Richard \r. l lunrer HUNTER RESEARCH I'Ht·:stDt·:,\T lau C. Burrow \ tu: PHESIDE\T

LONGBRIDGE FARM

South Brunswick Township Middlsex County, New Jersey

Prepared by:

adine Sergejeff Damon Tvaryanas and Richard Hunter

Prepared/or:

The Township of South Brunswick

Funding in part has been provided by the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission/Board of Chosen Freeholders, and the ew Jersey Historical Commission, a Division of Cultural Affairs in the Department of State.

MARCH 2002

Hunter Research. Inc. Historical Resource Consultants 120 "'('st St ate Street. Trenton. NJ 08608-1185 609/695-0122 6091()95-0147 Fax ('-III" iI "ddrpss: [email protected] www. hururrrescarrh .r-om r-

TABLE OF CONTENTS

page Table of Contents i List of Figures, Plates and Tables .i

A. INTRODUCTION 1 B. HISTORY 1 C. THE SITE 20 D. REFERENCES 24

List of Figures Figure I. Map Showing Early 18th-Century Land Divisions. 1929 2 Figure 2. Dalley, J. A Map of the Road from Trenton to Amboy. 1745 .4 Figure 3. Bancker, G. A Map of the Road from Trenton to Amboy. 1762 6 Figure 4. Faden, W. Province of New Jersey Divided into East and West Commonly Called the Jerseys. 1777 9 Figure 5. Randel, J. A Map Shewing the Route of a Canal Connecting the Waters of the Delaware with those of the Raritan. 1816 12 Figure 6. Otley, J. and J. W. Keily. Map of Middlesex County. 1850 15 Figure 7. Walling, H.F. Map of Middlesex County. 1861 16 Figure 8. Everts and Stewart. Combination Atlas Map of Middlesex County. 1876 17 Figure 9. Map of the Route of the Camden and Amboy Branch Railroad from Trenton to Dean's Pond. 1863 18 Figure 10. Detailed Location of Project Area 19 Figure 11. Tax Parcel Map Showing the Focus of Longbridge Farm 21

List of Plates Plate 1. View of Rowland/Mershon House 22

List of Tables Table I. Longbridge Farm: Sequence of Ownership 14

------LONGBRIDGE FARM SOUTH BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP, MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY

A. Introduction B. History

The 18th-century plantation of Longbridge Farm, The colonial plantation of Longbridge Farm was orig- established in the 1730s by the wealthy inally contained within a 15,600-acre tract purchased merchant, Thomas Lawrence, was one of a small by Peter Sonmans from the East Jersey Proprietors in number of elite colonial farming operations in central 1693 in what was then the recently formed Middlesex New Jersey that combined a substantial acreage with County. Sonmans' vast parcel of undeveloped land a large slave population in a manner more often found extended upstream from the Raritan River along both in the southern colonies. The plantation was the scene sides of what is today known as Lawrence Brook of an overnight encampment of General Washington's almost as far south as Kingston (Figure 1). This Continental army on June 25/26, 1778, a couple of parcel included most of modern day South Brunswick nights before the Battle of Monmouth. Although its Township and parts of other adjoining municipalities. acreage was reduced over time, the farm flourished It was from the upper end of Sonmans' tract that, in well into the 19th century and was later in the hands 1733, 800 acres were carved out and sold to Thomas of the locally prominent Rowland and Mershon fami- Lawrence, forming the basis for what shortly became lies. Today, the site of Longbridge Farm is subsumed known as Longbridge Farm (East Jersey Deeds E:53 within the railroad-based village of Monmouth and E2:68). Lawrence also owned other blocks of Junction and displays few upstanding features from land downstream along the brook that has historically the colonial era. has been identified by his family's name, including a tract at its mouth that was apparently acquired in 1689 This brief historical study was commissioned by the by an older Thomas Lawrence, baker of New York Township of South Brunswick as an outgrowth of the (possibly the father of the Thomas Lawrence who is ongoing township-wide cultural resource survey being identified with Longbridge Farm) (East Jersey conducted by Hunter Research, Inc. of Trenton. Long Proprietors Records, Deed Book 5 D:87-88). the subject of unsubstantiated rumor and speculation, Longbridge Farm has been greatly in need of system- Thomas Lawrence of Longbridge Farm was born in atic archival research and historic landscape analysis. 1689 in New York. In 1719, he married Rachel The following report presents an outline history of the Longfield at Raritan, New Jersey, but by the early property drawn from primary documents followed by I720s, he had relocated to Philadelphia and begun a a provisional assessment of the core of the plantation successful career as a merchant. Lawrence quickly site within the context of the present-day landscape. rose to take his place among the Quaker City's cultural and mercantile elite. He was a subscriber to the Dancing Assembly, an exclusive aristocratic group formed by Philadelphia's most prominent families; a member of the Schuylkill Fishing Company, the first sport-fishing club in the colonies; and Junior Warden

