FRANCIS ROBERT RIVES, lawyer, born in Albemarle county, Va., Feb. 16, 1821, died at his country house, New Hamburg, Dutchess county, N.Y., July 16, 1891. His father, William C. Rives, studied law under President Jefferson, was twice appointed Minister to France, and three times elected United States Senator, twice for incomplete terms, and served as an aid de camp during the War of 1812. Graduating from the University of Virginia in 1841, Francis R. Rives served as secretary of legation in London under Mr. Everett until 1845, and then came to New York city to practice law. For many years, he was associated with Alexander Hamilton, especially in real estate cases, and met with so much success as to be enabled to retire thirty years before his death. His home in the city was at No. 8 Washington Place. He was a prominent member of The Southern Society and once its president, a member of the Knickerbocker, Coaching and Farmers' clubs, and actively interested in the annual Horse Show in this city in Madison Square Garden. His wife, Matilda, was the only daughter of George Barclay, a prominent old merchant. She died several years before him. His children were George L. Rives, a well known lawyer and Assistant Secretary of State under Thomas F. Bayard; Francis R. Rives, who died in January, 1890; Reginald W. Rives; Ella R., wife of David King, of Newport; Constance, wife of John Borland, of New Hamburg, N.Y., and Maud, wife of Walker B. Smith, of Tuxedo.


CARNWATH - home of Francis Robert Rives

Carnwath was originally built in 1850 for William and Lydia Willis, relatives of the Mesier family in nearby Wappingers Falls. Willis was a retired hardware merchant from New York City. He sold the Carnwath Manor and the rest of the 200 acre estate after the Civil War to General George Barclay and then built Obercreek. In 1870, General Barclay sold Carnwath to his son-in-law, Francis Robert Rives. Wheeler Hill Road was once known as Rives Avenue or hill.

Rives constructed the Carriage House in 1873 to hold some of the finest carriages and stable horses in the entire country. Later his son, Reginald, inherited the estate, he was elected supervisor of Wappinger in 1900. Around 1910 the property was sold to Isaac Untermyer, who was famous for defending William "Boss" Tweed. By the 1920s the Augustinians purchased the property and built the dormitory building and chapel in the mid-1950s. The property was purchased by the Town of Wappinger in 1999 as a park, with hopes to restore the Carnwath Manor, Carriage House, and other structures on the property.