USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Princeton > Guide to Princeton, the town, the university > Part 2
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Guide to Princeton
Trenton. The ensuing engagement, in which the rest of the British troops coming down the postroad and the main body of the American army under Washington all took part, and in which Washington dis- played not only his personal courage but also his remarkable good fortune in escap- ing injury, resulted in the rout of part of the British forces and the retreat of the rest across country along the general direction of the present turnpike leading into Mercer Street, Princeton, and then not existing, back to the college campus and their post in Nassau Hall where they at length sur- rendered. After destroying such military stores as he could not carry off, Washington hurried on with his prisoners toward King- ston where, instead of going to New Bruns- wick as Cornwallis expected and he himself had probably intended, he turned off to Morristown. On finding his quarry gone from Trenton and hearing the guns at Princeton, Lord Cornwallis had hurried back to save New Brunswick and was only an hour or two behind in pursuit of Washing- ton. Not halting at Princeton he pressed
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on to Kingston, and as soon as the bridge there destroyed by Washington-the pres- ent bridge-had been repaired, continued on to New Brunswick. The American loss in battle was 30 enlisted men killed and 30 wounded, and 8 officers killed. The British left 100 on the field and lost 300 prisoners, of whom 14 were officers.
Quoting General Woodhull: "Princeton was not a great battle from the point of numbers engaged or of casualties suffered. But it was a great battle when its conse- quences are considered ; when the influence of that victory upon the military history of the Revolution is weighed; and especially when one reflects upon the inevitable politi- cal result that would have followed a defeat upon that field."
"The field of Princeton remains practi- cally as it lay under the tread of war. The turnpike, now better known as the Mercer Street extension, has made a comparatively deep cutting diagonally through the first line of battle. The orchard and remnants of its surrounding hedge, standing within rea- sonable memory, have disappeared. William Clarke's simple wooden house, which was crowded with wounded after the combats, has been replaced by a greater one of stone
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[Mercer Manor] on nearly the same spot. A forest that appears to have stood on Thomas Clarke's farm, south of the road, and perhaps have encroached to the east on ground partly cleared before the Revolution, is represented by one or two straggling oaks. Thomas Clarke's house, newly built shortly before the war, consecrated by the sacrifice of Mercer dying within its doors, is substantially unchanged excepting that what was the rear has now been made the front. With these trifling differences the visitor of to-day sees the terrain precisely as it was when Mercer fell, when Haslet and Neil and Fleming, Shippen, Yeates, Morris and Read were killed or mortally wounded; when defeat drew the patriot army backward to the very brink of ruin and Washington's invincible courage and superb self-control neutralized the impend- ing catastrophe, turned disaster into tri- umph, and forever closed the way to mili- tary intrusion."
Going back now to the turnpike crossed by the Quaker Road, turn to the right to- wards Princeton. The turnpike was laid out in. 1807 and runs through the battlefield. It follows in general the direction of an old backroad from Princeton to the Meeting
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House, used in early days by residents of Princeton as a short cut to their place of worship. Mercer Heights (residence of Mr. H. E. Hale) on the immediate right was formerly the Thomas Clarke house to . which, after the battle, General Mercer was carried severely wounded, and where on January 12, 1777, he died. Visitors may see Mercer's room (bloodstains are still shown) as well as several relics of the en- gagement picked up from time to time in the field. A block of granite, with a tablet to Mercer's memory, stands in front of the house, erected by a Princeton volunteer fire organization named after him.
A few yards further on, just before Mercer Manor (estate of Mr. H. B. Ows- ley) is reached a pyramid of shot by the roadside is intended to mark the place where Mercer fell but the actual spot was considerably further down the road, and nearer the Hale house.
The land on the left of the road is part of "Drumthwacket." Nearly opposite the spot now reached is the monument to Brit- ish and American soldiers, already men-
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Guide to Princeton
tioned. The turnpike now passes the end of Lover's Lane on the left. On the right this becomes Olden Lane leading past Maple Hill Farm, the residence of Mr. Walter C. Olden and part of the original William Olden tract, bought in 1696 and embrac- ing the land from Stony Brook to the post- road. At the corner of the turnpike and Olden Lane is Peep-o'-Day, home of the late Lawrence Hutton, the well known dra- matic critic and author, who died here in 1904.