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Figure 1. Millstone and Raritan River Valley, Lots South of New Brunswick. Map Showing Early 18th- Century Land Divisions. 1929. Scale 1 inch: 10,000 feet (approximately). Approximate location of Longbridge Farm circled. LONGBRIDGE FARM: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS of Christ Church (Keith 1883:435-436). Lawrence's Longbridge Farm appears by name on several colonial financial interests were diverse and reached as far as and federal era maps of the South Brunswick area. Barbados in the West Indies and Lisbon, the capital of The plantation derived its name from the bridge that Portugal. One of his letter books, from 1725, states carried the forerunner of present-day Ridge Road over that he had "a fine new ship called the Sarah L. Lawrence Brook. The earliest known cartographic Lawrence" which was plying between places as far depiction of Longbridge Farm occurs on John afield as Jamaica, South Carolina and Holland. He Dalley's A Map of the Road from Trenton to Amboy, traded in a diverse stock of commodities and sundries, surveyed in 1745. Dalley, a native of Kingston and including tobacco, molasses, flour and Indian com thus quite familiar with the local landscape, produced (Thomas Lawrence Papers 1689-1754). By 1730, a this map at the behest of James Alexander, Surveyor partnership had been formed between Lawrence and General of the Province of New Jersey, probably in an , another wealthy and influential effort to clarify land ownership and municipal and Philadelphia merchant, to take part in the lucrative fur county definition along the Kings Highway. At least trade (Keith 1883:436-38). two original copies of the Dalley map are known to be in existence, both held by the New York Historical Thomas Lawrence was perhaps best known for his Society. Although there are some slight differences in civic and political activities. In 1722, he was elected how the lettering is executed on these two versions of a Common Councilman of the City of Philadelphia the map, only one copy is reproduced here (Figure 2). and two years later was chosen an Alderman. In 1728, he qualified for a seat in the Provincial Council. He On this copy of the Dalley map, the text denoting the also presided as Judge of the County Court and served site of "Longbridge Farm belonging to Thos on the State House Committee. In 1736 and 1737, Lawrance, Esq" is positioned between "Heatcot's Lawrence was sent by the Provincial Council to Brook" (Heathcote Brook) and the course of a road Lancaster County in order to address the eviction of that approximates the alignment of today's Ridge settlers in the Susquehanna Valley, and in 1745, he Road. The annotation pertains primarily to a stylized was delegated as one of the Commissioners from block of three contiguous buildings, lying just west of Pennsylvania charged with deliberating on land and a fictitious confluence of Lawrence Brook and trade issues with the Six Indian Nations of the Heathcote Brook, but its placement may also be taken Iroquois League at Albany. In 1747, he was appointed as an indication that the plantation acreage extended Lieutenant-Colonel of the Associated Regiment of west and downstream along Heathcote Brook to the Foot for Philadelphia. This position had been offered north of present-day Ridge Road. In reality, Lawrence to , who declined to accept it, Brook and Heathcote Brook did not converge in the suggesting Lawrence in his place because of his more manner shown on the Dalley map, although the extensive military experience. Lawrence served terms Longbridge Farm property did straddle the headwaters as Mayor of Philadelphia in 1727, 1728, 1734, 1749 of both drainages, which rise in an area of ill-defined and 1753. He was serving his final term in 1754, wetland that wraps around to the north, east and south when he passed away from "a fit of sickness." of the settlement of Monmouth Junction. Then, as Thomas Lawrence's obituary notice recorded "the now, Lawrence Brook flowed northeast to the Raritan death of so able and diligent a magistrate as a public River, while Heathcote Brook (also known histori- loss" (Keith 1883:36-38). cally as Opposite Brook, because of its unusual direc- tion of flow contrary to most other nearby creeks) drained west into the Millstone River at Kingston.

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Figure 2. Dalley, 1. A Map of the Roadfrom Trenton to Amboy. 1745. Scale 1 inch: 5,000 feet (approximately). Approximate location of Longbridge Farm circled.

Page 4 LONGBRIDGE FARM: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS

The fact that the Dalley map depicts Longbridge Farm Longbridge Farm was no ordinary real estate invest- with a tripartite house symbol bears comment. The ment for Thomas Lawrence. This was one of his prin- vast majority of properties outside the villages are cipal properties and served as his summer residence. shown on this map as single buildings. The closest Even at its smallest extent in the pre-Revolutionary property shown in the same manner as Longbridge period, Longbridge Farm always amounted to at least Farm was Thomas Leonard's estate "Grove Hall" on 800 acres and was worked by what was apparently a the edge of Princeton. The Dalley map thus appears substantial labor force, including slaves and an over- to be indicating that Longbridge Farm was a larger seer. However, the extent to which this vast colonial than average plantation, although whether this symbol property was profitable from an agricultural stand- is intended to indicate an exceptionally substantial point remains largely unknown. Plantations of the principal dwelling or a cluster of buildings is unclear. size and scope of Longbridge were actually quite rare The map also shows that the Longbridge Farm prop- in the colonial agrarian landscape of New Jersey, the erty was traversed by the division line surveyed in norm being the family farm of between one hundred 1743 by John Lawrence in accordance with an act of and two hundred acres worked by an extended family the General Assembly that sought to clarify the with the help of a small number of hired hands, inden- boundary between the Provinces of East and West tured servants or slaves. Rarely could any of these New Jersey. John Lawrence's journal includes the more typical, smaller farms afford to supplement their following record at milepost 57 (from Egg Harbor): family workforce with more than three or four "A maple about 30 links N. in Thomas Lawrence's laborers at anyone time. land (low and swampy): at 12.50 George Heathcoats brook about 3 ft wide, bore S.w. (a branch of Devil's Plantations utilizing vast labor forces dominated by Brook)" (Lawrence 1743). While Thomas Lawrence slaves, like those so characteristic of the Southern had a son named John (see below), the surveyor, John Colonies and the Caribbean Islands, were few and far Lawrence, was not a close relative, being descended between in New Jersey. This was largely because the instead from a Monmouth County line of Lawrences. colony lacked a profitable cash crop, a tradable/salable commodity like indigo, tobacco or In 1762, Gerard Bancker produced a copy of the sugar. There was also an aversion to the practice of Dalley map (Figure 3). Bancker's copy, the original slavery among many of the colony's residents, espe- of which is held at Firestone Library, Princeton cially among Quakers. This is not to say that slaves University, represents a close redrawing of the version were rare in colonial New Jersey; even in areas with of the Dalley map reproduced here as Figure 1, sizeable Quaker populations, both Dutch-American although various annotations are omitted, as for and non-Quaker Anglo-American settlers commonly example along the north side of the Kings Highway held slaves. A census taken in 1726 found that between Kingston and Princeton. Longbridge Farm, approximately 8% of the total population of New however, is depicted exactly as it had been 17 years Jersey was non-white. More than 2,581 Negroes were earlier by John Dalley, even though Thomas Lawrence recorded in this census and most of these individuals (again noted as the owner) had died in the interim in were enslaved Africans/African-Americans (Wacker 1754. Evidently, Bancker generated this copy as a 1975: 191-192). In 1745, another census reported paper exercise without attempting to update the carto- 4,606 slaves in the colony, once again constituting graphic data. about 8% of the total population (Cooley 1896:440). Thus slavery was a relatively common practice during the colonial period in the colony of New Jersey, even

