My husband no doubt often treated Henry as a younger brother..."[1] The Morgenthau's country home at Hopewell Junction was located in Dutchess County only ten miles southeast of Hyde Park, where the Roosevelts lived.

Although FDR was then serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Wilson administration, "he kept a firm grip on the most minute functions of the Dutchess County Democratic organization."

[2] Roosevelt drew on Morgenthau's farming knowledge and agricultural connections when running for Governor of New York in 1928, which enabled FDR to pick-up an extraordinary number of votes in normally Republican areas.

[10][11] On his 50th birthday in 1932, FDR also celebrated his fond but teasing friendship with Morganthau with the following poem that was long displayed on a plaque in the farm store:[12] When Henry walks amid the fields Each tulip adoration yields And when he wanders past the trees They clap applause with all the leaves His agricultural skill and care Prevent our fields from becoming bare 'Tis proper that all vegetation Should praise the boss of conservationMorgenthau joined the incoming Roosevelt administration when Roosevelt asked him to head Farm Credit Administration, which FDR had created by sending Congress an Executive order on March 27, 1933.

Morgenthau wrote that he thought FDR was sincere when he said it, but he suspected events would not permit it because that same evening Roosevelt also had described his plans to form a National Cabinet, which implied he was making preparations for a third term.

On August 8, 1936, FDR sought relaxation at the informal annual clambake given in his honor by the Morgenthau's, after having been engaged in political conferences all week at his Hyde Park house.

He joined some sixty guests, including many Dutchess county residents, that were seated "at tables on a rolling lawn beneath a great oak tree."

[6] In 1980, a hailstorm damaged the apples and rendered them unsellable to wholesale distributors so the orchard was opened up to the local public for U-pick harvesting.

[22]Fishkill Farms's 130-acre[19] property offers U-pick services for produce including blueberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches, nectarines, pears and vegetables.

[24] Numerous events such as weddings and private affairs are hosted on site, including a recent Autumn Orchard Dinner which was reported upon by the gourmet aficionado Williams Sonoma.