The borough is now entered and the turn- pike becomes Mercer Street. On the left are the woods at the rear of "Guernsey Hall" (entrance marked by the columns and architrave of the original Hall of the Clio- sophic Society on the College campus, re- moved to this site when the present marble hall of the Society was erected in 1893.) The depression in the road is the end of the ravine across which the last phase of the Battle of Princeton was fought. A British regiment left in Nassau Hall formed on the slope of the ravine and endeavored to check the oncoming Americans, but were
a
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The Town
driven back to Nassau Hall over land which now forms the University Golf Links, the grounds of the Princeton Theological Sem- inary, and the northwestern part of the Uni- versity campus.
A glimpse of the Graduate College, with the Cleveland Tower and the Procter Me- morial Hall, is caught across the fields to the right.
Continuing up Mercer Street, the main campus of the Princeton Theological Semi- nary is reached on the right.
The Princeton Theological Seminary is a separate institution from the University, having no corporate relation whatever with the University. It is the oldest and also the largest Presbyterian seminary in the coun- try. An agreement was reached in 18II by a joint committee representing the col- lege and the General Assembly which led to the location of the Seminary at Prince- ton. In 1812 the first professor was elected (the Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander) and in 1813 the Rev. Dr. Samuel Miller was added. Lectures and recitations were held in the professors' houses. In 1815 the cornerstone
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Guide to Princeton
of Alexander Hall (or Old Seminary), the dormitory facing Mercer Street, was laid and in 1817 the building was occupied. It has the distinction of being the first build- ing erected by the Presbyterian Church in the United States for seminary purposes. Originally containing lecture room, refec- tory, oratory, library, and student apart- ments, it is now used solely as a dormitory.
North of Alexander Hall is Miller Chapel, built in 1833, named after Dr. Samuel Miller, and containing several not- able memorials to early professors.
The Gymnasium was erected in 1847 as a refectory.
Hodge Hall, a dormitory in honor of Dr. Charles Hodge, was erected in 1893 from a bequest of Mrs. Robert L. Stuart.
Brown Hall is a third dormitory, its cor- ner stone being laid in 1864 by the Mod- erator of the General Assembly. The build- ing was a gift of Mrs. Isabella Brown of Baltimore.
. Stuart Hall, named in honor of Messrs. Robert L. and Alexander Stuart of New York, contains the seminary lecture and
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class rooms, besides two large auditoriums. It was erected in 1876.
The Reference and Lenox Libraries, both gifts of the Mr. James Lenox of New York, were erected in 1843 and 1879 re- spectively. The two buildings occupy the lot between Mercer Street and Stockton Street. The main collections are located in the Lenox Library, the other building be- ing used as its name indicates. The main library is open seven hours in the day and three hours at night, while the reference li- brary is open every week day, eight hours in the daytime and three hours at night except Saturday night. The combined libraries contain over 106,000 volumes and 35,000 pamphlets, besides other collections.
In addition to the buildings named, there are eight houses on the Seminary campus, belonging to the Seminary and used as pro- fessors' residences. The brick house north of Miller Chapel was occupied first by Dr. Archibald Alexander and subsequently by Dr. Charles Hodge. The corresponding house at the other end of Alexander Hall was occupied by Dr. Samuel Miller, on
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Guide to Princeton
leaving his private residence, now the Nas- sau Club.
Opposite Trinity Church, the street to the right, now Alexander Street, was for- merly called Canal Street and was one of the principal thoroughfares of Princeton, being the direct road to the canal (opened 1834) and to the railroad station, when the main line of the railroad (opened 1839) was on the canal bank. In 1867 the rail- road was straightened, and at Princeton Junction a branch line three miles long con- nected it with Princeton.
The stone building on the left, opposite the head of Alexander Street, on the land of Trinity Church, was built in 1847 for the Law School of the college. On the discon- tinuance of the school the building became the office of the railroad company (owners of the line on the canal) and in 1871 after the lease to the Pennsylvania Railroad, it passed into private owenrship and has since been known as Ivy Hall. It now belongs to Trinity Church.
A little further east on the right hand side of Mercer Street, the house with high
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porch columns is historic although not con- nected with Princeton. It was the Sheldon home at Northampton, Mass., and was brought to Princeton piece by piece in 1868 by the Rev. Dr. George Sheldon.