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/ Figure 3. Bancker, G. A Map of the Roadfrom Trenton to Amboy. 1762. Scale 1 inch: 8,100 feet (approximately). Approximate location of Longbridge Farm circled.

Page 6 LONG BRIDGE FARM: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS

though few landowners could afford to purchase, feed numbers of slaves in a plantation economy, plantation and house more than one or two individuals. owners like Morris and Berry are thought to have been instrumental in introducing this harsher and larger- Relatively large slave work forces are known to have scale brand of slavery on to New Jersey soil (Wacker been utilized at some of New Jersey's early iron 1975:191). working sites. In Monmouth County, Colonel Lewis Morris' iron plantation at Tinton Falls had a popula- Although reliable information concerning the larger tion of 60 or more slaves, by far the largest number slave-based plantations in New Jersey is scant, it slaves known to have been kept on any New Jersey would appear that Longbridge Farm was one of these land holding (Boyer 1931:196-199). The numbers of elite colonial establishments. The main piece of slaves utilized in agricultural pursuits on individual evidence in support of this contention is a tantalizing plantations and farms were smaller. Among New and revealing letter dated 1754 that was sent to Jersey's largest documented agriculturally-employed Thomas Lawrence by a prominent neighbor, Thomas slave populations were the 20 or more enslaved Wetherill: African!African-Americans who worked the 2,000- acre plantation of Captain John Berry, and the 16 who Sir, Having this opportunity thought fit to worked the neighboring plantation of his son-in-law, acquaint you of the misconduct of your both properties being located in New Barbadoes servants at the Longbridge farm. They & Neck, Bergen County (Wacker 1975:191-192). several other servants meeting together at your Another well-known colonial plantation with a farm & at other places of randevous -which if substantial slave population was the estate of William not timely stoped may be of bad consiquence. I Kelly in Parsippany, Morris County. By 1768, when being laid - under a necessity to go to your farm Kelly was advertising this property of around 2,000 at or on 9 0'clock at night some time ago by acres for sale, the enslaved labor force on the planta- reason of 2 of my Negro fellows being tion numbered some 20 individuals. Purchased four absconded with out leave to my surprise found years later by Lucas Yon Beverhoudt, a wealthy plan- a great number of Neagroes to the number of tation owner in St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies, 30 or 40 & after som time got my servents the property soon after became known as Beverwyck away but meeting with a great deal of abuseful and continued as a major slave holding plantation language from your servents the overseer not (Silber and Catts 2001). appearing as I saw & he being unacquainted with the mannagement of Negroes suffers too Many of New Jersey's larger slave enclaves were much liberty to both white & black. I - have controlled by individuals with strong ties to the taken som pains to put a stop to such proceed- Caribbean. In addition to Beverhoudt's link to St. ings but it hath not as yet answered aforesaid Thomas, Lewis Morris and John Berry were both desired effect I hope that you will give such former residents of Barbados. Indeed, these "New" directions to your overseer that he may cause Barbadians were the beneficiaries of several large aforesaid offenders to be punished according to land deals with the East Jersey Proprietors in the early their deserts - and mid-18th century. Through such real estate trans- actions they accumulated substantial wealth, which in Sir your favour in a fue sions of your best & turn was parlayed into political power within the colo- largest pairs - will much oblige you - (Thomas nial government. Familiar as a result of their West Lawrence Papers 1689-1754). Indian experience with the deployment of massive

