairs wooden wheels.
harness maker:
a craftsman who cuts, assembles, and joins leather and
other parts of harnesses for horses and other working
animals.
plasterer:
a worker skilled in applying plaster, used for coating walls
and ceilings.
well digger:
one skilled at locating underground water and digging to
provide access to it.
spectacle maker: one who creates eyeglasses.
shoemaker:
also known as a cobbler. One who makes shoes/footwear.
chimney sweep: a worker who cleans chimneys for a living; one who cleans
soot from chimneys.
miller:
one who works in, operates, or owns a mill.
mason:
one whose work is building with stone, brick, concrete, etc.
not to be confused with freemasonry, an organized society of
men.
cabinet maker:
a craftsman skilled in creating wooden cabinets, shelving,
and furniture.
tailor:
tinsmith:
metals.
druggist:
bookbinder:
a book.
printer:
a craftsman skilled in the art of making and fitting clothing.
a maker of objects made of tin or other easily worked light
one who makes and provides drugs with the intention of
healing or improving health.
one who joins together leaves of paper within a cover to form
one who sets written material into type and onto paper.
Fill-In King Manor!
Instructions: After reading Life at King Manor, fill in the empty boxes with a fact about King Manor or Jamaica.
My Visit to King Manor Museum
What I learned about Rufus King:
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What I learned about King Manor:
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