Next is the Nassau Club. On this site Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, a Princeton lawyer and patriot, had built a handsome residence which was burned to the ground by the Hessians in 1776 during the absence of Mr. Sergeant in Congress. The property came into possession of Mr. Sergeant's son-in-law, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Miller of the Theological Seminary, who erected (about 1813-14) the present building which was enlarged by the Club in 19II. The walls are of stone and more than a foot thick; the old fireplaces, panelled mantel- pieces and other woodwork are still in place; so also is the Dutch oven under the rear porch. Before Mercer Street was opened in 1807 the gardens and orchards of this property extended north to Stockton Street (towards which it will be noticed the house faces), south to Dickinson Street, east to what is now University Place, and
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Guide to Princeton
west to Alexander Street. On this property General Winfield Scott encamped with his troops in 1814 on their way to the front.
The union of Stockton and Mercer Streets has now been reached again and the tour of the "Triangle" completed. At a point between the little park and the corner of Bayard Lane, von Donop, the Hessian com- mander at Princeton in December 1776, had set up earthworks as a defence from possible attack on the post road. A Brit- ish cannon mounted on one of these earth- works was fired, (according to one tradition, by Mary Hays, the "Mollie Pitcher" of Monmouth), at the British columns under Cornwallis approaching from Trenton and Stony Brook in pursuit of Washington after the Battle of Princeton. This temporarily checked the advance, necessitating recon- naissance on the part of the British only to discover that Washington had no intention of defending Princeton, but was hastening away toward Kingston. In spite of discre- pancy in the records there is reason to be- lieve that the Big Cannon on the University campus was the gun here mentioned.
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Continuing along Nassau Street to With- erspoon Street, the large half-timbered building on the left at Baker Street is Upper Pyne, a University dormitory. The elaborate carving is interesting. The text "Nisi Dominus Frustra" (Unless the Lord build the house they labor in vain) is carved . on the main first floor beam, and on the face "Vulnerant of the sundial is the motto: Omnes : Ultima Necat" (Each hour injures ; the last one slays). On the corner opposite the First National Bank is Lower Pyne, an- other University dormitory of similar style. Turning down Witherspoon Street just be- fore reaching the Cemetery the Wiggins House is passed on the right. This was built by Dr. Thomas Wiggins, an 18th cen- tury Princeton physician and treasurer of the college, on what was then his farm of some twenty acres. Dr. Wiggins was a mem- ber of the local Committee of Correspon- dence in 1775 and as such endorsed the dis- patch carried by a rider through Princeton before dawn on April 23, bringing to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia the news of Lexington and Concord. The "Wig-
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gins House" was for some time the parson- age of the First Presbyterian Church.
The Princeton Cemetery has been ex- travagantly called the "Westminster of America." It contains, however, (in the Presidents' Lot) the graves of all the de- ceased presidents of Princeton University, except Presidents Dickinson and Finley, and including Jonathan Edwards, John Wither- spoon and James McCosh. Elsewhere are the graves of an ex-President of the United States (Cleveland), and a Vice-President of the United States (Burr), Justices of the Supreme Court and of New Jersey, mem- bers of the Colonial Assembly and Council, members of the Continental Congress and of the New Jersey Provincial Congress, sev- eral officers of the Revolutionary Army and of the United States Army and Navy, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence (Witherspoon), a Governor of New Jersey, members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, and several of the most famous theologians in American Presbyterian history.
Following Witherspoon Street about a
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mile from Princeton and taking the left fork of the road (the Blawenburg road) we reach Tusculum, the country residence of President Witherspoon, built in 1773 (see date carved in the stone under the eaves). The house was the headquarters of the of- ficers of the 40th British regiment in De- cember 1776. The live-stock was seized, but the house and contents were not much damaged. Washington was not an infre- quent visitor here and the Dutch Minister, Van Berckel, made it his headquarters in 1783, when he came to Princeton to receive audience from Congress. The frame addi- tion to the house is modern but the structure itself has been admirably preserved and is an excellent example of late colonial con- struction. Tradition claims that the ma- hogany doors were imported from England. The interior of the house is interesting. Dr. Witherspoon's study was a small room upstairs. "Tusculum" is now the residence of Dr. M. W. Pardoe of Princeton.
Returning to the corner of Witherspoon and Nassau Streets and following the latter east, on the northwest corner of Nassau
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Street and Vandeventer Avenue is the Bainbridge House (now the Public Li- brary). Built in the 18th century it belonged for over a hundred years to a branch of the Stockton family. It acquired its present name as the birthplace of Commodore Wil- liam Bainbridge of the United States Navy, who was born in 1774, the son of Dr. Ab- salom Bainbridge, a Princeton physician, and who became the celebrated commander of the "Constitution" ("Old Ironsides").