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This document suggests that Thomas Lawrence's farm Philadelphia and at Longbridge Farm. He died at may have been worked by a substantial slave contin- Longbridge in 1799, as did his wife, Elizabeth, in the gent, perhaps as many as 30 or 40 individuals, who following year (Keith 1883:450-451). were as the letter suggests, supervised by an overseer. The slave gathering documented by Wetherill's letter Slaves were still kept on Longbridge Farm prior to the is important in the context of the social life of early Revolution during John Lawrence's tenure, as is indi- New Jersey slave populations. Gatherings such as cated by a notice placed in the New Jersey Gazette on these were banned in the colony by a law passed in October 15,1773 (Nelson 1917:71): 1751, which held that slaves were to be prohibited "from meeting in large Companies, from running RUN AWAY about at night" (Rosenberg 1977:200). Such gather- ings were prohibited in every colony in which slavery From the subscriber living on Long Bridge was legal. The main intent of these laws was to farm in the county of Middlesex, New-Jersey, a prevent coordinated slave uprisings. Despite the Negro man named Jack, he is of a brown potential repercussions, meetings like the one colour, about 5 feet 11 inches high, rather slim recorded at Longbridge Farm are frequently docu- made; had on when he went away, a broad cloth mented among slave populations in the South, and homespun jacket; without sleeves, blue and red played an important role in the development of mixed, leather breeches about half worn, a southern slave culture and the African-American flannel shirt, and old wool hat. It is suspected community. The evidence of the Longbridge Farm he may have taken other cloaths with him, but gathering of 1754 may well be unique within the colo- it is not certain. Whoever takes up the said nial framework of New Jersey's African-American Negro man, and brings him to the subscribers, history. or secures him in any goal, so that he may have him again, shall have Eight Dollars reward, and Prior to the death of Thomas Lawrence in the same reasonable charges paid, by year as the slave gathering, ownership of Longbridge Farm passed to his son, John. At the time of his SAMUEL OKESON father's demise, John Lawrence was in possession of the core 800 acres of Longbridge Farm and, according to the provisions of Thomas' will, was to receive an Okeson's role on the farm remains unknown but he additional 1,054 adjacent acres (West Jersey may have been an overseer, manager or possibly a Unrecorded Will 8: 125). John Lawrence was almost leaseholder. Around this same time, "Longbridge" as prominent in Philadelphia social and political was a significant enough landmark to merit designa- circles as his illustrious father. In the pre- tion on William Faden's map of "The Province of Revolutionary War period he likewise served as a New Jersey" published in 1777 (Figure 4). Common Councilman, Alderman and then Mayor of Philadelphia (from 1765 to 1767) and he was also an The status of Longbridge Farm during the early years attorney for the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, a of the Revolutionary War is of some interest. Clerk of the Quarter Sessions and a Judge of the Presumably because of his republican leanings, when Supreme Court. Although John Lawrence was the British approached and then occupied Philadelphia educated in England and traveled overseas after the in the fall of 1777, John Lawrence was put under Revolutionary War, for most of his life he resided in arrest and placed on parole. He was subsequently

Page 8 LONGBRIDGE FARM: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS

Figure 4. Faden, W. Province of New Jersey Divided into East and West Commonly Called the Jerseys. 1777. Scale 1 inch: 5,000 ft (approximately). Approximate location of Longbridge Farm circled.

Page 9 HUNTER RESEARCH, INC. confined to Pennsylvania, his parole obligation finally and Morgan's Light Infantry with orders to take being discharged on June 30, 1778, a few days after the first fair opportunity of attacking the the British removal from Philadelphia for New York enemy's rear. In the evening of the same day and the somewhat inconclusive Battle of Monmouth the whole army marched from Kingston, where (Keith 1883:450-451). The fact that George our baggage was left with intention to preserve Washington and the main body of the Continental proper distance for safe posting the advance army camped at Longbridge prior to the Battle of corps and arrived at Cranbury early the next Monmouth on the night of June 25/26 raises several morning. The intense heat of the weather and a questions, none of which can be satisfactorily heavy storm unluckily coming made it impos- answered. Was John Lawrence privy to the sible to resume our march (George Washington Continental Army's use of his property? Did he, in Papers at the Library of Congress 1741-1799: fact, make the plantation available to Washington? Letter, George Washington to Continental What was the condition of the plantation during the Congress, July I, 1778). period of Lawrence's confinement in Philadelphia? Was the property farmed, or did it lie virtually aban- The stop-over at Longbridge is documented in the doned and open to the ravages of competing British journal of an American soldier, Jeremiah Greenman and American forces? (Bray and Bushnell 1978), while the diary of another soldier, James McHenry, records the events of the In the preamble to the Battle of Monmouth, 25th thus: Washington's army left Valley Forge in early June and, paralleling the course of the British Army 25th March to Rocky Hill. Cross the Millstone heading from Philadelphia to New York, began to by a bridge, and halt at Kingston. Breakfast at move east across central New Jersey through Mrs. Berians - good tea and agreeable conver- Coryell's Ferry (present-day Lambertville), Hopewell sation. A dinner in the woods - The General and Rocky Hill en route to Monmouth Courthouse receives advice that the English .... It is night (modern Freehold). On Thursday, June 25, the army before the main body of our army marches, and marched from Rocky Hill through Kingston and then only to Lauren's, 4 miles from Kingston encamped for the night at "Longbridge." The (James McHenry Papers 1777-1820). following morning the American troops continued on to Cross Roads (Dayton) and then turned south along The diary of Surgeon Samuel Adams of Crane's Third Georges Road to Cranbury. Regiment of Continental Artillery also related these events as follows: In Washington's own words: 25th Th: fair & hot - the Army marched on [T]he next day [June 25] the Army moved to halted at Kingstown from 12 o'clock till Kingston and having received intelligence that sunsett, then marched again halted about 12 at the enemy were presenting their route toward Night at a place called Long Bridge - this day a Monmouth Courthouse, I dispatched a third large detachment sent forward under the detachment of a thousand select men under command of the Marquis de la Fayette Brigadier General Wayne and sent Marquis de (McDonald 1997). la Fayette to take command of the whole advanced corps including Maxwell's Brigade

