The Groendyke-Hann-Mihan House

The Groendyke-Hann-Mihan house in August 2011.

Historical Overview

According to township tax records (also recorded at the Mercer County Clerk’s Office in Trenton), the house at 140 South Mill Road - a contributing structure to the historic community of Dutch Neck and a member of West Windsor's "100 Club" - was built in 1911.[1] The house is notable in that it was owned by only three families in the span of 111 years: the Groendykes, Hanns, and Mihans. ​

In 1911, Alica A. Smallbone and her husband, Wyndham Egbert Smallbone sold this property to a local farmer named Isaac Fisher Groendyke and his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Groendyke.[2] Wyndham, a local farmer,[3] was a founding member of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company in 1921,[4] and his wife, Alice, operated Dutch Neck’s post office out of her home from 1939-1949.[5] 

Because of the date that the Groendykes bought the property, it’s likely they were the ones who had the house constructed. Isaac and Sarah may have very well cherished their home, for they owned it for over the next three decades. However, In 1944, the property passed to Nelli Blanche Hann and her husband, William Hann, in 1942.[6] ​

WW Vol. Fire Co. circa 1921. William Hann is seated in the engine. Wyndham Smallbone is in the back, third from the left.

​William Hann is listed in the 1930 federal census as a carpenter.[7] He and Nellie had at least four children: Evelyn M., Mildred J, Lillian R, and William Jr.[8] William is listed in West Windsor Township meeting minutes as being a “Road Foreman” from 1948 to at least 1957[9] and was also a charter member of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company – just like Wyndham. Hann was Fire Chief from at least 1924 to 1932 and perhaps beyond.[10]
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Nellie, for her part, was a founding member of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire company’s “Ladies’ Auxiliary” (a sort of support organization for the fire company, before women were allowed to formally volunteer for the fire company itself).[11] 

Upon Nellie’s death in 1966, the property was acquired by Eric Mihan Jr. and Brenda Mihan.[12] Having possessed the property since then, Brenda was the person who had owned the house the longest out of anyone until her death in late 2022.[13]

The home has since acquired new owners, but remains an old relic of early-1900s Dutch Neck and West Windsor. ​

The Groendyke-Hann-Mihan house in December 2018.

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. For this specific citation, look at 140 South Mill Road.
2. Groendyke, Isaac, Groendyke, Sarah E., Smallbone, Alice A., Smallbone, Wyndham. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1911. Deed for 140 South Mill Road. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 320 Page 428.
3. United States Census, 1920 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1920.
4. "Minutes and Records of the West Windsor Township Volunteer Fire Company, Organized March 21, 1921.” West Windsor: West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 firehouse, n.d. Minutes detailing the first 11 years (1921-1932) of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1’s development.
5. White, Carey C. “Broadside,” 1987. Historical Society of West Windsor newsletter, Fall & Winter, 1987. History of the Dutch Neck community.​
6. Groendyke, Isaac, Groendyke, Hann, Nelli Blanche, Hann, William. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1942. Deed for 140 South Mill Road. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 846 Page 166.
7. United States Census, 1930 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1930.
8. “Mrs. Nellie Hann.” Sunday Times Advertiser. November 6, 1966. 
9. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
10. "Minutes and Records of the West Windsor Township Volunteer Fire Company, Organized March 21, 1921.” West Windsor: West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 firehouse, n.d. Minutes detailing the first 11 years (1921-1932) of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1’s development.
11. “Mrs. Nellie Hann.” Sunday Times Advertiser. November 6, 1966. 
12. Hann, Nelli Blanche, Hann, William, Mihan, Brenda, Mihan, Eric Jr.. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1955. Deed for 140 South Mill Road. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 1738 PAge 392.
13. “Brenda Mihan Obituary (2022) - Princeton Junction, NJ - ‘the Times, Trenton,".” Legacy.com. Accessed January 14, 2023. https://obits.nj.com/us/obituaries/trenton/name/brenda-mihan-obituary?id=36199064. ​