Hutchinson-Tindall Farmstead

Hutchinson-Tindall farmstead viewed from Old Trenton Road, 2022. From Paul Ligeti.

Historical Overview

An expansive farmstead spans several hundred acres off of Old Trenton Road. Centered around a house, barns, silos, and various other outbuildings, this property features a sign out front advertising "Pick Your Own" strawberries. This - the Hutchinson-Tindall farmstead - is one of West Windsor's single largest and oldest farms and a member of the town's "100 Club."

The farm has mid-1700s roots. Jonathan Hutchinson is said to have purchased hundreds of acres here in 1737,[1] after which he and his children built several houses in the area.[2] Although his original tract was subdivided in the same century,[3] a deed from 1810 calls the property of 1201 Old Trenton Road part of the "Old Homestead Farm" and mentions a house already existing on the property.[4] In fact, an older land sale from 1786 also mentions a house existing in the area, although that may alternatively refer to the  Hutchinson-Silvers house at 66 Line Road.[5]

In 1786, William Hutchinson - presumably one of Jonathan's sons - deeded 163 acres to his brother Isaac and his son (Isaac's nephew), Amos Hutchinson.[6] At some point, the property was split, whereafter Isaac obtained the portion of the tract containing the house at 66 Line Road and Amos the farm at 1201 Old Trenton Road.[7],[8],[9] ​Amos held several municipal offices from the 1800-20s, including Overseer of the Highways, Township Committeeman, and Commissioner for Laying Roads.[10] He was also one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church at Hamilton Square[11] and his daughter, "Betsy," was its first burial, in 1786.[12]

Extent of 1810 deed with 2023 aerial imagery.

In 1810, Amos and his wife, Phebe, deeded 58 acres to their son, Elijah, and his wife, Ann.[13] Two years later, the property passed to Elijah's brother, Samuel,[14] and was eventually inherited by Samuel's son, William C. Hutchinson.[15] ​Generations of Hutchinson ownership ended in 1890, when the property was sold to Mary and Amos Waters.[16] The next year it passed to John and Sarah Van Horn,[17] and thirteen years later to its next longtime family - the Tindalls - when Joshua Tindall purchased the property.[18]

Joshua was for some time the director of the Mercer County Board of Agriculture[19] and raised milk cows on the farm.[20] In 1942, the property passed to his son, Harold,[21] who switched over to potato farming.[22] Harold himself was a President of the Mercer County Farm Bureau, master of the Hamilton Grange, and a member of the Milk Producer's Council of Mercer County.[23] He lived there with his wife, Leone, herself also involved in local farming organizations, including the Hamilton Grange and the NJ Farm Bureau.[24] 

​The property has since passed to other owners[25] but remains in Tindall hands,[26] and at the time of this writing (2023) boasts soybeans, corn, hay, straw, and you-pick strawberries.[27] It has been preserved farmland since 2006 under New Jersey's Farmland Preservation Program.[28] This agrarian landscape, the house, and outbuildings remain longtime relics of old agricultural West Windsor.

Sign at farm entrance, 2022. From Paul Ligeti.

Hutchinson-Tindall Farmstead, 2020. From Paul Ligeti.

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Bibliography

1. TBD
2. TBD
3. Hutchinson, Amos, Hutchinson, Elijah, Hutchinson, Isaac, Hutchinson, Phebe. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1810. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 8 Page 365.
4. Hutchinson, Amos, Hutchinson, Isaac, Hutchinson, William. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1786. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 1 Page 140.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Carson, Charles C., Schenck, John C. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1824. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 17 Page 201. This deed is for a large tract including 66 line road and mentions Isaac's previous ownership.
8. "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.​
9. Hutchinson, Amos, Hutchinson, Elijah, Hutchinson, Isaac, Hutchinson, Phebe. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1810. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 8 Page 365.
10. “West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
11. 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.
12. Ibid.​
13. Hutchinson, Amos, Hutchinson, Elijah, Hutchinson, Isaac, Hutchinson, Phebe. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1812. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 1 Page 140.
14. Hutchinson, Ann, Hutchinson, Elijah, Hutchinson, Samuel. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1812. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 9 Page 463.
15. Cubberly, Azariah, Cubberly, Jeanette, Tindall, Lydia T., Tindall, Samuel, Waters, Amos J., Waters, Mary A., Watson, Joseph L., Watson, Kate. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1890. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 175 Page 304.
16. Ibid.
17. Vanhorn, John, Vanhorn, Sarah, Waters, Amos J., Waters, Mary A. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1891. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 177 Page 28.
18. Tindall, Harold S., Vanhorn, John, Vanhorn, Sarah “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1914. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 368 Page 35.
19. "Joshua E. Tindall." Trenton Evening Times. March 6, 1941.
20. “Tindalls Proving to Be in It for Long Haul.” American Farm Publications, April 11, 2017. https://americanfarmpublications.com/tindalls-proving-to-be-in-it-for-long-haul/. ​
21. Tindall, Gertrude et. al., Tindall, Harold S. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1942. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 1833 Page 428.
22. “Tindalls Proving to Be in It for Long Haul.” American Farm Publications, April 11, 2017. https://americanfarmpublications.com/tindalls-proving-to-be-in-it-for-long-haul/. 
23. "Harold S. Tindall Farmer and Official." Trenton Evening Times. April 5, 1971.​
24. "Leone Tindall." The Times (Trenton). July 13, 2012.​
25. “Tindalls Proving to Be in It for Long Haul.” American Farm Publications, April 11, 2017. https://americanfarmpublications.com/tindalls-proving-to-be-in-it-for-long-haul/. 
26. ​Leone E. Tindall Family Limited Partnership, Tindall, Leone. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1997. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 3294 Page 62.
27. “Tindalls Proving to Be in It for Long Haul.” American Farm Publications, April 11, 2017. https://americanfarmpublications.com/tindalls-proving-to-be-in-it-for-long-haul/. ​
28. Ibid.