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Villages
and Hamlets.
– LAWRENCEVILLE is a small but
pleasantly situated village, about five miles northeast from Trenton,
on the king's road, and about the same distance from Princeton. It was
formerly known as Maidenhead, and is noted for its exceptional educational
facilities and its old Presbyterian Church, which was the fourth organized
in New Jersey. Many of the residents of the village are retired farmers,
some of whom are descendants of the pioneer families elsewhere referred
to.
The nucleus of this village
seems to have been the old church where the early settlers for many
miles around worshiped, and in whose graveyard the bones of most of
them found their last resting-place. It is recorded that the first county
court of Hunterdon County was held at Maidenhead, on the second Tuesday
of June, 1714. The magistrates present were John Bainbridge, Jacob Bellerjeau,
Philip Phillips, William Green, John Holcomb, Samuel Green, and one
other, nearly all of whom were residents of this township. And in 1715
the first civil trial in Hunterdon County was held at Maidenhead. In
the records of the Court of Sessions in Hunterdon County there is an
entry as follows: “June 5th, 1716, proclamation made, and the court
adjourned to the meetinghouse in Maidenhead in half an hour. God save
the king.” The early prominence of the Presbyterian Church led to the
frequent meeting of the Synods of New York and New Jersey, and of the
Presbytery of New Brunswick, at Maidenhead, far back in the last century.
From time immemorial there
has been a tavern in the village. John Moore is supposed to have been
the builder and first keeper. He died many years ago, and subsequent
owners have been Roswell Howe, the Misses Van Cleve, Wesley Morris,
James B. Dumont, John Taylor, and perhaps others. The keepers have been
many. James Risdon is the present one.
When the British held possession
of Trenton and Princeton, this village was on the common thoroughfare
between those places. On one occasion the old tavern was the scene of
an exciting and memorable adventure. Many of the able-bodied male residents
were with Washington in Pennsylvania. The people living along the king's
road had retired to the hills in the township of Hopewell, leaving their
homes uncared for, except as some of them ventured back under cover
of the darkness, or when they had reason to think their presence would
be unobserved by the enemy, to see if their domiciles had been opened
or disturbed. One day one of the Hunts returned to visit his residence
(a stone house, nearly opposite Van Cleve's), having a servant with
him, who kept watch by the roadside to give notice of the approach of
any of the enemy. Soon after he entered the house he was startled by
a cry from the colored man, which was all too well known in those days,
-
"The Hessians are coming!"
Hunt hurried out, and the two
mounted their horses, and spurred rapidly towards the tavern, the Hessians
in hot pursuit. In the tavern were three or four minute-men, who, hearing
the sounds of the race, ran out, and brought their guns to bear upon
the approaching Hessians, shooting the foremost as they advanced and
dispersing the others, who rode off towards Princeton. The Hessian who
had been shot soon died, and his body was buried in a wood belonging
to Col. Joseph Phillips, northwest of the road, where, tradition says,
the superstitious in the neighborhood, especially of the African race,
often imagined they saw his spirit, in uniform, stock and knapsack,
for many years afterwards.
Elias Phillips, then adjutant
of his regiment, in company with a slave visited his home, late the
residence of Dr. George White, deceased, but slept in a stable near
the present residence of Rev. Dr. Hamill. They arose early in the morning,
and discovered a wagon, drawn by a four-horse team, descending Hendrickson's
hill, a little southwest of the village, and, as it came nearer, they
noted the fact that it belonged to the enemy, and was loaded with hospital
supplies, then much needed by the British, in charge of a guard of three
soldiers, walking in the rear of the wagon, a fourth riding the wheel-horse.
