The Perrine-Wyckoff-Holman Residence

The Holman farmhouse in September 2019.

Historical Overview

Situated at 131 South Mill Road is a member of West Windsor's "100 Club" and one of the older properties historic community of Dutch Neck. Containing a main 1800s-era farmhouse and multiple outbuildings that have since been converted into guest suites, garages, or storage space, this is the Perrine-Wyckoff-Holman residence.

Various records suggest that the home was constructed in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, but the two-story ell behind the main block of the house may be older.[1],[2],[3] The residence was likely established by the Perrine family. In 1827, Vincent Perrine purchased a large tract from Christopher and Catherine Vannest.[4] Vincent was a West Windsor Township "Overseer of the Highways" for much of the 1820s-40s.[5] Three years after he died in 1847,[6] the property passed to his son, Elijah V. Perrine.[7] 

Elijah, too, served West Windsor's government in myriad ways. He was its Tax Assessor from 1864-66, on the Township Committee from 1868-70, a Poundkeeper (animal control) from 1868-70, Freeholder from 1870-71, and Inspector of Elections from 1882-89.[8]

​The property remained in Perrine hands for nearly half a century until 1874, when Thomas R. Allen and his wife, Mary, purchased the premises.[9] Eight years later, Jacob R. Wyckoff acquired the property.[10] This became part of Jacob's larger estate, that also included the land on which the 1800s-era pauper's cemetery was established and upon which the Dutch Neck School was constructed in 1917.[11] Jacob himself was a longtime West Windsor Township Committeeman (1883-1916) as well as Judge of Elections (1885-89).[12] ​

Dutch Neck in 1875. Notice "Thos. R. Allen" and his 120 acre farm.

Jacob died in 1927[13] and his wife, Nannie Silver, in 1930.[14] Thereafter their estate passed to their heirs and was sold to the third longtime family in 1936: Charles Holman and his wife, Doris Hand.[15] Charles was a founding member of West Windsor's Zoning Board, serving from its creation in 1944 to 1953.[16] He was also a Township Committeeman from 1968 to 1974,[17] helped lead the nearby West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company for some time,[18] and was President of the Mercer County Board of Agriculture.[19]

At the time he and Doris purchased the estate in 1936, it contained 169 acres of farmland.[20] However, in the mid-1990s, most of the tract (like the rest of West Windsor) was turned into a suburban development called "Hunters Run."[21],[22] The property finally passed out of Holman hands in 1997.[23] Today, the farmland is long gone but the house and outbuildings remain as longtime landmarks of the historic community of Dutch Neck.

The Perrine-Holman-Wyckoff house in December 2018.

The Perrine-Wyckoff-Holman farm in the early 1900s - from the Danser family.

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.
2. Otley, J W, and James Keily. “Map of Mercer County, New Jersey.” Map. Camden, New 
   Jersey: L. Van der Veer, 1849.
3. "Mercer County Historic Sites Survey: West Windsor Township, Mercer County, NJ.” Princeton, 1988. Conducted by Kinsey & Hand Associates. 
4. Perrine, Vincent, Vannest, Catherine, Vannest, Christopher. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1827. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 19 Page 341.
5. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
6. Brainerd Cemetery. Cranbury. Brainerd Cemetery graveyard gravestones, which often list birth dates, death dates, and ages of those buried there.
7. Perrine, Elijah, Riggs, George B., Riggs, Sarah Ann. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1850. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book S Page 259.
8. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
9. Allen, Mary C., Allen, Thomas R., Perrine, Elijah. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1874. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 101 Page 477.
10. Allen, Mary C., Allen, Thomas R., Wyckoff, Jacob R. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1882. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 133 Page 28.
11. Board of Education of the Township of West Windsor, Wyckoff, Jacob R., Wyckoff, Nannie. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1916. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
12. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
13. 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.
14. Ibid.
15. Holman, Charles W., Holman, Doris M., Russell, Alice Wyckoff, Russell, James E., Wyckoff, Eva, Wyckoff, John R. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1936. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 754 Page 165.
16. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
17. Ibid.
18. ​"Dutch Neck.” Essay. In Old Princeton’s Neighbors. Princeton, NJ: Graphic Arts Press , 1939. Written by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project.
19. “Obituaries - Charles W. Holman." Town Topics, March 14, 1990. 
20. Holman, Charles W., Holman, Doris M., Russell, Alice Wyckoff, Russell, James E., Wyckoff, Eva, Wyckoff, John R. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1936. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 754 Page 165.
21. "West Windsor Aerial Photography Composite Map, 1990.” Map. Historical Society of West Windsor - Map Archives. West Windsor, NJ, 1990.
22. "West Windsor Aerial Photography Composite Map, 1995.” Map. Historical Society of West Windsor - Map Archives. West Windsor, NJ, 1995.
23. Holman, Guy, Kleinman, Heidi, Ross, Theodore. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1997. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 3231 Page 213.