The Beatty House (No. 19 Vandeventer Avenue), the residence of Mr. Oliver H. Hubbard, is historic. As the residence of Colonel Erkuries Beatty, of the Revolution- ary Army, it stood formerly on the south side of Nassau Street opposite the Bain- bridge House from which it was removed about 1875. Colonel Beatty was one of Lafayette's aides at Yorktown, and it is said that Lafayette spent the night in this house in July 1825 on his second visit to Princeton, during his triumphal tour of the country. It was occupied in the middle of the 19th century by a girls' school of more than local reputation. On the corner
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of Vandeventer Avenue opposite the Bain- bridge House is the Methodist Episcopal Church, erected in 1907 in place of the edifice built in 1847.
Across Nassau Street in front of the Chemical Laboratory is one of the stone monuments erected to identify the route taken by Washington to Morristown after the Battle of Princeton.
A block further east is St. Paul's Cath- olic Church, of which the organization dates from 1850, the church and parish buildings being, however, considerable later.
At the corner of Harrison Street (one of the oldest streets in Princeton, appearing on all the early maps of the village, and leading directly to Scudder's or the Aque- duct Mills) was the suburb Queenston, locally known as "Jug Town," on account of a prosperous pottery manufactory formerly located there, but now become a part of the borough of Princeton. The locality had a period of great activity, with a hotel (cor- ner of Nassau and Harrison Streets), a chapel (on Harrison Street), a school, etc., of its own. The long low rambling Red
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Guide to Princeton
House on the left of Nassau Street just before reaching Queenston, on Evelyn Place, was the site of Evelyn College for Wo- men, which had a brief career in the early nineties. The property has now been cut up into building lots.
The large house with the white porch- columns, on the south side of the street just after passing Queenston, was the residence of the late President McCosh, built by him on Prospect Avenue, and moved to the pres- ent site after his death.
On the north side of the street, just be- yond the borough line (Snowden Lane) is the well known Princeton Preparatory School for boys, established in 1873.
Continuing along the road to Kingston, on the south side is a fine old pre-revolution- ary house, Castle Howard, one of the old- est estates in Princeton, having originally been the plantation of a Dr. Greenland be- fore William Penn conveyed land to Stockton and others in 1696 at the other end of the village. The present name dates from an eighteenth century owner, Captain Howard, of the British Army, but who at the
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time of his death in 1776 was a strong sym- pathizer with the colonists. It is said that he painted over his mantel the warning "No Tory talk here," which remained visi- ble many years later. "Castle Howard" is now the residence of Mr. T. A. C. Baker. The scene of one of Dr. van Dyke's stories is laid here.
At Kingston the road to the left leads to Rocky Hill where should be visited Rock- ingham, occupied by General Washington in the summer of 1783 as his headquarters during the session of Congress at Princeton. The property is now owned and maintained by The Washington Headquarters Associa- tion of Rocky Hill and is full of interesting relics chiefly relating to Washington. It is open to the public on payment of a fee of 25 cents. In the "Blue Room" at "Rocking- ham," Washington wrote in October 1783 his "Farewell Orders" to the American Army. The property was rented for his occupancy from the widow of Judge John Berrien of Princeton, a trustee of the col- lege. It passed from her into various hands until it finally became the tenement of Ital-
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Guide to Princeton
ian quarrymen. It was then recovered through the patriotic energy of Miss Kate E. McFarlane of Rocky Hill and the gen- erosity of Mrs. Josephine Thomson Swann of Princeton, the donor of Thomson Hall, already noticed. In spite of the general de- lapidation of the building during its use as a tenement, the Italian occupants kept the Blue Room closed and in perfect con- dition, treating it as a sanctuary in memory of its historic association with Washington. The house was built in 1734 and in 1783 the farm consisted of over 300 acres.
During Washington's occupancy, "Rock- ingham' 'became a rendezvous for visitors. Among these, Thomas Paine was a specially invited guest. On the Millstone River at the foot of Rocky Hill, Paine and Washing- ton tested the local tradition that the river could be set on fire, by stirring up the mud of the bottom and lighting the marsh gas thus released. One of the most important state dinners given by Washington while at "Rockingham" was in honor of the Dutch Minister Van Berckel and the members of Congress. During Washington's stay, his
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famous bodyguard encamped on the lawn in front of the house.
