Hart-Carson House

Hart's Basket Factory, December 2018.

Historical Overview

A 5-bay, 2-story house with detached garage stands at 1337 Edinburg Road. This building is a contributing element of the historic community of Edinburg and a member of West Windsor's "100 Club."

​The exact date of construction is uncertain. While township tax records assert the house was built between 1800 and 1850,[1],[2] maps suggest between 1849 and 1860.[3],[4] In 1849, this property was sold to Absalom Hart by the heirs of Robert Lutes.[5] Absalom was married to Mary T. Hulfish.[6] It is presumed that they raised their children on this property.

Woodward and Hageman's History of Burlington and Mercer Counties (1883) mentions that Absalom Hart "was engaged somewhat extensively in the manufacture of boots and shoes (in Edinburg), at times employing several hands."[7] Indeed, a map from 1860 shows a building labeled "S. Shop" on this property (probably "shoe shop").[8]

Edinburg in 1875. Note "A. Hart Basket Maker."

Woodward and Hageman continue, "in 1873, (he) built a shop at Edinburg, in which he began the manufacture of baskets of different sizes and kinds, which he sells in New York. His business has gradually increased till it furnishes employment to five basket-makers."[9] This building that he reputedly constructed in 1873 may have been a different structure than the house itself.

Absalom was also a Civil War veteran, serving in Company E of the 21st New Jersey Regiment from 1862-63.[10] During his service, the Company participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Chancellorsville Campaign (among other endeavors)[11] and Absalom was shot in the shoulder during the Battle of Salem Heights.[12]

After many years as a basket-maker, Absalom passed away in 1905.[13] The next year, the property was sold to Zebulon and Addie Brown.[14] Eleven years after that, Walter and Jennie Carson purchased the property. Their daughter, Viola,[15] and her husband, Douglas "Duke" Stults, ran the adjacent Edinburg general store at 1720-22 Old Trenton Road.

In the 1940s or 1950s, the property passed to Walter and Jennie's son, Thomas Alvin, and his wife, Nellie. Thomas was a West Windsor Zoning Board member in the 1950s and a Township Committeeman in the 1960s.[16] He was also founder of the long-gone Lucar Hardware store in Princeton Junction (where the PNC bank near the train station exists in 2023).[19]

The property remained in Carson hands until 2002. However, although it has long since passed to new hands, it remains an old fixture in historic Edinburg.

Estate advertisement for the Hart family property, Trenton Times.

Go to Edinburg

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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 210 South Mill Road.
2. ​“Section IX – Conservation Plan Element – West Windsor Master Plan.” West Windsor Township, 2002.
3. Otley, J W, and James Keily. “Map of Mercer County, New Jersey.” Map. Camden, New Jersey: L. Van der Veer, 1849.
4. Lake, D J, and S N Beers. Map of the Vicinity of Philadelphia and Trenton from Actual Surveys By D.J. Lake and S. N. Beers. Assisted by F. Beers, L. B. Lake and D. G. Beers. Philadelphia, PA: C.K. Stone and A. Pomeroy, 1860. https://dspace.njstatelib.org/xmlui/handle/10929/34112?show=full.
5. Beatty, Ann, Beatty, Thomas, Hart, Absalom, Lutes, Elizabeth, Lutes, Henry, Lutes, Joseph Lutes, Sarah, Lutes, Sarah C., Lutes, William C. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1849. Deed for the property of 1337 Old Trenton Road. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book Q Page 91.
6. United States Census, 1900 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1900.
7. Woodward, Evan Morrison, and John Frelinghuysen Hageman. History of Burlington and Mercer Counties with Biographical Sketches of Many of Their Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts & Peck, 1883.
8.  Lake, D J, and S N Beers. Map of the Vicinity of Philadelphia and Trenton from Actual Surveys By D.J. Lake and S. N. Beers. Assisted by F. Beers, L. B. Lake and D. G. Beers. Philadelphia, PA: C.K. Stone and A. Pomeroy, 1860. https://dspace.njstatelib.org/xmlui/handle/10929/34112?show=full.
9. Woodward, Evan Morrison, and John Frelinghuysen Hageman. History of Burlington and Mercer Counties with Biographical Sketches of Many of Their Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts & Peck, 1883.
10. “Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War.” Washington, DC: The National Archives, 1890. 
11. “Battle Unit Details - Union New Jersey Volunteers - 21st Regiment, New Jersey Infantry.” National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UNJ0021RI. 
12. “Absalom Hart.” Daily State Gazette, May 22, 1863.
13. ​“Death of an Aged Veteran.” Trenton Sunday Advertiser, March 5, 1905.
14. Brown, Abbie D., Brown, Zebulon. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1906. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 288 Page 199.
15. “Edinburg.” Trenton Evening Times, April 12, 1917.​
16. “West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
17. Lucar Hardward Co. “Lucar Hardware Co.” Town Topics. Princeton, September 19, 1963. Advertisement for the grand opening of Lucar Hardware Co. Mentions Joseph A. Luther and T. Alvin Carson.