The soldiers were at the time practically unarmed, their muskets having
been put in the front of the wagon for conveyance, and Adjt. Phillips
decided to take advantage of this fact, and capture the team and wagon
and their convoy. He instructed the negro in the part he was to take
in the daring adventure he had planned, and both remained concealed
in the stable till the wagon was directly opposite. Then with loud shouts
the two patriots rushed out upon the unsuspecting Britons, the negro seizing the wheel-horse
by the bridle and presenting his gun at the head of its startled rider,
while Phillips quickly possessed himself of the soldiers' muskets, and
emptied their pans, rendering them useless as fire-arms. Then interposing
himself between them and their owners, so that the latter could not
use them clubbed in their defense, with a gun directed at the nearest
soldier, he demanded the surrender of the guard in a manner that brooked
neither parley nor delay. With his four prisoners-of-war guarded by
the negro, with such attention as he could himself give them, Adjt.
Phillips drove the team across the country, avoiding the highways, and
crossing the Delaware at a ferry some distance above Trenton, delivered
his prize to Washington's army. This exploit being reported by the officer
of the day to Gen. Washington, the latter gave orders that Phillips
should be brought before him. When the adjutant appeared, Washington
complimented him upon his bravery, and directed him to take the best
horse of the team as his share of the prize. Adjt. Phillips was noted
for his enterprise and his desperate daring on the field and elsewhere
during the struggle for independence. He was promoted to be a major
before the close of the war. Afterwards he was elected high sheriff
of Hunterdon County, and died during his term of office. He was remarkable
for his military bearing, and his brilliant conversational powers and
pleasing address.
In the “New Jersey Historical
Collections,” published in 1844, appears the following:
“When the British troops were passing through Lawrenceville,
after Washington's retreat through the Jerseys, a party of Hessians
entered the dwelling of Jacob Keen, who was a strong Whig. His wife,
a woman of great courage and resolution, had locked up her silver in
a bureau. Upon their entering she despatched one of her children to
search of an officer. She stood before her bureau with the keys In her
hand. They demanded in their own language that she should open the drawers.
She pretended not to understand their object, and they, much enraged,
were in the act of breaking open the drawers with the butts of their
muskets when an officer entered with the child, and the men retreated.”
The narrator of the above anecdote
was at the time but six years old, and was secreted in an oven during
the parley between Mrs. Keen (her mother) and the soldiers, and was
residing in Trenton as late as 1842.
The first store in Lawrenceville
was opened by Ralph Shreve in 1821 or 1822. A few years later Shreve
sold out to Henry Brearley, who removed the building to the place on
the northwest side of the king's road, where it yet stands, occupied
as a resi dence by Henry S. Clendenning. Here Brearley traded about
ten years, removing thence to a dwelling opposite Rev. Dr. Hamill's
residence, which he remodeled for mercantile purposes and occupied about
a decade, latterly with a partner under the firm - name of Brearley
& Pearson. Pearson & Hart succeeded Brearley & Pearson,
removing the business to the store now occupied by N. Higgins Furman,
which they built about 1850. About 1858 Pearson & Hart were succeeded
by McGalliard & Hughes, who in 1861 disposed of the business to
David Verbright. A year or two later Verbright went out of business,
and the store was closed until the firm of Brearley & Furman opened
it in 1868. N. Higgins Furman succeeded that firm in 1874.
A store was kept in a building
on the east side of the road now occupied as a wheelwright-shop by Henry
and Charles Van Cleve for many years up to 1859, when Charles Van Cleve,
the surviving brother, died. In the same building George A. Atchley
kept a store from 1866 to 1871.
The village now contains one
general store, kept by N. Higgins Furman, a temperance hotel, kept by
Henry Risdon, the wheel wright-shop of H. T. Bender, a Presbyterian
Church, a school-house, a number of attractive and substantial dwellings,
the Lawrenceville Classical and Commercial High School.
The post-office is in charge
of N. Higgins Furman, who was commissioned as postmaster in 1874.
BAKER'S BASIN. - This hamlet
had its beginning in the hotel built in 1806 by Benjamin Baker, who
was an extensive land-owner there, and gave his name to the locality.
After the construction of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, Baker had
a “basin” there, where boats were loaded with lumber and country produce,
for many years, until the wharf was removed. From this circumstance
the settlement which grew up there came to be known as Baker's Basin.