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An expense account of Robert Hanson Harrison September 1779. His presence is documented contained within George Washington's papers lists between May 1780 and July 1782, but the property the following: "on the General's march thro Jersey. acreage during this period was recorded as falling June 25, to John Hunt at Hopewell ,10:2:6. June 26, from 295 acres to 240 acres (a far cry from the 1,800+ To Thos. Wetheral the morning after we left Kingston, acres he apparently held at the time of his father's 14 Dollrs" (George Washington Papers at the Library death in the mid-). The ratables also show him of Congress 1741-1799: Expense Account of Robert as holding only a single slave and never more than Hanson Harrison, June 1778). two horses, six cattle and two hogs. From 1784 onward, John Lawrence disappears entirely from the In addition to owning a farm near to Longbridge (as tax ratable records. He was perhaps abroad part of made clear by his correspondence with Thomas this time, and primarily resident in Philadelphia when Lawrence in 1754), Thomas Wetherill was also the in the United States, but it does seem that the planta- proprietor of the closest tavern to the Continental tion was in decline in the years following the Army's encampment. It is likely that the $14 bill Revolution (New Brunswick South Ward Tax expense paid to Wetherill related to food, lodging or Ratables 1780-82: Books 960-964). provisions supplied to the army (probably to Washington and his staff) at the tavern, but it is also After John Lawrence's death in 1799, ownership of possible that this expenditure may have been incurred the Longbridge Farm property transferred to his more directly through the army's occupation of widow, Elizabeth Lawrence. Elizabeth later deeded Longbridge Farm. While speculation, Thomas Longbridge Farm to her daughter, also named Wetherill may have served as John Lawrence's repre- Elizabeth. After the daughter's death circa 1800, the sentative at the farm during the period of Lawrence's homestead parcel of approximately 268 acres passed parole in Pennsylvania and for some time thereafter. to Emily Ann, Elizabeth's sister (East Jersey Deeds Some support for Wetherill's involvement with E:53, E2:68, Middlesex County Deeds 14:422 and Longbridge Farm is contained in three newspaper 3:339; West Jersey Unrecorded Will 8:125). advertisements placed in 1778 and 1779, which refer to the finding of a stray horse and to the marketing of A map surveyed in 1816 by John Randel, Jr., depicting the stud services of Bay Richmond, a thoroughbred a potential route for the Delaware and Raritan Canal, horse imported by Lewis Morris and stabled at shows Longbridge Farm extending along the south- Longbridge Farm. Mr. Thomas Wetherill, "at east side of Heathcote Brook and Lawrence Brook to Longbridge Farm," was given as the point of contact the north of Burnet's Swamp (Figure 5). Although by for each of these notices (Lee 1903:146). this time largely broken up as a result of the division of Elizabeth Lawrence's estate, Longbridge Farm still Despite the record of John and Elizabeth Lawrence's retained enough of an identity in the cultural land- deaths at Longbridge in 1799 and 1800 respectively scape to merit being depicted by Randel as one of the (Keith 1883:450-451), it is difficult to trace their pres- area's principal landmarks. Interestingly the projected ence on the property after the Revolution. Judging line of the canal ran right through the Longbridge from the tax ratable assessments for what was then the property along both the Heathcote Brook and South Ward of New Brunswick, the plantation was Lawrence Brook valleys. much reduced in size and scope of operation. John Lawrence was not listed in the tax ratables for June According to a survey of Ridge Road made in 1828, 1778 (when he was still on parole in Philadelphia) or this thoroughfare began near Kingston at Mapleton

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Figure 5. Randel, J. A Map Shewing the Route a/a Canal Connecting the Waters a/the Delaware with those a/the Raritan. 1816. Scale 1 inch: 1 mile (approximately). Approximate location of Longbridge Farm circled.

Page 12 LONGBRIDGE FARM: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS

Road, crossed the straight turnpike (today's U.S. Lawrence Brook, where the Otley and Keily map had Route 1) and reached the "Long Bridge," then passing earlier shown the more northerly of the two structures along the line of Longbridge Farm (Middlesex County owned by "W. Rowland." Another map, prepared in Road Return A:319). When correlated with present- 1863, showing the planned route of the new main line day maps, this puts the western boundary of of the Camden and Amboy Branch Railroad from Longbridge Farm just to the east of Stouts Lane. Trenton to Deans Pond (today's Amtrak corridor), Longbridge Farm at this time would therefore have likewise denotes "S. Rowland" as the owner of land encompassed most, if not all, of what is now along the west side of Lawrence Brook (Figure 9). It Monmouth Junction. was during this period that the village of Monmouth Junction began to develop around this key confluence Emily Lawrence married Joseph Fowler, apparently of railroads in the Camden and Amboy (soon to be the relocated out of the area, and in 1834, sold the Pennsylvania) Railroad system, where the old Trenton Longbridge property to Cornelius Cruser and to New Brunswick branch line intersected with the Frederick Farr. Later that same year, William new main line and a spur also headed southeast to Rowland purchased the 268-acre property for $5,500. Jamesburg. From this point on, the Rowland proper- William Rowland began amassing parcels of adjacent ties (and the core of the Longbridge Farm plantation) land, several of which had previously been part of the became increasingly subsumed within the rail yard original Lawrence family holdings. The Otley and and the residential and commercial properties laid out Keily Map of Mercer County, published in 1850 within the village. (Figure 6), shows "Longbridge Farm" on the north side of Ridge Road, just to the south of the Trenton to Stryker Rowland retained ownership of much of the New Brunswick branch line of the Camden and 88-acre fann property until 1895 when he transferred Amboy Railroad, which was opened to traffic in 1839. ownership to Isaac Rowland, Ann Groves and James Clearly, the persistence of the name "Longbridge Rowland (Middlesex County Deeds 27:278, 28:724, Farm" on this map indicates that this was still a pres- 75:615 and 273:251). A year later, these three indi- tigious address despite the fluctuating size and config- viduals sold off a two-acre parcel, including the uration of the property in the early 19th century. The dwelling that is believed to have been the principal map shows two buildings in the vicinity of the original Rowland residence, to Harvey Mershon. This prop- plantation core, both owned by "W. Rowland," one to erty changed hands several times within the Mershon the north and one to the south of Ridge Road. The family during the first half of the 20th century until it northerly location, based on comparison with the mid- was eventually purchased by William and Dolores 18th-century Dalley and Bancker maps (Figures 2 and Zimmerman in 1951 (Middlesex County Deeds 3), is likely the same as the original Lawrence house 1587:286,3328:213,289:78,425:26425:34690:135 site. and 690: 136). In 1983, their daughter Janet Zimmerman purchased the historic homestead In 1852, William Rowland sold 88 acres of the fann (Middlesex County Deeds 1587:286 and 3328:213). property to his son, Stryker Rowland, who made his It is presently available for sale. living locally as a store keeper. Both the Walling Map of Middlesex County of 1861 (Figure 7) and the Everts and Stewart Combination Atlas Map of Middlesex County of 1876 (Figure 8) show a house labeled "S. Rowland"on the north side of Ridge Road,just west of

