Clermont State Historic Site just might be the most ideal place to hold a current day Sheep and Wool Showcase!  Following in the footsteps of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston’s famous 1810 sheep shearing on the Clermont estate, Clermont continues the tradition by presenting an old-fashioned agricultural festival devoted to sheep, fiber bearing animals, and their by-products.

The Showcase on April 26th will focus on wool industry, animal care, shearing, spinning, dyeing, felting, knitting, weaving, and herding.  Clermont invites demonstrators, vendors, and exhibitors in the sheep and wool industry to participate in this special event at a great estate on the Hudson River.  4-H clubs are strongly encouraged to participate.

The Chancellor Robert R. Livingston (1746-1813), is best known today as the judge who gave the oath of office to George Washington, the statesman who helped write the Declaration of Independence, and the diplomat who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase.  Lesser known are the Chancellor’s accomplishments in crop rotation, fertilizers, and his introduction of new plants and animals to American farms.  During the late 1700s and early 1800s, Clermont became and agricultural center for experimental farming.  The Chancellor became the President of the New York Agricultural Society and, along with numerous essays on agriculture, wrote the Essay on Sheep, first published in 1806.  In this book, he claimed Rambouillet and Merino sheep as the best for production, quality of fleece, and ease of care.  He had introduced “two pair of the finest merinos he could find…” to America in the spring of 1802.  Those that were born at Clermont from his breeding stock became known as Clermonts.

If you have an interest in participating in this year’s showcase, either as a vendor or a demonstrator, please fill in the information below so that we may contact you with additional details.  The form may be sent to The Chancellor’s Sheep & Wool Showcase, Clermont State Historic Site, One Clermont Ave., Germantown, NY 12526.  If you have questions about this event, please call Clermont State Historic Site at (518) 537-4240.  This events is co-sponsored by Friends of Clermont.

To participate in this years showcase, either as a Fiber Artist, Demonstrator or Vendor, click here for a Printable Registration FORM.

A contemporary writer recalled in June 1810, “I attended a famous sheep shearing at Chancellor Livingston’s…saw the wool cut off, and actually felt the fleeces. After these feats of genius and patriotism were performed…toasts were drunk and they could not fail singing the old well known catch of “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep hast thou any wool.”