Vanhiseville Store/Post Office

Vanhiseville Store/Post Office in December 2018.

Historical Overview

Standing at the intersection of North Mill Road and Hendrickson Drive is a large, 2-story house that has clearly been enlarged over time. With an address of 255 Hendrickson Drive, this building is a member of West Windsor's "100 Club" and presumably the structure around which the historic pseudo-hamlet of Vanhiseville developed.

A structure appears here on an 1849 map,[1] but the house may very well be much older. In 1807, William VanHise purchased a four-acre tract from members of the Covenhoven family.[2] Eight years later, he and his wife, Rachel, sold the property to Abraham Vanhise.[3]

Tax ratables show Abraham operating as a merchant as early as 1817.[4] What, exactly, he sold is not known, but dry goods and food are good guesses. In 1851, a post office appeared here as well, presumably in the same building.[5] Abraham was also a West Windsor Township Committeeman in the 1820s and a Commissioner of Taxation Appeal in the 1830s/40s.[6]

Vanhiseville Store/Post Office, mid-late 1800s.

Abraham presumably operated the store until his death in the 1850sor 1860s.[7],[8] His estate was sold in 1867 to James Wyckoff, Sr.[9] It is unknown if James continued the store or if it died with Abraham. However, the Vanhiseville post office, at least, lasted into the 1860s.[10]

In 1893, the property was acquired by Jasper Rogers.[11] A 1907 publication called the Genealogical and Personal Memorial of Mercer County described Jasper as such:

"Jasper Rogers, a successful and well-known farmer who has filled a number of positions of trust and responsibility with fidelity and ability and to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citizens ... his education was acquired at the Parsonage School ... he learned the trade of blacksmithing in Freehold. He is a member of the Penns Neck Baptsit Church ... He is a member of the school board of Mercer County and has served as judge of elections."[12]

​After Jasper's death in 1920,[13] the property ultimately passed to his daughter, Bertha.[14] In 1931, the property was further sold to Francis and Anna Hogarty.[15] Francis was a star Princeton athlete, a Navy veteran, and Princeton University's head proctor for some time.[16],[17]

In 1961, the property further passed to Jack and Jeanne Emerson. Their family is pictured adjacent. The Emersons owned this house until 1983, when it was sold to Bruce and Nancy Guilbault. Bruce was for some time President of West Windsor's Twin "W" First Aid Squad.[18] Nancy was a museum instructor at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.[19]

The property has long since passed to new owners, but even decades later the building remains the heart of old Vanhiseville.

Emerson family in 1962, from the Trenton Sunday Times-Advertiser.

Go To Vanhiseville

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Bibliography

1.  Otley, J W, and James Keily. “Map of Mercer County, New Jersey.” Map. Camden, New Jersey: L. Van der Veer, 1849.
2. Covenhoven, Elizabeth, Covenhoven, George, Covenhoven, Mattie, Vanhise, William. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1808. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 7 Page 544.
3. Vanhise, Abraham, Vanhise, Rachel, Vanhise, William. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1815. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 12 Page 372.
4. ​​“West Windsor Township Tax Ratables, 1817.” West Windsor Township, 1817. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.
5. “New Post Offices.” State Gazette. January 31, 1851. Page 3 of this Trenton-based newspaper. Full text: "New Post Offices have been established at Van Hiseville and Dutch Neck - both in this County. Abraham Van Hise and John S. Robbins are the Postmasters." 
6. ​​“West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
7. “Abraham Van Hise (1773-1858) - Find a Grave...” Find a Grave. Find a Grave, February 26, 2019. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197134165/abraham-van_hise. 
   
8. Perrine, Jacob P., Vanhise, Abraham, Wyckoff, James Sr. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1867. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 68 Page 105.
9. Ibid.
10. Lake, D J, and S N Beers. Map of the Vicinity of Philadelphia and Trenton from Actual  Surveys By D.J. Lake and S. N. Beers. Assisted by F. Beers, L. B. Lake and D. G. Beers. Philadelphia, PA: C.K. Stone and A. Pomeroy, 1860. https://dspace.njstatelib.org/xmlui/handle/10929/34112?show=full.
11. Robins, Liscomb T., Rogers, Jasper, Wyckoff, James Sr. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1893. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 488 Page 244.
12. Lee, Francis Bazley. Genealogical and Personal Memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey. Lewis Publishing Company, 1907
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. Hogarty, Anna E., Hogarty, Francis X., McKenzie, Bertha. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1931. Located in the Mercer County Clerk's Office, Mercer County Deed Book 685 Page 119.
15. Ibid.
16. “Princeton.” Trenton Evening Times, May 21, 1917. 
17. “Clever Sleuthing by Head Proctor Causes Downfall of Campus Thief.” Daily Princetonian, March 13, 1934. 
18. ​“News of Clubs and Organizations.” Town Topics, December 9, 1987. 
19. ​“News of Clubs and Organizations.” Town Topics, May 2, 1984.