Grovers Mill: Vannest-Slayback House

Vannest-Slayback House at 22 Millstone Road - from Jeanette &Ralph Boyer.

Historical Overview

This property at 22 Millstone Road is a contributing element of the historic West Windsor community of Grovers Mill and also a member of West Windsor's "100 Club".  Town records suggest the house may date to the second half of the 1800s.[1],[2],[3]

The first possible homeowner here was a man named Jonathan B. Vannest, who purchased a six-acre tract from Nathaniel Rue in 1846.[4] He may have owned this house for the next 27 years, until he died in 1872.[5] Thereupon the property passed to his wife, Mary Clarkson Snedeker - and his son, Jonathan C. Vannest.[6],[7] Jonathan Jr. served West Windsor as an "Overseer of the Highways" from 1887-1890 and 1899-1904.[8]


In 1878, the property passed out of Vannest hands and to the Slayback family, when Jonathan W. Slayback purchased the same 6-acre tract for $300.[9] Jonathan was at the time a resident of Jersey City[10] (where he was a captain of a ferry boat operating between New York and Jersey City)[11] but moved to West Windsor within a few years of his purchase.[11] He and his wife - Mary McCabe - had eight children.[12]

Jonathan Worts Slayback (1832-1904)

When Jonathan died in 1904,[13] his children inherited the property, after which a series of individuals owned it for the next several decades. This included (from 1957-57) Virginia Luther and her husband, Joseph A. Luther[14] - the latter a founder of the long-gone Lucar Hardware in the historic West Windsor community of Princeton Junction.[15] Joseph was also West Windsor's Building Inspector and Zoning Officer collectively from 1961 to 1970.[16] He and Virginia sold the house at 22 Millstone Road to Leonard and Patricia Golding, who owned the property until 1996.

​Since then, the house has transferred hands several times, but remains a longtime fixture of the historic community of Grovers Mill.

Mary McCabe Slayback (1864-1945)

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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. Does not show a house at 22 Millstone Road.
2. 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. Shows a house at that location, but it's unclear if it's the same structure as what exists in 2023. https://dspace.njstatelib.org/xmlui/handle/10929/34112?show=full. 
3. “West Windsor Township Natural Resource Inventory.” West Windsor Township, NJ: Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum, 1978. Updated in 1991. Claims a construction date of 1900.
4. Rue Nathaniel, Vannest, Jonathan B. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1846. Deed for the property at 22 Millstone Road. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Mercer County Deed Book I Page 162.
5. 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.
6. Slayback, Jonathan, Vannest, Jonathan C. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1878. Deed for the property at 22 Millstone Road. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Mercer County Deed Book 119 Page 197.
7. Slayback, Jonathan, Vannest, Mary C. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1882. Deed for the property at 22 Millstone Road. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Mercer County Deed Book 133 Page 181.
8. “West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.
9. Slayback, Jonathan, Vannest, Jonathan C. “Indenture.” Windsor, 1878. Deed for the property at 22 Millstone Road. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Mercer County Deed Book 119 Page 197.
10. “Capt. John W. Shyback Dead.” Trenton Times, May 17, 1904. Newspaper article title misspells his last name but the content makes it clear it is the same John W. Slayback.
11. West Windsor History Museum - New Jersey State Census - 1885.” West Windsor Township, n.d. Accessed March 26, 2022.
12. “Capt. John W. Shyback Dead.” Trenton Times, May 17, 1904. Newspaper article title misspells his last name but the content makes it clear it is the same John W. Slayback.
13. Ibid.
14. Adams, Genevieve, Adams, Walter, Luther, Joseph, Luther, Virginia. “Deed.” Windsor, 1956. Deed for the property at 22 Millstone Road. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Mercer County Deed Book 912 Page 354.
15. “Opening at Hightstown Road, Princeton Junction Shopping Center.” Town Topics. September 19, 1963. 
16. “West Windsor Township Meeting Minutes, 1797-2012.,” n.d. Original Township Committee meeting minute database located in the Municipal Center.​

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