Flock-Coleman Farm

Flock-Coleman farm viewed from Clarksville Road, 1950s. Courtesy of Henry Richard ("Dick") Coleman.

In 1776, a 100-acre farm off of Clarksville Road was the site of a capture of British troops that helped George Washington win the Battle of Assunpink Creek and the Battle of Princeton. This same farm farm was maintained for generations further until it was replaced by an agricultural research and development facility in the 1950s. Although long-gone, this historic Clarksville property's historic roots are still well-documented.

Historical Overview

A 100-acre farm once stood off the north side of Clarksville Road (and close to Quakerbridge road) in the historic West Windsor community of Clarksville. ​In the center of this farm was a stone house with 3-foot-thick walls surrounded by barns, outbuildings, and a grove of shade trees. It's currently unknown who established this property, but it is hereafter called the "Flock-Coleman Farm."

On December 30, 1776, amid the darkest days of the Revolutionary War, a dozen British troops were captured at this farm by an American scouting party sent by General George Washington to scope out the approach to Princeton. He was encamped in Trenton at the time, having won the Battle of Trenton a few days prior. The captured troops were taken to Trenton, interrogated, and revealed information that helped Washington win the Battle of Assunpink Creek and the Battle of Princeton a few days later.[1],[2],[3] This more broadly positioned him to drive the enemy out of New Jersey, enlist desperately-needed recruits in the spring, and show the world that the Revolution was not a lost cause.[4] To learn more about the capture at the Flock-Coleman farm, click here.

The first confirmed owner of the farm was Isaac Voorhees at an unknown date in the 1700s. He is referenced as a former owner for this property in a deed for the same property written in 1799, when James and Huldah Woolley sold the farm to John Flock for 590 pounds.[5]

Crop of the J.W. Otley & J. Keily map of Mercer County, NJ, published in 1849. Notice "J. Flock" (John Flock) in the center.

Flock, born around 1734,[6] had reputedly immigrated from Europe at an unknown point.[7] During the American Revolution, he served as a private in the Burlington County Militia.[8] He is believed to have lived in Lawrence Township during that time.[9] He and his presumed wife, Jane Farnsworth,[10] are said to have raised three children: Samuel, Deborah, and John Jr.[11] In 1787, Rev. Peter Wilson preached a revival service in John Flock's house; this was the beginning of the congregation that would form the Princeton Baptist Church in the West Windsor community of Penns Neck.[12] 

According to the May 4, 1902 Trenton Evening Times, "During (the American Revolution) ... John Flock (Sr.) was captured by a Hessian and driven towards camp. When Flock proposed to walk a little slower the soldier would price him with his bayonet and kept it up until Flock became so enraged that he turned suddenly and sprang on the soldier like a tiger, bearing him to the ground, killing him probably with his own weapons. He then dragged the body to the Assunpink Creek, threw it in and drove a stake through it to hold it down to the bottom."[13] 

John's son Samuel is said to have witnessed George Washington and his army's legendary Jan. 3, 1777 march up Quakerbridge Road, toward victory at the Battle of Princeton: "Samuel had arisen and gone to the barn. Soon after were heard the tramp of the soldiers and the rattling of the cannon over the frozen ground. His mother hurried out, but in the dim light she could not tell friend from foe, and feared for the lad ... They marched in such close order that she waiter for a long time for a chance to run the gauntlet and reach the barn across the road. Finally, she made a dash between the rows of bayonets and found Samuel all right, but also interested in the ghostly procession that faintly showed amidst the heavy frost in the dim light."[14] 

AI-generated interpretation of Washington's Jan. 3, 1777 march along Quakerbridge Road.

