Hendrickson House

Hendrickson House, circa 2010.

Historical Overview

Standing at 219 Hendrickson Drive is a 2-story, 4-bay house with a rear wrap-around 1-story wing and detached garage. This is a member of West Windsor's "100 Club" and a contributing structure to the historic hamlet of Vanhiseville.

Township tax records claim this building was constructed in 1750.[1] If true, this makes the house one of the oldest in West Windsor. Also if true, then the house's earliest known owner was Jonathan Hoff, who sold roughly 90 acres to Jonathan Parker in 1759.[2]

The lineage of ownership between then and the early 1800s is unknown, although research is ongoing. In 1816, the deed for an adjacent property described this tract as belonging to John Lewis[3] - perhaps the same John Lewis that served as one of West Windsor's early Overseers of the Highways, from 1799-1801.[4] The property seems to have passed through the Lewis family, ending with Benjamin Lewis and Jane Elisa in 1842. That year, they sold the property to James D. Duncan.[5]

Sketch of the Hendrickson House in 2010 by W. Bowers.

James was also an Overseer of the Highways in the 1840s, Tax Collector and Overseer of the Poor in the 1850s, and Tax Assessor in the 1860s/70s.[6] The 1860 census shows James - 53 at the time - living with several family members: Gertrude (43, possibly his wife), Elizabeth (23), George (21), Matilda (16), Charles (11), Isabella (10), Spafford (8), and William Francis (6).[7]

In 1859, the Duncans lost their home when it was seized by the Sheriff of Mercer County via a "writ of Fieri Facias" and sold to recoup debts they had incurred.[8] The property eventually wound up in the hands of Jacob Hendrickson in 1864.[9] Jacob is presumably the namesake of Hendrickson Drive. Jacob, too, played a role in local government, as an Overseer of the Highways and Poundkeeper (animal control) in the 1860s/70s.[10]

The property presumably remained in Hendrickson hands for several generations. When Jacob passed away in 1905,[11] the it seems to have been inherited by his son, John Israel Hendrickson. John, in turn, died in 1937, whereupon the property passed to John G. Hendrickson, Alice E. Hendrickson, Stella H. Silvester, and her husband, Percival Silvester.

Vanhiseville in 1849. Note J. D. Duncan along present-day Hendrickson Drive.

In 1948, the property finally passed out of Hendrickson hands. After a few land transfers, it was purchased by Robert and Ruth Cushman in 1952. Since then, other owners have included the Martindale family (1968-79), the Blackburn family (1979-99), and others. The house remains alongside Hendrickson Drive as a contributing structure to the Vanhiseville neighborhood.

Go To Vanhiseville

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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.
2. Hoff, Jonathan, Parker, Jonathan. “Indenture.” Windsor Township, 1759. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, East Jersey Deeds Folio H-3 Page 92.
3. Bergen, Peter I., Thomas, Richard. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1816. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 12 Page 20.
4. "West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the West Windsor Municipal Center.
5. Duncan, James D., Elisha, Jane, Lewis, Benjamin. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1842. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book E Page 23. Mentions a "premises" existing here at the time in this 6-acre property.
6. "West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the West Windsor Municipal Center.
7. "United States Census, 1850 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1850.
8. Marlatt, Benjamin, Munhuel, Jonathan. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1861. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 50 Page 56. 
9. HEndrickson, Jacob, Schenck, William Smith. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1864. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 58 Page 113. 
10. ​"West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the West Windsor Municipal Center.
11. Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church. (n.d.). Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church graveyard. West Windsor. Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church graveyard gravestones, which often list birth dates, death dates, and ages of those buried there - including those of many of West Windsor's oldest families.