The Aqueduct Mills on the Millstone (via Harrison Street and across Lake Car- negie) were located at the union of Stony Brook and the Millstone. In the Revolution it was known as Scudder's Mills, being owned by Colonel Nathaniel Scudder of the American Army. British troops were quar- tered at the mills during the occupation of Princeton by the British in 1776. The prop- erty was destroyed in December of that year, but at once rebuilt.
On the south side of Lake Carnegie is Saint Joseph's College, the preparatory de- partment of Saint Vincent's Seminary at Germantown. These two institutions edu- cate young men for the Roman Catholic priesthood in the religious community called Congregation of the Mission, founded by Saint Vincent de Paul in 1617 in Paris, and introduced into the United States in 1817.
On this side of the Lake is also the De- partment of Animal Pathology of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re- search. Here, in addition to the research
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Guide to Princeton
work of this Department carried on in the laboratory building, serum horses and other animals of the Institute are cared for in spe- cially designed buildings, and may be kept isolated for the study of infectious diseases, the prevention of which constitutes the pur- pose of the Foundation.
In an additional building, erected in 1917, the production of curative sera was carried on to meet the urgent requirements of the war.
The village of Lawrenceville, five miles from Princeton on the road to Trenton (either of the trolley lines or by Stockton Street and its continuation) was settled at about the same time as Princeton, its orig- inal name being Maidenhead. Being on the postroad to Trenton and Philadelphia its name appears frequently in the records.
It is the seat of Lawrenceville School whose history runs back to 1810. The School is planned on the "house system" by which the boys live in masters' houses of which there are twelve or more. The mem- bers of the Fifth or highest form live in a dormitory known as "Upper House" and in
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preparation for their university life have at least one year of wider personal liberty and responsibility than is possible in the masters' houses. To see the grounds and admirably complete equipment of the school, visitors should ask for guides at the Head- master's House.
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Guide to Princeton
Walks
I. Stockton Street, to Elm Street, to the Rosedale Road, to the two bridges, along right bank of Stony Brook downstream to site of Bruere's mill at the bridge, back by the old postroad. About 4 miles.
2. Elm Road on east side of Brokaw Field through Potter's Woods to Lake Carnegie, along the shore of the Lake to Washington Road and thence to McCosh Walk and the campus. About 2 miles.
3. Bayard Lane to Pretty Brook road and back by Province Line Road. Four miles.
4. Bayard Lane or Elm Street to Cedar Grove and back by Blawenburg Road. Five miles.
5. Nassau Street to Kingston, crossing head of lake Carnegie, following road along the lakeside to Washington Road extension back to Princeton. Six miles.
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The University
The University
Founded as the College of New Jersey (charter granted October 22, 1746, by Acting Governor John Hamilton), the college was opened at Elizabeth, N. J., in the spring of 1747. It owes its origin to the energy and persistence of members of the Synod of New York. On securing a charter they as- sociated with themselves the leaders of the famous Log College at Neshaminy (founded in 1726) which had recently been discon- tinued. On the death of the first presi- dent, Jonathan Dickinson, the college was moved to Newark, N. J., where in Novem- ber 1748 the first Commencement was held. A new charter was granted by Governor Jonathan Belcher in the same year. Prop- erty was acquired at Princeton in 1753 and the corner-stone of the first building, Nas- sau Hall, was laid in September 1754. The College was moved to Princeton in Novem-
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Guide to Princeton
ber 1756. The title "Princeton University" was assumed in October 1896 at the Sesqui- cennial Celebration of the founding. The presidents of Princeton have been (1) Jonathan Dickinson, 1747-1747, (2) Aaron Burr, 1748-1757, (3) Jonathan Edwards, 1757-1758, (4) Samuel Davies, 1759-1761, (5) Samuel Finley, 1761-1766, (6) John Witherspoon, 1768-1794, (7) Samuel Stan- hope Smith, 1795-1812, (8) Ashbel Green, 1812-1822, (9) James Carnahan, 1823-1854, (10) John Maclean, 1854-1868, (II) James McCosh, 1868-1888, (12) Francis Landey Patton, 1888-1902, (13) Woodrow Wilson, 1902-1910, (14) John Grier Hibben, 1912 to date.
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