Furman-Marchesi House

4276 Quakerbridge Road, March 2019. From Paul Ligeti.

Historical Overview

A 5-bay, 2-story house stands at 4276 Quakerbridge Road in Lawrence Township. This is a contributing element to the historic West Windsor/Lawrence community of Port Mercer.

The house was likely constructed in the mid-1800s.[1],[2] The property's earliest known owner was Lewis Gordon, who also owned the house across the street at 4261-63 Quakerbridge Road.[3] In 1852, he sold the property to John Crater[4] It further passed to John and Matilda Jerolaman in 1858,[5]5 Thomas West and Andrew Vankirk in 1859,[6] Samuel and Johanna Smith in 1860,[7] Richard Cook in 1862,[8] and Ruth Furman in 1868.[9]

After Ruth died, her husband, N. Hggins Furman, sold the property in 1886. The buyer was Augustus Vanzandt.[10] It then passed through several more owners: John and Mary Ann Clare in 1888,[11] Ellen and Peter Lampey (1890),[12] Pauline F. Schare (1895),[13] and Isaac Shaw (1916).[14] Ownership after this becomes unclear, but it seems to have passed to the Marchesi family, who owned many acres of land in the area, in the early-mid 1900s.[15],[16]

4276 Quakerbridge Road, September 2019.

In the May 1981 Princeton Recollector, Carrie Arrowsmith - whose family lived in the bridge-tender's house at 4278 Quakerbridge Road - recalled the Marchesi farm: "It was only good to raise feed corn for the animals mules and horse or two. It  [had] that black heavy soil. It always had lots of moisture and we would pick strawberries. The farm consisted of house and little barn. Mr. Marchesi also worked as an iron worker in one of the iron foundries in Trenton. They had three girls and two boys, Bebel and Libero [AKA "Lee"] ... All three girls studied to be teachers and taught school in different places ... Lee was foreman for General Electric in the Trenton mill ... After his wife died, Lee’s sister Alba came to keep house. Their home is very pretty and up to date. It has been all remodeled."[17]

The Marchesis eventually sold the property to Lawrenceville Associates in 1988.[18] Property ownership again becomes unclear but the house nevertheless stands as a longtime relic of old Port Mercer.

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Bibliography

1. Otley, J W, and James Keily. “Map of Mercer County, New Jersey.” Map. Camden, New Jersey: L. Van der Veer, 1849.
2. ​“West Windsor Township.” Map. 1875 Historical Atlas of Mercer County, New Jersey - Map of West Windsor. Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Stuart, 1875. https://www. loc.gov/item/2010587333/.
3. Cook, Richard, Gordon, Lewis. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1868. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 72 Page 445.
4. Crater, John A. S., Gordon, Lewis. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1852. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book W Page 554.
5. Crater, John A. S., Jerolaman, John. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1858. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 41 Page 189.
6. Jerolaman, John, Jerolaman, Matilda, Vankirk, Andrew J., West, Thomas H. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1859. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 43 Page 150.
7. Smith, Samuel H., Vankirk, Andrew J., West, Thomas H. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1860. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 46 Page 532.
8. Cook, Richard, Hutchinson, Robert L. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1862. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 51 Page 316.
9. Cook, Richard, Furman, Ruth. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1868. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 73 Page 202.
10. Higgins, N., Vanzandt, Augustus. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1886. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 148 Page 575.
11. Clare, John, Clare, Mary Ann, Hamill, Hugh H., Vanzandt, Mary S.. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1888. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 161 Page 115.
12. Clare, John, Clare, Mary Ann, Lampey, Ellen A., Lampey, Peter. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1890. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 176 Page 163.
13. Lampey, Ellen A., Lampey, Peter, Schare, Pauline F. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1895. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 203 Page 363.
14. Schare, Pauline F, Shaw, Isaac H. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1916. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 389 Page 438.
15. ​Arrowsmith, Carrie. “Carrie Arrowsmith Pens Port Mercer Reflections.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------. 
16. United States Census, 1920 - Lawrence Township.” West Windsor Township, 1920.
17. Arrowsmith, Carrie. “Carrie Arrowsmith Pens Port Mercer Reflections.” Princeton Recollector 6, no. 8, May 1981. https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonrecollector19810501.2.2&srpos=5&e=------198-en-20-princetonrecollector-1--txt-txIN-%22cARRIE+ARROWSMITH%22------. 
    
18. ​"Area Real Estate Transactions." The Times. June 19, 1988.