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Table 1. Longbridge Farm - Sequence of Ownership 600 Ridge Road, Monmouth Junction South Brunswick Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey [Block 77, Lot 3.02)

Ownership Tenure Name Reference

1693 Peter Son mans East Jersey Deed E:53

1733 Thomas Lawrence East Jersey Deed E2:68 (unreferenced in West Jersey prior to 1753 John Lawrence Unrecorded Wills 8:125) 1799 Elizabeth Lawrence Middlesex Co. Deed 14:422

1800-1834 Emily Ann Lawrence Fowler Middlesex Co. Deed 3:339

1834 Cornelius Cruser and Frederick Farr Middlesex Co. Deed 27:278 1834-1852 William Rowland Middlesex Co. Deed 28:724 1852-1895 Stryker Rowland Middlesex Co. Deed 75:615

1895-1896 Issac B. Rowland et al. Middlesex Co. Deed 273:251 1896-1908 Harvey H. Mershon Middlesex Co. Deed 289:78 1908 William Whitfield Middlesex Co. Deed 425:26 1908-1921 Carrie V. Mershon Middlesex Co. Deed 425:34 1921 Margaret A. Harkins Middlesex Co. Deed 690: 136

1921-1951 Harvey H. Mershon Middlesex Co. Deed 690: 135 1951-1983 William F. and Delores K. Zimmerman Middlesex Co. Deed 1587:286

1983- Janet Zimmerman Middlesex Co. Deed 3328:213

Page 14 LONGBRIDGE FARM: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS

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Figure 6. Otley, J. and l.W. Keily. Map of Middlesex County. 1850. Scale I inch: 4,000 feet (approximately). Approximate location of Longbridge Farm circled.

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Figure 7. Walling, H.F. Map of Middlesex County. 1861. Scale linch: 2,500 feet (approxi- mately). Approximate location of Longbridge Farm circled.

Page 16 LONGBRIDGE FARM: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS

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Figure 8. Everts and Stewart. Combination Atlas Map of Middlesex County. 1876. Scale 1 inch: 3,000 feet (approximately). Approximate location of Longbridge Farm circled.

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Figure 9. Map of the Route of the Camden and Amboy Branch Railroadfrom Trenton to Dean's Pond. 1863. Scale 1 inch: 2,200 feet (approximately). Approximate location of Longbridge Farm circled. LONGBRIDGE FARM: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS

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Figure 10. Detailed Location of Project Area (Circled). Source USGS 7.5' Topographic Series Monmouth Junction, NJ Quadrangle (1954 [Photorevised 1981]), Hightstown NJ Quadrangle (1954 [Photorevised 1981]). Scale 1 inch:8000 feet.

