Chamberlin-Priory Farmhouse

Chamberlin-Priory house, July 2023.

Thank you to Karen Yang for her research on this property.

Historical Overview

A 2-story, 5-bay house on brick foundation with detached garage stands at 105 Southfield Road, directly across the road from Zaitz Park. This - the Chamberlin-Priory farmhouse - is a member of West Windsor's "100 Club" and possibly one of the town's oldest residences.

It's unknown when the house was built. While tax records state a construction date of 1930,[1] this is almost certainly incorrect and instead probably indicates the date of a major renovation. Instead, a 1988 survey posited that the house was perhaps constructed in the first quarter of the 1800s,[2]while the Township's Conservation Plan element of its Master Plan suggests construction as far back as 1758.[3]

Given its unknown date of origin, it's also uncertain who built the house. However, what is known is that, starting in 1741, this land was part of a much-larger property owned by Cornelius Voorhies, which also contained the nearby Schenck Farmstead/West Windsor History Museum.[4] Part of this tract eventually passed to Koert Voorhies Jr.[5] - a Revolutionary War veteran. Koert served as a Private in the Middlesex County militia from 1775 to the "end of the war" under various captains, and in the Battles of Trenton, Princeton, and Springfield, as well as the "revolt of Pennsylvania Line Troops, January 1781."[6] He was also one of West Windsor's early Commissioners of Taxation Appeal and Overseers of the Highways[7] and one of the original congregants of the First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck when it formed in 1816.[8]

Extent of 1782 Voorhies-Bayles deed.

In 1782 - still amid the war - Koert and his wife, Mary, sold his 150-acre farm to Samuel Bayles Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth, for 700 pounds.[9] Five years later, it passed to John Bergen[10] - who may have also been another Revolutionary War veteran,[11] and who, in turn, willed this "plantation" to his son, Jacob Bergen, upon his death in 1808.[12] Two years later, Jacob and his wife, Syche, sold the farm to Christian VanHortwick.[13] From there, it passed through several more owners over the decades:

• Rue family: 1817-1837.[14],[15] This included Matthew Rue - one of West Windsor's first Overseers of the Highways and Commissioners of (Taxation) Appeal in the 1800s-20s.[16]
• Elias Bergen: 1837-64[17],[18]
• William Everett: 1864-65[19],[20]
• Eli and Phebe Rogers: 1865-73.[21],[22] Eli was a West Windsor Pound Keeper (animal control), Constable, Commissioner of (Taxation) Appeal, Tax Collector, Overseer of the Poor, Judge of Elections, and Freeholder for much of the 1820s-60s.[23]
• Estate of Eli Rogers: 1873-80[24],[25]
• William and Mary Duncan: 1880-80[26],[27]
• Augustus Taylor and Gilbert and Cornelia Ayres: 1880-94[28],[29]
• John and Alice Wyckoff: 1894-95[30],[31]​

Close up of 1849 map of West Windsor. Note "E. Bergen."

In 1895, Albert Chamberlin purchased the property - still 150 acres - for $4,400.[32] He and his son-in-law, Ezekiel Barclay, founded the fertilizer manufacturer and farm produce dealer, Chamberlin & Barclay.[33] Albert held his 150-acre property for the next thirty-nine years, until his death in 1934,[34] after which it passed to his two daughters: Elizabeth ("Lizzie") Chamberlin Barclay and Myrta Chamberlin Priory.[35] Lizzie was a former Vice President of the Middlesex County Welfare Board and a graduate of the Peddie Institute in Hightstown.[36] Meanwhile, Myrta obtained full ownership of the property in 1952.[37] The Priory family held it until the mid-1980s, when the land was sold to Garden State Land Holding Co.38] and subdivided into the "Heatherfield" neighborhood around the early 1990s.[39]
​
The property has passed through a variety of owners​ since Myrta's ownership. Yet despite changes in occupants, it has remained a contributing element to West Windsor's historical character.

