Hooper-Appelget-Carson Homestead

Hooper-Appelget-Carson Homestead, July 2023.

Historical Overview

A 4-bay, 2-story house set relatively close to the road stands at 1439 Edinburg Road. Attached to the main block of the house are a few 1-story and 2-story additions. Behind the house is a long wagon shed, how serving as a 2-car garage and, presumably, storage. Although surrounded by late-20th-century suburban developments, this property - the Hooper-Appelget homestead - is a relic of 1800s-era West Windsor. It is also a member of our town's "100 Club."

Township tax records say the house was built in 1815.[1] However, its Victorian roof brackets suggest a mid-late 19th century date of construction or perhaps renovation. In 1819, Thomas B. Hooper and his wife, Abigail, purchased about 135 acres of farms and woodland, bounded by Edinburg Road to the west and Village Road East to the north, from the heirs of James Hooper (relation to Thomas unknown).[2] The estate already had a barn orchard, and house, although it's unknown if this was the house in question or another house.[3]

Like most West Windsor residents at the time, Thomas was a farmer.[4] He also served West Windsor through the 1810s-30s as an Overseer of the Highways, Township Clerk, and Commissioner of [Taxation] Appeal.[5] He presumably lived here with his wife, Abigail,[6] and perhaps their children, one of whom is believed to have been Thomas B. Hooper ("Thomas Jr"). In 1838, the younger Thomas. purchased the from his presumed parents for $2,500.[7] He, too, served West Windsor, albeit as a Commissioner for Laying Roads in the 1840s-50s.[8] The 1850 census seems to show him living here with his wife (Susan), children (Jonathan, Julia, William, Elizabeth, Thomas, and James), and a boarder named James Silvers.[9]

Extent of 1819 Hooper-Hooper deed.

In 1856, Joseph Hunt bought the property.[10] The 1860 census shows Joseph's co-residents: his wife, Amy, as well as his kids (Joseph and Emma), and 82-year-old woman named Elizabeth Stout, and two others named Job Hart and John Wright.[11]

In 1888, the property passed to Daniel and Catherine Hawk,[12] and the next year to their son, Elston Hawk,[13],[14] a West Windsor Commissioner of Taxation Appeal in the 1890s.[15] It's unknown how long Elston resided at the homestead, and ownership becomes unclear for the next few decades. However, by 1927, Stephen and Jane Appelget had taken possession of the property. That year, they sold the tract to George and Blanche Appelget.[16] The couple resided here and farmed this land for many more decades. Even after George died in 1970,[17] Blanche kept the property for another eight years.[18]

In 1978, Thomas Carson, Jr. and his wife, Carole, purchased the property.[19] Carole sat on the Parking Authority, Recreation Committee, and Community Park Study Group for some years in the 1980s-90s. However, perhaps most notable was her four-year term as West Windsor's mayor, from 1997-2001.[20] In this role, she saw a Township that was increasingly growing and diversifying. Representative of this growth was the construction of many dozens of houses surrounding the old Hooper-Appelget-Carson house, built as part of the "Dutch Neck Estates" and "Waterford Estates" suburban developments of the 1980s and 1990s (respectively).[21],[22] Yet, at the time of this writing (October 2024), the Hooper-Appelget-Carson house still stands, a piece of old West Windsor.

Suburban developments around the homestead, 2002.

Hooper-Appelget-Carson homestead, mid-1900s. From Blanche Appelget.

Bibliography

"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.
Hooper, Catherine, Hooper, Clement, Hooper, Elizabeth, Hooper, Hannah, Hooper, John, Hooper, Martha, Hooper, Peter, Hooper, Thomas. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1819. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 14, Page 368.
Martha Hooper. (1809, February 20). To be Sold at Public Vendue. Trenton Federalist. Trenton.
United States Census, 1850 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1850.
“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
Hooper, Abigail, Hooper, Thomas, Hooper, Thomas B. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1838. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book B, Page 45.
Ibid.
“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
United States Census, 1860 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1860.
Bergen, William G., Hunt, Joseph, Rogers, Eli, Walton, William. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1857. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 36, Page 469.
United States Census, 1860 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1860.
Hawk, Catherine, Hawk, Daniel, Hunt, Joseph. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1888. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 157, Page 301.
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.
Hawk, Catherine, Hawk, Daniel, Hawk, Elston H. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1889. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 167, Page 161.
“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
Appelget, Blanche M., Appelget, George H., Appelget, Jane B., Appelget, Stephen P. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1927. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 628, Page 147.
"Obituary - George H. Appelget." The Trentonian. June 9, 1970.
Appelget, Blanche, Carson, Carole A., Carson, Thomas A. Jr. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1819. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 2073, Page 951.
Ibid.
“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
“West Windsor Aerial Photography Composite Map, 1985.” Map. Historical Society of West Windsor - Map Archives. West Windsor, NJ, 1985.
“West Windsor Aerial Photography Composite Map, 1995.” Map. Historical Society of West Windsor - Map Archives. West Windsor, NJ, 1995.