Updike-Brokaw Farmhouse & Cranbury Golf Course

Updike-Brokaw Farmhouse, December 2018.

Historical Overview

Sprawling across well over a hundred acres at 49 Southfield Road is the 18-hole Cranbury Golf Club. In the center of the carefully landscaped greenery, ponds, and tree-lined avenues are several 20th century barns. They stand next to a much-older, 2.5-story, 3-bay house with shorter 2-story, 4-bay wing. This property is a member of West Windsor’s “100 Club” and the house and barns are the last major remnants of the old Updike-Brokaw homestead and one of several extant local houses with deeply interconnected histories.

The Updike-Brokaw house’s date of construction is unknown. An architectural survey from 1988 posits that it may have been built in the 1830s-40s,[1] but that is perhaps instead the date of a major renovation (instead of the date of construction), for the house's exterior architectural similarity to the 1700s-era Schenck Farmhouse loosely suggests that it may be even older. The home's first known owner was Clement Updike (1761-1838),[2] who, in 1835, sold 150 acres to his son, William C. Updike, for $1,000. The associated deed specifically mentions a house on the property.[3] It's unknown when Clement acquired the property, but a deed for the adjacent Wicoff-Hooper-Grover farm in 1827 mentions his ownership of the Updike-Brokaw property.
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The pioneer ancestor of the Updike family in the New World was Louris Jansen Op Dyck, who emigrated from Holland to present-day New York in 1659. His son, Johannes (1651-1729) accompanied his father during his emigration, later settling in present-day Lawrence Township. Johannes’ grandson, Wilhelmus (1704-1783) – more commonly called “William” – was the pioneer Updike in the West Windsor area, when he purchased several hundred acres in the Dutch Neck area in the 1740s and 1750s. Wilhelmus was Clement’s grandfather.[5],[6],[7]

Sketch of the house's interior. From Mary Alice Britton. Click to enlarge/download.

Clement’s nephew, Levi (1784-1861)[8] was one of the founding members of the historic Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church[9] and one of West Windsor’s early Commissioners of (Taxation) Appeal, from the 1810s-30s.[10] Meanwhile, Clement himself was a Private in the New Jersey Militia during the American Revolution,[11] as was his brother, William (1759-1847).[12],[13]

It’s unknown when or how Clement acquired the Updike-Brokaw tract. It’s likely that he or a relative purchased it directly from the Voorhees family – the land’s original resident owners. Their patriarch, Cornelius Voorhies, had acquired this property in 1741, as part of a much-larger tract of several hundred acres, during the West Windsor area’s first large wave of colonial settlement.[14] This original tract was later divided amongst Cornelius’ children, with possibly two original Voorhees homes still standing at the time of this writing (August 2024): the Schenck Farmstead directly across the street at 50 Southfield Road and the Chamberlin-Priory farmhouse at 105 Southfield Road. In fact, it’s possible that the Updike-Brokaw house was also originally built by a Voorhees family member, predating any ownership by the Updikes.

Approximate extent of the 1835 deed. Click to enlarge.

Clement married Hannah Hendrickson and together they had several children: Mary, Martha, Cornelius, Levi, Ann, and William C. Updike.[15] As mentioned, it was William C. Updike who purchased the property in 1835[16] and presumably lived here with his wife, Rachel,[17] and their children, for fourteen years. However, in 1849, they sold it to John S. Fisher, then-patriarch of the local Fisher family.[18] The Fishers had purchased much of the adjacent Voorhees tract in the late 1700s or early 1800s,[19], and thus, in the mid-1800s, owned three farms side-by-side: the Updike-Brokaw tract, the Schenck Farmstead, and the Fisher House at 1953 Old Trenton Road.

However, perhaps more notable was the fact that the 1830 census listed Jonathan as owning two slaves – one male and one female – at the time that he lived at the Schenck Farmstead.[20],[21],[22] Moreover, the 1860 census identified him as still owning one 76-year-old “slave servant” named Dinah Updike (likely the female slave listed in 1830), who presumably worked and lived in the Updike-Brokaw farmhouse alongside the Fishers.[23] This was fourteen years after New Jersey ostensibly outlawed slavery in 1846.[24] Even though Jonathan’s will, made 1863, listed Dinah as a “servant,” the same document bequeathed Dinah to his wife, Susan, as if Dinah were property.[25] It is unknown if Dinah lived until 1865, but if so, then that would have possibly made her one of the last slaves in the state. To explore more about slavery in West Windsor in general, click here. Dinah may have also been related to Pompey Updike – one of West Windsor’s best-documented early free Black residents, who was buried at an old pauper's cemetery that was later built over by Dutch Neck School (to learn more about this, click here).

Southfield Road, 1849. Note "J. Fisher" (Updike-Brokaw House) and "S. Fisher" (Schenck Farmstead) in particular.

After Jonathan’s death in 1863,[26] the Updike-Brokaw property passed through a few hands that year, ending with Thomas H. Mount in 1863.[27],[28] Ten years later, it was purchased by Thomas Brokaw[29] – himself another one of West Windsor’s Commissioners of (Taxation) Appeal from 1898-1904.[30] The 1900 federal census shows him living here with his wife (Rebecca), daughters (Ida and Anna), and a Boarder named Alfred Stotoff.[31] The Brokaws owned this farm for over half a century, finally selling it in 1925 to Leon and Della Hyland.[32] The Hylands, in turn, farmed the property for many years, until it was left to Doris H. Britton (Della’s daughter), upon Della’s death in 1959.[33] Two years later, it passed to J. Clifford Britton and Genevia Louise Britton.[34]

In 1964, most of the property became the Cranbury Golf Club, built by Gary Rhenn,[35] with all of the old expanses of farmland becoming a manicured green golf course with tree-lined avenues. It remains a well-recognized local recreational venue even to the time of this writing (August 2024). The West Windsor Lions Club has met there monthly for many years, and its dining hall, called “The Bog,” serves a wide and rotating selection of beers.[36]

Yet amid all the change, and the disappearance of the old farmland, the old farmhouse, and the adjacent barns remain a constant reminder of West Windsor's rich history.