Myrta Chamberlin Priory. Photo likely from 1900s-1920s.

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Bibliography

1. "West Windsor Tax Assessor Address List, 2019.” West Windsor, 2019. List of all residences in West Windsor with dates of construction, according to tax assessor. Sent to the Historical Society by Lorraine Jones and Dawn Moretti.​
2. “Mercer County Historic Sites Survey: West Windsor Township, Mercer County, NJ.” Princeton, 1988. Conducted by Kinsey & Hand Associates.
3. ​“Section IX – Conservation Plan Element – West Windsor Master Plan.” West Windsor Township, 2002.
4.  Lyell, Fenwick, and Cornelius Voorhies. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1741. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds.
5. Bayles, Elizabeth, Bayles, Samuel Jr., Voorhies, Koert. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1782. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 1 Page 7.
6. “Application for Membership - The Washington State Society of the National Society Sons of the American Revolution.” Olympia, Washington June 1, 1916. Clark Voorhies Savidge's application for membership. Application mentions that Flock served with Burlington Co. militia. 
7. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
8. Sesquicentennial History: 1816-1966. West Windsor, New Jersey: First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, 1966.
9. Bayles, Elizabeth, Bayles, Samuel Jr., Voorhies, Koert. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1782. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 1 Page 7.
10. Bergen, Jacob, Bergen, Stieche, VanHortwick, Christian. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1808. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 8 Page 265.
11. piRevolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783/i; Microfilm Publication M246, 138 rolls; a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/602384" target="_blank"602384/a; War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Record Group 93; The National Archives in Washington, D.C./p
12. Bergen, Jacob, Bergen, Stieche, VanHortwick, Christian. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1808. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 8 Page 265.
13. Ibid.
14. Rue, Matthew, VanHortwick, Christian. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1817. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 13 Page 59.
15. Bergen, Elias, Rue, Ellen, Rue, Matthias. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1837. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book B Page 290.
16. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
17. Bergen, Elias, Rue, Ellen, Rue, Matthias. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1837. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book B Page 290.
18. Bergen, Elias, Everett, William. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1864. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 59 Page 37.
19. Ibid.
20. Everett, William, Rogers, Eli. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1865. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 60 Page 365.
21. Ibid.
22. Ayres, Gilbert V., Skirm, Charles H., Taylor, Augustus M. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1880. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 201 Page 36.
23. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
24. Ibid.
25. Ayres, Gilbert V., Skirm, Charles H., Taylor, Augustus M. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1880. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 201 Page 36.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Ayres, Gilbert V., Taylor, Augustus M., Wyckoff, John W. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1894. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 198 Page 421.
29. Ayres, Gilbert V., Taylor, Augustus M., Wycoff, John W. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1894. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 198 Page 421.
30. Ibid.
31. Chamberlin, Albert, Wycoff, Alice E. G., Wycoff, John W. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1895. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 201 Page 33.
32. Ibid.
33. "Civic Leader Half Century." Trenton Sunday Times-Advertiser. January 2, 1955.
34. Hightstown Cedar Hill Cemetery. (n.d.). Hightstown Cedar Hill Cemetery. Hightstown, NJ. Hightstown Cedar Hill Cemetery gravestones, which often list birth dates, death dates, and ages of those buried there - including those of many of Mercer County's oldest families.
35. Barclay, Lizzie C., Priory, Myrta C. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1952. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 1198 Page 377.
36. "Mrs. Chamberlin Dies at Age of 79." Trenton Evening Times. August 18, 1953.
37. Barclay, Lizzie C., Priory, Myrta C. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1952. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 1198 Page 377.
38. Garden State Land Holdings Co., Priory Farms Limited Partnership. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1985. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 2316 page 120.
39. "West Windsor Aerial Photography Composite Map, 1990.” Map. Historical Society of West Windsor - Map Archives. West Windsor, NJ, 1990.