The tavern had many. successive keepers, the last of whom was Benjamin
P. Baker. In 1870 the building was purchased ty Benjamin Pidcock, who
converted it into a dwelling, and has since occupied it as such.
The first merchant at Baker's
Basin was E. B. Parvin, who opened a store about 1836. He was succeeded
by Gideon Hutchinson in 1839, and he by Twining & Girton in 1843,
Charles Twining then becoming the owner of the store. This firm was
succeeded by Joseph H. Shepard, and Shepard by John Hafner in 1881.
The present owner of the building is William Updike. A coal-yard has
from the first been kept in .connection with this store.
About 1860 a large shed, which
had been built by E. B. Parvin for the shelter of mules employed on
the canal, was converted into a hay depot by Gideon Hutchinson, who
erected a hay-press therein, and sold out the establishment to Charles
Twining, whose successors were Joseph Shepard and William Updike. The
business was abandoned a few years ago.
At Baker's Basin a grange was
organized in 1875, with the following charter members: Benjamin Satterthwaite,
Isaac B. Baker, Elias Welling, Levi Reed, William Welling, Franklin
Dye, Charles Smith, Mrs. Elias Welling, Mrs. A. E. Ogden, and Mrs. Isaac
B. Baker. The following were the first officers: Master, Benjamin Satterthwaite
; Overseer, Elias Welling; Lecturer, Franklin Dye; Chaplain, James R.
Cadwell; Secretary, Isaac B. Baker; Treasurer, William Welling; Steward,
Robert Blackwell; Gate-keeper, Charles Smith. The officers in March,
1882, were as follows: Overseer, Robert Johnston; Lecturer, Franklin
Dye; Chaplain, Isaac B. Baker; Secretary, Thomas B. Decoe; Treasurer,
Wilson Snoak; Steward, Charles Baker ; Gate-keeper, John Mortimore.
The present membership of the grange is seventy. Meetings are held in
Granger's Hall, erected in 1875.
Baker's Basin contains one
store, a Methodist Episcopal Church, a grange hall, a school-house,
a coal-yard, and ten dwellings.
LAWRENCE STATION, in the southern
part of the township, is a station on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and
consists of a store and coal-yard, a post-office and a depot, a hay-pressing
establishment and two dwellings.
The local merchant and coal
dealer is Vincent Perrine, who began business in 1878. He had no predecessors.
E. C. Seely is the station
agent and postmaster.
The hay-pressing business was
begun a few years ago by Stephen Flock. The establishment is now owned
by Vincent Perrine and operated by Benjamin Pidcock.
PRINCESSVILLE, on the Princeton
turnpike, in the eastern part of the township, is the locality of a
public-house known as the “Red Tavern.” It was built many years ago,
and its accommodations were increased afterwards by the addition of
some feet to its length. It is now owned and kept by Israel H. Pearson.
Formerly there was a Methodist
Episcopal Church at Princessville, which has been removed to Baker's
Basin. The churchyard by the roadside marks its former location.
LEWISVILLE. - This is a cluster
of houses in the central part of the township, on a narrow road leading
from the road running northwest from Baker's Basin to the Princeton
turnpike, and was so called in honor of the former proprietor of considerable
land there.
FRANKLIN CORNERS, On the Princeton
turnpike, at its crossing with the road leading from Baker's Basin in
the direction of Pennington, contains a blacksmith and wheelwright's
shop and several dwellings.
Jonathan Brearley built a public-house
there about 1808, and kept it until his death, many years afterward.
It was later kept by his widow, Martha B. Hutchinson, until about 1832,
when the building was purchased by Theodore L. Hill, who converted it
into a dwelling.
Hill was the first blacksmith
at “the Corners,” opening a shop about 1832, and continuing in business
until 1852, when he was succeeded by R. J. Richards, the present blacksmith
and wheelwright. Jacob Hutchinson formerly had a blacksmith shop there
a few years.
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