Engelke Farm​

Aerial photograph of the Engelke farm, 1930. "NJ-26" is now Route 1.

Historical Overview

The history below was taken from the writings of the late Robert H. Engelke. It was later published in the Historical Society of West Windsor's January 1984 "Broadside" newsletter. We thank Esther Engelke for originally sharing his memories with us. In the 1940s, the Egnelke and Olden farms were turned into RCA Laboratories.

"Henry Engelke was born in Germany in 1825. During his early manhood, he came to this country and settled in Princeton. Here he worked for James Carnahan who was then President of Princeton University. He met and married Miss Adeline Blue who was born in 1826. Their first son was James Carnahan Engelke - my father - who was born in December 1858.[1]

In the spring of 1859, when James was only a few months old, Henry Engelke bought what came to be known as the "Old Engelke Farm" (now part of RCA). This faced on the old New BRunswick to Trenton Turnpike, now known as U.S. Route 1. On the west and south it joined the Olden farm. The south field was marshy and Henry dug a ditch near the boundary line to drain off the water. He dug another deeper ditch further infield and drained this into the Millstone River.[2]

Past the southern border, farther down on the bank of the Millstone, in Olden land, was the spot known to this day as the "Sheepwash." Farmers  brought their sheep here and ran them down the bank into the stream for washing before shearing.[3]

Inside, the house remained as it was when my grandfather bought it, until after its purchase by John Hartpence around 1926, although some repairs and changes were made on the roof. It had a parlor, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, and shed on the first floor. One stairway went up from the sitting room and another from the kitchen. On the second floor were four bedrooms. Evidently this was the original layout.[4]

Penns Neck, 1875. Note "Hy Engelke" just southeast of Route 1.

Back of the house, reaching out from the shed, grape vines were planted. These made a large arbor stretching rom the rear of the house to a white picket fence which ran around back, front, and sides, enclosing a small yard and separating this from the garden and the chicken yard at the back and west side respectively. Inside the garden fence were hives of bees.[5]

At the southwest corner of the property a spring ran from Olden land. Midway from front to back another spring ran down to the river. In a clearing, in the brush along the river, a pond had formed. In the winter young people skated here. In the summer, people came to fish. Fishermen who came into the pond by boat often went to this spring for drinking water. Household needs were supplied by a third spring near the front side of the house. A little springhouse was built over this with board paths running through it so that milk, cream, and butter could be placed here on wooden shelves to cool.[6]

[Native American] relics such as arrows, axes, hatchets, and mallets were very plentiful around these spring sites and in the adjacent fields, but especially around the springs. Many were found, too, in the fields around the Sheepwash, as if an encampment of some sort had been there.[7]

Engelke House.

Just above the spot where the side spring emptied into the Millstone, it was possible, when the water was low, to see parts of an old foundation thought to be the remains of a sawmill. About there, the river mad a bend away from the field and circled around, flowing under the old wooden bridge over the Millstone. The intervening space became swampy. Bushes and trees grew up here and further back along the river. When the swamp was frozen in winter, wood was cut and gathered. Then it was carried up to be placed in a huge pile near the house, where it was used for smoking meats in the smokehouse at the driveway end of the fence separating the yard from the garden.[8]

Grandpa Engelke began farming with a cow, a pig or two, a few chickens, his bees, and a team of little mules, the smallest of which he called "Jinny." The mules served in the farm work and for transportation as well. Most of the travelling, however, was done on foot. Member of the family often walked to Princeton or to Clarksville to visit friends.[9]

He planted many fruit trees and berry bushes. The apples were fine old strains - Norther Spies, Bellflowers, Greenings, Smith Ciders, Fall Pippins, and Rustics. There were crabapples, too, and pears - Seckel, Bartlett, Pound - as well as peach trees, a prune plum, a paw paw, and a rare orange quince. There were White Cherries, Oxhearts, and Pie Cherries. Gooseberries, blackberries, currants, and strawberries were there, too. Near the house he planted shade trees - a linden, an ash, an arbor vitae. In front of the dwelling were two large maples from one of which, every summer, hung festoons of the reddish-orange flowers of a Virginia Creeper.[10]

Mrs. Engelke and sons.

Henry Engelke and his wife had six sons in this order of age: James, Henry, Frank, the twins Edward and William, and Charles. He supported them mainly from the proceeds of his strawberries and watercress. The field in front of the house was given over to strawberries. Neighborhood boys helped with the picking. The water running out from the spring near the house was dammed and made to cover boxlike levels resembling steps going down to the river. In these beds the water cress was planted. During spring and early summer the cress was cut and packed into small baskets shaped something like peach baskets, being the size of a saucer at the bottom and of a small plate at the top. They were woven of flat wicker. Every day these were filled and taken to the railroad station at Princeton Junction for shipment to Newark.[11]

When Henry Engelke died in 1897, three sons - Henry, William, and Charles - stayed home with their mother until her death in 1905. James and Frank were married and had families of their own. Edward was married but had no children.[12]

When Adelie Engelke died, the second son Henry Bought the farm. His brother James, the oldest son, moved back with his family, ad Henry lived with them. James farmed the place until his death in 1925."[13]

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Bibliography

1. Engelke, Robert H. “Broadside,” January 1984. "Broadside" was the newsletter of the Historical Society of West Windsor from 1983 to 2013.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.