The Post-Long House
Historical Overview
Standing at 416 Village Road East, near the heart of the historic community of Dutch Neck, is a 2-story, 2-bay house with a colonial revival porch and Victorian era roof brackets. This house - hereafter called the "Post-Long House" - is a contributing structure to the Dutch Neck community and a member of West Windsor's "100 Club."
Township tax records claim this house was constructed in 1870.[1] However, past owners have asserted a much older date, contending that there was a structure here in the mid-1750s, perhaps destroyed by fire. According to these claims, between 1765 and 1770, the present house, consisting of a living room and loft, were moved onto the existing foundation from the property two houses west of the Dutch Neck School. At the time the roof was reputedly raised to make a bedroom upstairs (the original slate roof may still be in place beneath the shingles), the dining room and its second story added in the mid-late 1800s, the kitchen added around the 1920s, and the back porch constructed more recently.[2] |
The truth of all of these claims remains uncorroborated. However, a structure does seem to appear on this site in maps dating back to at least 1849 (the oldest maps that show the Dutch Neck area that the Historical Society has at the time of this writing, September 2024).[3] Moreover, pictures from 2019/20 reveal that the basement beams are hand-hewn and still have bark on them - typical of much-older properties.[4] The house also features pumpkin pine floors, low ceilings, a coal-burning furnace (circa 1910) in the basement, and hand-hewn beams in the living room as well.[5]
The Post-Long property was once part of a larger 2-acre tract containing all of the nearby even-numbered houses along Village Road East.[6] For a history of this joint property prior to 1854, read the history of the nearby Dutch Neck general store/post office (420 Village Road East) by clicking here. That year, John and Angeline Robbins sold a 1-acre portion, containing 412A, 414, and 416 Village Road East to Abraham Vanhise (of Vanhiseville) and his wife, Elizabeth.[7] The couple presumably lived somewhere on the 1-acre tract for the next fifteen years. In 1869, they sold the property to Samuel and Lydia Ayers.[8] Samuel served the township as an Overseer of the Highways for most years between 1873 and 1895.[9] In 1882, he and Lydia sold the tract - by that point encompassing only the Post-Long parcel, as the rest of the property (now 412A and 414 Village Road East) had already been split off.[10] Between 1882 and 1889, the Post-Long property changed hands a few times,[11],[12] ending with William G. Bergen in 1889.[13] William was active in West Windsor's government from the 1840s-80s: as Constable, Poundkeeper (animal control), Tax Assessor, Township Committeeman, Tax Collector, and Overseer of the Poor.[14] |
The lineage of ownership for the few decades following the year 1889 remains unclear. However, what is known is that in 1912, Isaac Mather and his wife, Hattie Smith, purchased the property.[15] Isaac was one of West Windsor's Commissioners of (Taxation) Appeal from the 1896 until 1909, when the office dissolved after 112 years of existence.[16]
The house briefly passed to Clark and Emma Hutchinson in 1918, but two years later was acquired by Sarah and Mary Post. They were part of the Post family, who were longtime owners of the farm at 18 North Post Road.[17],[18] Sarah and Mary collectively owned 416 Village Road East until 1931, when it passed to Russell Post (presumably Mary's son). Russell served with the Army in France during World War I. He was also an employee of RCA Laboratories in Penns Neck, a county YMCA director for 30 years, a member of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company nearby for 40 years, and a very active member of the nearby Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church.[19] He was also Dutch Neck's unofficial historian, helping to compile a history of the community.[20] In 1945, the Post-Long house passed to its second titular owners: John and Anna Long, husband and wife.[21] John was a former superintendent in charge of the Princeton University Chapel.[22] In 1972, the property changed hands several times, ending up in the hands of Thomas and Carole Carson that same year.[23],[24] Carole was West Windsor's Mayor (and its second female one) from 1997-2001.[25] After the Carsons sold the house in 1978,[26] it passed through several more owners:
The property remains an indelible part of Dutch Neck, as it has for generations. |
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.
- Freedman, Cynthia, and Robert Freedman. “416 Village Road East - 18th Century.” West Windsor, NJ: Historical Society of West Windsor's Archives at the West Windsor History Museum, n.d. Date unknown. Tour organized by the Historical Society in 1985.
- Otley, J W, and James Keily. “Map of Mercer County, New Jersey.” Map. Camden, New Jersey: L. Van der Veer, 1849.
- DePasquale, Maria. 416 Village Rd E. Photograph. Redfin. West Windsor: Redfin. Accessed February 16, 2023. https://www.redfin.com/NJ/Princeton-Junction/416-Village-Rd-E-08550/home/36727042. Photograph of basement for 416 Village Road East found on Redfin. Listed by Maria DePasquale, broker with Weidel Realtors-Princeton. Listed in 2019 or 2020.
- Freedman, Cynthia, and Robert Freedman. “416 Village Road East - 18th Century.” West Windsor, NJ: Historical Society of West Windsor's Archives at the West Windsor History Museum, n.d. Date unknown. Tour organized by the Historical Society in 1985.
- Mount, Joseph, Voorhies, Elijah, Voorhies, Sarah. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1819. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 13 Page 610.
- Robbins, Angeline, Robbins, Jonathan D., Vanhise, Abraham, Vanhise, Eliza. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1854. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 36 Page 442.
- Ayers, Lydia A., Ayers, Samuel H., Vanhise, Abraham, Vanhise, Eliza. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1869. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 78 Page 245.
- "West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
- Ayers, Lydia A., Ayers, Samuel H., Updike, Levi. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1882. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 130 Page 598.
- Ibid.
- Davis, Euphema, Updike, Levi. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1882. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 134 Page 19.
- Bergen, George G., Davis, Euphema. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1889. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 165 Page 250.
- "West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
- Konover, Harry, Mather, Isaac, Smith, Hattie. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1912. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 345 Page 29.
- "West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
- Baker, B., Baker, E., Post, W., & Post, M. "Indenture." West Windsor, 1801. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 4 Page 283.
- Post, E., Post, M., Post, S., Woolsey, C., Woolsey, H. B. "Indenture." West Windsor, 1895. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 204 Page 65.
- “Obituaries: Russell B. Post.” Town Topics, April 8, 1971.
- Sesquicentennial History: 1816-1966. West Windsor, New Jersey: First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, 1966.
- Long, Anna, Long, John, Post, Russell. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1945. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 894 Page 189.
- “Obituaries: John Long.” Town Topics, September 7, 1972
- Long, Anna, O'Sullivan, Donald, O'Sullivan, Lillian. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1972. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 1922 Page 386.
- Carson, Carole Anne, Carson, Thomas A., Donald, O'Sullivan, Lillian. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1972. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 1927 Page 239.
- "West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
- Carson, Carole Anne, Carson, Thomas A., Woodrow, Richard H. B. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1978. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 2076 Page 418.
- Ibid.
- Freedman, Cynthia M., Freedman, Robert H., Woodrow, Richard H. B. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1984. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 2256 Page 893.
- Ibid.
- Chasko, Lesley, Chasko, Neil J., Freedman, Robert H. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1994. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 2881 Page 57.
- Ibid.
- Chasko, Lesley, Chasko, Neil J., Froehlich, Denise. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1996. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 3094 Page 323.
- Ibid.
- Clark, Linda E., Froehlich, Denise. “Deed.” West Windsor, 2000. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 3764 Page 1.
- Ibid.
- Clark, Linda E., Swaney, William R., Tsai, Hui-min. “Deed.” West Windsor, 2003. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 4600 Page 70.
- Ibid.