John Flock farmed this land until his death in 1818,[15] after which his son, John Jr., acquired the property.[16] John Jr. reputedly expanded the house and is also said to have helped build the nearby Clarksville Schoolhouse in 1822,[17] and was indeed one of its Trustees in the 1830s.[18] He was also one of West Windsor's "Overseer of the Highways" through much of the early-mid 1800s.[19] He and his wife, Elizabeth, had several children, including John Tindall Flock, who acquired the farm for $6,000 in 1854.[20] Eight years later, John Flock Jr. passed away at the age of 91, having been born early enough to witness the American Revolution, and living long enough to read about the the Civil War.[22]

John Tindall Flock reputedly further expanded the house[23] and raised his own family here with his wife, Elizabeth.[24] In 1883, the property finally passed out of Flock ownership when Zephaniah and Rebecca Adams purchased it for $7,725.[25] Fifteen years later, the farm was acquired by Herbert J. Coleman.[26] The property is believed to have briefly passed to Charles H. Over in 1917.[27] According to longtime Coleman family tradition, this was around the time that the farm was sold to the son of a New York man to help keep his son from being drafted into World War I; this may have been Charles H. Over (research is ongoing).[28]

Bumper crop of potatoes at the Coleman farm, date unknown.

In 1919, after the war, the farm was bought by by Jesse Coleman Sr.[29] - grandson of John Tindall Flock.[30] Jesse and his wife, Stella Cook, had been sharecroppers in Lawrenceville. They had several children, including Jesse Coleman Jr., who eventually took over the farm from his father. Jesse Jr. was also a co-owner in Hamilton Building Supply and became a prominent lumber retailer in the area.[31] Throughout the decades, various Coleman family members, and hired laborers, worked on the property. One was Henry Richard ("Dick") Coleman, who in 2020 recounted life on the farm:

"(The family) raised, grew, butchered, and otherwise provided most of their own food - meats, vegetables, milk, butter, lard, eggs, etc. Thinking back, ​I am amazed at how happy they always seemed! Grandma (Stella) had no daughters to help with the tremendous workload of laundry and three big meals a day. (Her) father, Richard ... spent many hours in the cold winter cutting seed potatoes into chunks that would become seeds in the spring. He also worked with candling and cleaning eggs and traveled through Trenton, selling produce (from door to door). He did not retire until his mid-80s when the farm got sold."[32]

So, too, did younger Coleman generations help out on the farm, although they would, over time, leave for other locations and professions - notably, owning several local car dealerships.[33] In the mid-late 1950s, the farm was finally purchased by a multinational chemical and biopharmaceutical company called "American Cyanamid,"[34] which bulldozed the house and barns and turned the former Flock-Coleman farm, and several adjacent properties, into a massive agricultural research and development facility.[35] That facility, in turn, shut down in 2002,[36] was demolished in 2022,[37] and is now the proposed site of a massive 5.5-million-square foot warehouse facility.[38] CLICK HERE to learn more.

Jesse Coleman Sr. and Stella Cook, circa 1950s. From Dick Coleman.