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C. The Site The RowlandlMershon House comprises a two-and-a- half-story, four-bay frame structure with a smaller The precise location of the core of the Longbridge one-and-a-half-story two-bay frame kitchen wing Farm plantation - the spot where the principal farm- adjoining to the east. Both sections of the house face house occupied by the Lawrence family was located - south toward Ridge Road, taking advantage of the is difficult to pinpoint, although clearly, from historic warmer southern exposure. The exterior cladding, of maps, it lay somewhere within the center of the mid- to late 20th-century date, consists of painted present-day community of Monmouth Junction, north shingle over clapboard siding. Apart from its overall of Ridge Road and east of New Road, west of form and siting, the exterior appearance of the house Lawrence Brook (Figure 10). Taking into account the gives little indication of its age. local topography and the fact that the most attractive settlement locus most likely was the eastern end of the On the interior, the first and second floors of the main low knoll-like landform (from which Ridge Road section of the house have been heavily altered, but this takes its name) that overlooks the headwaters of block was probably originally constructed as a two- Lawrence Brook and Heathcote Brook, it seems room deep, late Georgian/early Federal plan structure reasonable to suggest that Longbridge Farm was with four chimneys (two in each gable end wall). The focused near the eastern end of Mary Street and original room configurations have been changed and Hillside Avenue. This would place the core of the site all the fireplaces have now been removed. There is a toward the eastern end of Blocks 75 and 76 and on full basement, constructed in rough-dressed, random- Lots 2, 3.01, 3.02,4 and 5.01 of Block 77 (Figure 11). laid fieldstone, under the main section of the house. The original exterior basement entry was probably at Among the currently standing buildings in this area, the south end of the east wall, but has been completely there are no obvious candidates that fit the bill of a re-worked. There are basement window openings, large mid-ISth-century farmhouse like the structure(s) most likely original to the structure, on the south and shown on the Dalley maps of 1745 (see Figure 2). north walls, and one, possibly two, basement window Most buildings in this part of Monmouth Junction date openings on the west wall, indicating that there was from the later 19th or 20th centuries, the period when never an earlier wing attached to this side of the main the village took on its role as a small railroad commu- block. At the north end of the east wall, there is a nity. There is one older dwelling, however, the large foundation for what may have been the original Rowland/Mershon House, on Block 77, Lot 3.02 kitchen fireplace on the floor above, along with hearth [NJHSI Inventory # 1221-25], which pre-dates the framing in the basement ceiling. Otherwise there is railroad era and does contain probable ISth-century little evidence of original first-floor framing in the elements in its form and fabric (Plate I). While basement ceiling, although some hewn and several unlikely to represent a heavily altered main house vertically sawn beams are present and some pegging from the Longbridge plantation, parts of this building is evident. The attic framing in the main section of the may relate to some other lesser dwelling on the mid- house is composed of light timbers, pegged and to late ISth-century Lawrence estate. The house is mostly vertically sawn. The roof appears to have been more obviously, both from its architecture and from replaced and reframed. the documentary record, the principal dwelling of the Rowland family, which moved on to the core of the In summary, the foundation of the main section of the Longbridge property in the mid-IS30s. house may date from the ISth century, but it is diffi- cult to see any definitively pre-ISOO fabric in the

Page 20 LONGBRIDGE FARM: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS

Approximate Focus of Longbridge Farm (Zone of Archaeological Potential)

__ Approximate Edge of Terrace Landform

.- Lavender Brook

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Plate 1. View looking northwest of the Rowland/Mershon House (Photographer: Douglas Scott, April2001)[HRI # 99054119:15].

Page 22 LONGBRIDGE FARM: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS stories above. The house could conceivably have property since 1983 and now resident in North been rebuilt in the early to mid-19th century (perhaps Carolina, were revealing. Mrs. Petrone, the daughter by the Rowlands) re-using the foundation, some of the of William and Dolores Zimmerman, who owned the fireplaces, but little of the framing of an earlier property from 1951 to 1983, grew up in the house and dwelling. Even if the foundations do indeed date from offered a number of interesting recollections. She the mid-18th century, the building would appear to be recalls that an unusual hybrid apple tree, grafted to too small to have served as the principal residence of produce both red and yellow apples, formerly stood an estate the size and status of the Lawrence family's some 20 feet to the rear of the main section of the Longbridge Farm. house. This is of particular interest in light of the foot- note at the end of Thomas Wetherill's letter to Thomas The smaller kitchen wing of the Rowland/Mershon Lawrence in 1754 in which he asks to be sent " ... a House sits atop a crawl space and still contains a fire- few sions of your best & largest pairs ... " In this place on the first floor, although the firebox is prob- instance, Wetherill and Lawrence shared a common ably not original. Rebecca Petrone, current occupant interest in horticulture, and both men were experi- of the house and daughter of the owner, stated that the menting growing fruit trees in their orchards. family believed this wing to have been built approxi- Wetherill is requesting of Lawrence some cuttings mately 150 years ago. A mid-to late 19th-century date from his pear trees (the little-used word "sion," for the wing is not inconsistent with its architectural "scion" or "cion" means a young shoot, twig or sprout features, although it should be noted that an earlier of a tree used for grafting to another stock). Although historic architectural survey of this property suggested impossible to prove at this stage, it is tempting to view that this "is probably the oldest section of the house" this apple tree, now long gone, as a remnant from the (NJHSI Inventory Form 1221-25). Longbridge Farm orchards. In addition to this tree, Mrs. Petrone also noted the presence of many large The Rowland/Mershon House presently occupies a old walnut trees on the property, although these could 1.18-acre lot. To the northeast and just to the rear of well date from the 19th-century Rowland rather than the house is a large two-story, three-bay frame barn the 18th-century Lawrence period. with a parallel gable roof and center cross gable. From its Queen Anne style appearance, this structure There are numerous reports of archaeological finds in was probably erected around 1900 during the the vicinity of the Rowland/Mershon House, some of Mershon period of ownership. The barn sits atop which are of considerable interest. Apart from the stone foundations, possibly re-used from an earlier typical materials one tends to find in the yard areas structure. In the rear yard to the north of the house, around historic farmhouses - such as ceramic sherds there are various "humps and bumps," topographic and pieces of glass, nails, bone fragments and oyster anomalies that hint at buried foundations and other shell - there are some specific objects that deserve traces of destroyed features relating to the further comment. Mrs. Petrone has in her possession Rowland/Mershon property and perhaps also to its what appears to be a large Native American pestle, predecessor, Longbridge Farm. One circular vegeta- found in the yard by her family, which she describes tion anomaly in the rear yard may indicate the location as an "unusual cylindrical stone, eight inches long, of a well. two-and-a-halfto three inches in diameter, flattened at one end and tapered at the other." Pestles, indicative

Conversations III November 2001 with Janet of the grinding of grain, are most often recovered from Zimmerman Petrone, owner of the Rowland/Mershon sites of the Woodland period from around A.D. 800 to

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A.D. 1600, and this find suggests that there was a D. References Native American camp site somewhere nearby. The same topographic and environmental traits that Bancker, G. attracted Thomas Lawrence to this general location in 1762 A Map of the Road from Trenton to the mid-18th century would have drawn Native Amboy. Copied by G. Bancker in 1762 American attention. This locus is very much the type from John Dalley's Survey of 1745. Ms. of place where one would expect to find evidence of map on file, Firestone Library, Princeton Native American occupation. University, Princeton, New Jersey.

