Dorothy Mather House

The Dorothy Mather house in December 2018.

Historical Overview

4 Standing at 514 Village Road West - just next to the old wooden Dutch Neck Schoolhouse at 516 Village Road West - is a small, 2-story, 4-bay wood frame house with a 1-story garage wing and breezeway. This building is a contributing structure to the historic community of Dutch Neck and a member of West Windsor's "100 Club."

Township tax records claim that this house was built in 1858.[1] If true, then it was one of several houses on the historic homestead estate of the pioneer Slayback family[2] - but by that the time, owned by William Updike.[3] At some point unknown (research is ongoing), the lot now defined as 514 Village Road West was split off from that estate.

The first confirmed owners of this house was Daniel H. Mount. After his death in 1923, the property was inherited by his sons, John and Walter.[4] John served West Windsor's government in a variety of ways from the 1890s-1940s: as a township Poundkeeper (animal control), Constable, and Justice of the Peace.[5] Walter, too, was a Poundkeeper, from the 1890s-1920s.[6]

In 1923, John and Walter Mount sold the property to Rose and Walter Conover[7] - also erstwhile owners of the properties at 134 and 136 South Mill Road in Dutch Neck.[8],[9] The house then passed to their daughter, Dorothy C. Mather, in 1942.[10] Dorothy served as librarian at the Dutch Neck School for 23 years[11] and was wife of Norman H. Mather, whose death via plane crash in 1952 shook the community, as you can read about here.[12]

Dorothy and her daughter collectively owned this house until 2003,[13] after which point it has since passed to new ownership, but still as a fixture of the Dutch Neck community.

Dorothy (Conover) Mather in 1939.

Go to Dutch Neck

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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. Slayback, Abel, Bergen, John G. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1811. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds - Middlesex County Deed Book 9 Page 211.
3. Hill, Joseph, Updike, William. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1843. Found in the Mercer County Clerk's Office - Mercer County Deeds - Mercer County Deed Book G Page 17.
4. Conover, Rose R., Conover, Walter F. Mount, John S., Mount, Walter S. “Indenture” West Windsor, 1924. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 530 Page 375. 
5. “West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
6. Ibid.
7. Conover, Rose R., Conover, Walter F. Mount, John S., Mount, Walter S. “Indenture” West Windsor, 1924. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 530 Page 375. 
8. Conover, Rose R., Conover, Walter F Sr., Heidrick, Dorothy B., Heidrick, Gardner W. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1965. Deed from Lyorah Vannest to Lydia C. Wyckoff for 136 South Mill Road. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 1732 Page 854. Mentions the 1963 Robins-Conover transfer.
9. Ibid.
10. Conover, Rose R., Conover, Walter F Sr., Mather, Dorothy C. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1942. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 844 Page 535. 
11. ​"Obituaries: Dorothy C. Mather.” Town Topics, July 3, 2002.
12. ​“Light Plane Crashes, Walton, Mather Killed.” Princeton Herald, August 6, 1952. 
13. Greenwich Investors XI, LLC., Vogel, Sarah. "Deed.” West Windsor, 2003. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 4451 Page 277.