Go to Clarksville

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Bibliography

1. Peters, Thomas. “A Scrap of ‘Troop’ History.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 15, no. 2, 1891. Contains transcription of notes written by Thomas Peters, Revolutionary War soldier, written in 1818, in his copy of the "By-Laws of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry," itself printed in 1815. These notes were donated to the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography by a "Mrs. Roberdeau Buchanan," Peters' granddaughter.
2. Wilkinson, James. Memoirs of my own times. Vol. 1. 3 vols. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Printed by Abraham Small, 1816. 
3. Reed, William B. Life and correspondence of Joseph Reed. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1847. 
4. Kidder, William Larry. Ten Crucial Days: Washington’s Vision for Victory Unfolds. Brentwood, Tennessee: Knox Press, 2020
5. Flock, John, Woolley, Huldah, Woolley, Huldah. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1799. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 6 Page 250.
6. Hamilton Square Baptist Church. (n.d.). Hamilton Square Baptist Church graveyard. West Windsor. Hamilton Square Baptist Church graveyard gravestones, which often list birth dates, death dates, and ages of those buried there - including those of many of central New Jersey's oldest families.
7. "Recalls Washington's Victory at Trenton." Trenton Sunday Advertiser. December 31, 1905.
8. “Application for Membership - The New Jersey Society of the National Society Sons of the American Revolution.” Hamilton Township, New Jersey, July 13, 1965. Mervin Tindall Flock's application for membership. Application mentions that Flock served with Burlington Co. militia. Application was approved and registered by Registrar General on July 13, 1965. Application references the Flock family bible, Hamilton Square Graveyard, and the Service of E. Farnsworth.
9. "Recalls Washington's Victory at Trenton." Trenton Sunday Advertiser. December 31, 1905.
10. “Application for Membership - The New Jersey Society of the National Society Sons of the American Revolution.” Hamilton Township, New Jersey, July 13, 1965. Mervin Tindall Flock's application for membership. Application mentions that Flock served with Burlington Co. militia. Application was approved and registered by Registrar General on July 13, 1965. Application references the Flock family bible, Hamilton Square Graveyard, and the Service of E. Farnsworth.
11. “The Flock Family 1734-1945.” West Windsor, NJ: Archives of the Historical Society of West Windsor at the West Windsor History Museum, n.d. 
12. Wilson, Peter. “Minutes of the William’s Burrough Baptist Church, 1812-1852.” West Windsor, NJ: Princeton Baptist Church, 1812.
13. "Mercer County Sketches - The Story of a Trip of Quaker Bridge Patriots." Trenton Evening Times. May 4, 1902.
14. Ibid.
15. Hamilton Square Baptist Church. (n.d.). Hamilton Square Baptist Church graveyard. West Windsor. Hamilton Square Baptist Church graveyard gravestones, which often list birth dates, death dates, and ages of those buried there - including those of many of central New Jersey's oldest families.
16. Flock, John T., Flock, John. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1854. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 27 Page 484.
17. "Recalls Washington's Victory at Trenton." Trenton Sunday Advertiser. December 31, 1905.
18. John Flock, Richard C. Mount, & James Flock. “A Teacher Wanted.” Emporium and True American. Trenton, May 14, 1836. 
19. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
20. Flock, John T., Flock, John. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1854. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 27 Page 484.
21. "State Items." Newark Daily Advertiser. March 6, 1862.
22. "Recalls Washington's Victory at Trenton." Trenton Sunday Advertiser. December 31, 1905.
23. ff
24. United States Census, 1870 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1870.
25. ​Adams, Zephaniah S., Flock, John T, Flock, Margaret R. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1883. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 136 Page 89.
26. Adams, Rebecca S., Adams, Zephaniah S., Coleman, Herbert J. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1898. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 219 Page 525.
27. Coleman, Herbert J., Over, Charles H. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1917. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 401 Page 91.
28. Dick Coleman, multiple email messages sent to Trevor LePrevost (Vice President of the Historical Society of West Windsor at the time), August 8, 2016 to August 16, 2016.
29. Coleman, Jesse, Over, Charles H. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1919. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 422 Page 132.
30. “The Flock Family 1734-1945.” West Windsor, NJ: Archives of the Historical Society of West Windsor at the West Windsor History Museum, n.d. 
31. Dick Coleman, multiple email messages sent to Trevor LePrevost (Vice President of the Historical Society of West Windsor at the time), August 8, 2016 to August 16, 2016.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. "This is Princeton - Industrious Spring." town Topics. March 24, 1957.
35. ​"Agriculture Center Set." Town Topics. January 10, 1960.
36. ​"On the Move." Princeton Info. September 7, 2004.
37. Personal observations of the author of this article, Paul Ligeti.
38. ​Sanservino, Bill. “West Windsor Industrial Park Approved.” Community News, July 6, 2022. https://www.communitynews.org/princetoninfo/business/fastlane/west-windsor-industrial-park-approved/article_16fb1672-fc84-11ec-9f73-d3803039e04a.html. ​