Also in Mrs. Petrone's possession in North Carolina Boyer, C.S. are two bayonets recovered during the course of 1931 Early Forges and Furnaces in New gardening in the side yard of the Rowland/Mershon Jersey. University of Pennsylvania property. The better preserved of these two speci- Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. mens, described by Mrs. Petrone as being made of a "non-rusting" metal (probably steel), is about 18 to 20 Bray, R.C., and P.E. Bushnell (editors) inches in length, one inch thick, and triangular in 1978 Diary of a Common Soldier in the cross-section. On the basis of this latter characteristic, American Revolution, 1775-1783. An these bayonets have been assigned a Revolutionary Annotated Edition of the Military War era date. A more thorough examination of these Journal of Jeremiah Greenman. artifacts is required, but it is tempting indeed to link Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, such finds to the Longbridge overnight encampment Illinois. of June 25126, 1778. Cooley, H.S. In any event, although there appears to be no substan- 1896 A Study of Slavery in New Jersey. tive above ground trace of Longbridge Farm within Johns Hopkins University Studies in Monmouth Junction today, there is sufficient docu- Historical and Political Science, mentary and archaeological evidence to roughly iden- Fourteenth Series:7-59. tify the location of this colonial plantation within the present-day landscape. Furthermore, although Dalley, 1. compromised to some degree by later residential 1745 Map of the Road from Trenton to development, road building and other modem land Amboy. Ms. map on file (one of two use, there is good reason to suspect the survival of versions), New-York Historical Society, archaeological remains within the core of the planta- New York, New York. tion site, as well as possible traces of the Revolutionary War era encampment and evidence of East Jersey Deeds an earlier Native American occupation. Local prop- On file, New Jersey State Archives erty owners should be encouraged to pool their knowl- (NJDS), Trenton, New Jersey. edge about materials found in their yards to try and throw further light on this long forgotten, important Everts and Stewart site. 1876 Combination Atlas Map of Middlesex County, New Jersey. Everts and Stewart, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Faden, W. Described Within the Diary of Surgeon 1777 The Province of New Jersey. William Samuel Adams. A transcription from a Faden, London, England. microfilm copy on file at the New York Public Library, New York, New York. James McHenry Papers 1777 -1820 On file, William L. Clements Library, Middlesex County Deeds University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, On file, Middlesex County Courthouse, Michigan. New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Keith, c.P. Middlesex County Road Returns 1883 The Provincial Councillors of On file, Middlesex County Courthouse, Pennsylvania 1773-1776. WS. Sharp New Brunswick, New Jersey. Printing Co., Trenton, New Jersey. Nelson, W (editor) Lawrence, 1. 1917 Extracts from American Newspapers, 1743 Surveyor's Journal, September 24 - Relating to New Jersey, Vol. X 1773- October 31, 1743. Ms. copy (circa 1774. Documents Relating to the 1880) on file, Rutgers University Colonial History of the State of New Special Collections, New Brunswick, Jersey, Volume XXIX. The Call Printing New Jersey. & Publishing Co., Paterson, New Jersey.

Lee, F.B. (editor) Otley, J. W, and J. Keily 1903 Extracts from American Newspapers 1850 Map of Middlesex County. Lloyd 1778. Documents Relating to the Vanderveer, Camden, New Jersey. Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey, Vol. 11. John L. Murphy Randel, J., Jr. Publishing Co., Printers, Trenton, New 1816 A Map Shewing the Route of a Canal Jersey. Connecting the Waters of the Delaware with Those of the Raritan. Ms. map on Library of Congress file, New Jersey State Archives (NJDS), 200 I The George Washington Papers 1741- Trenton, New Jersey. 1799. Http://memory.loc.gov/ammeml gwhtmllgwhome.html. Millstone and Raritan River Valley, Lots South of New Brunswick Map of the Route of the Camden and Amboy Branch 1929 Map Showing Early 18th-Century Land Railroad from Trenton to Deans. Divisions. Tracing by Miss Anna B. 1863 Ms. map on file, New Jersey State Cook of earlier manuscript map. Archives (NJDS), Trenton, New Jersey. Manuscript map #13022, on file, Rutgers University Special Collections, McDonald, B. New Brunswick, New Jersey. 1997 "Our Army ... Gave Them A Pretty Good Drubbing." The Monmouth Campaign, June-September 1778 As

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Rosenberg, L.B. 1977 William Paterson and Attitudes in New Jersey on Slavery. New Jersey History XYC,4 (Winter): 197-206.

Silber, B.C.H. and W.D. Catts 200 I The Beverwyck Site. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Draft copy on file, New Jersey Department of Transportation, Trenton, New Jersey.

South Brunswick Public Library Files On file, South Brunswick Public Library, South Brunswick, New Jersey.

Thomas Lawrence Papers 1689-1754 On file, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsyl- varna.

Wacker, P.O. 1975 Land and People: A Cultural Geography of Preindustrial New Jersey. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Walling, H.F. 1861 Map of Middlesex County, New Jersey. Smith, Gallup, and Company, New York, New York.

West Jersey Unrecorded Wills On file, New Jersey State Archives (NJDS), Trenton, New Jersey.

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