Aerial of Cranbury Golf Club, July 2021.

Below is a short video from 1957 showing farming in the West Windsor area. Note the "Leon Hyland" farm, from 0:40 to 1:29!

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Bibliography

1. “Mercer County Historic Sites Survey: West Windsor Township, Mercer County, NJ.” Princeton, 1988. Conducted by Kinsey & Hand Associates.
2. Opdyke, C. W. (1889). The Op Dyck Genealogy, Containing the Opdyck-Opdycke-Opdyke-Updike American Descendants of the Wesel and Holland Families. Printed for Charles W. Opdycke, Leonard E. Opdycke and William S. Opdyke, by Weed, Parsons, & Co. (Albany, NY)
3. Updike, Clement, Updike, William C. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1835. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 28 Page 193.
4. Fisher, John S., Hooper, Thomas. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1827. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 22 Page 714.
5. Opdyke, C. W. (1889). The Op Dyck Genealogy, Containing the Opdyck-Opdycke-Opdyke-Updike American Descendants of the Wesel and Holland Families. Printed for Charles W. Opdycke, Leonard E. Opdycke and William S. Opdyke, by Weed, Parsons, & Co. (Albany, NY)
6. (To be added)
7. (To be added)
8. Opdyke, C. W. (1889). The Op Dyck Genealogy, Containing the Opdyck-Opdycke-Opdyke-Updike American Descendants of the Wesel and Holland Families. Printed for Charles W. Opdycke, Leonard E. Opdycke and William S. Opdyke, by Weed, Parsons, & Co. (Albany, NY)
9. Sesquicentennial History: 1816-1966. West Windsor, New Jersey: First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, 1966.
10. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
11. Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
12. Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
13. Opdyke, C. W. (1889). The Op Dyck Genealogy, Containing the Opdyck-Opdycke-Opdyke-Updike American Descendants of the Wesel and Holland Families. Printed for Charles W. Opdycke, Leonard E. Opdycke and William S. Opdyke, by Weed, Parsons, & Co. (Albany, NY)
14. Lyell, Fenwick, and Cornelius Voorhees. Ms. Deed. New Jersey State Archives, 1741. Found in New Jersey State Archives Manuscript Room - Middlesex County Deeds.
15. Opdyke, C. W. (1889). The Op Dyck Genealogy, Containing the Opdyck-Opdycke-Opdyke-Updike American Descendants of the Wesel and Holland Families. Printed for Charles W. Opdycke, Leonard E. Opdycke and William S. Opdyke, by Weed, Parsons, & Co. (Albany, NY)
16. Updike, Clement, Updike, William C. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1835. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 28 Page 193.
17. Opdyke, C. W. (1889). The Op Dyck Genealogy, Containing the Opdyck-Opdycke-Opdyke-Updike American Descendants of the Wesel and Holland Families. Printed for Charles W. Opdycke, Leonard E. Opdycke and William S. Opdyke, by Weed, Parsons, & Co. (Albany, NY)
18. Fisher, John S., Updike, Rachel, Updike, William Clement. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1849. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book P Page 563.
19. Covenhoven, Ann, Covenhoven, Jonathan P., Fisher, Jonathan S., Fisher, Hannah, Fisher, Susan, Fisher, William, Hunt, Gitty, Hunt, Peter W. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1803. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 13 Page 88.
20. United States Census, 1830 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1830.
21. Covenhoven, Ann, Covenhoven, Jonathan P., Fisher, Jonathan S., Fisher, Hannah, Fisher, Susan, Fisher, William, Hunt, Gitty, Hunt, Peter W. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1803. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 13 Page 88.
22. Fisher, John S., Updike, Rachel, Updike, William Clement. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1849. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book P Page 563.
23. United States Census, 1860 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1860.
24. J. Gigantino James II. The Ragged Road to Abolition Slavery and Freedom in New Jersey, 1775-1865. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc, 2014.
25. Fisher, John S, and James H Scudder. “Will of John S. Fisher,” May 8, 1863. Mercer County Wills, 1838-1913 - Volume D, Page 65-67. Found on Familysearch.org.
26. Hightstown Cedar Hill Cemetery. (n.d.). Hightstown Cedar Hill Cemetery. Hightstown, NJ. Hightstown Cedar Hill Cemetery gravestones, which often list birth dates, death dates, and ages of those buried there - including those of many of Mercer County's oldest families.
27. Fisher, John C., Fisher, Robert L., Fisher, Samuel, Mount, Thomas, Young, George. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1863. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 56 Page 554.
28. Mount, Thomas H., Young, George. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1863. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 56 Page 561.
29. Brokaw, Thomas D., Mount, Thomas H. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1873. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 97 Page 277.
30. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
31. United States Census, 1900 - West Windsor Township.” West Windsor Township, 1900.
32. Brokaw, Thomas D., Hyland, Della U., Hyland, Leon R. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1925. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 554 Page 501.
33. Britton, Genevia Louise, Britton, J. Clifford, Cranbury Golf Club. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1964. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 1746 Page 609.
34. "Cranbury Club to Open." Town Topics. April 9, 1964.
35. Personal observations of the author of this article - Paul Ligeti, President of the Historical Society of West Windsor at the time of this writing (August 2024).