UNDATED ENGRAVING OF THE ANDERSON HOMESTEAD

Hamilton has some very interesting local history sites that are relatively unknown. Beside the Fashion Stud Farm which was once located in the area of today's Grounds for Sculpture, the Anderson Farm was a HUGE piece of property which extended from the township line at So. Logan Avenue, nearly all the way to the Greenwood Cemetery area along today's Greenwood Avenue. The Bromley section of Hamilton was also the location of the old Rothschild factory which later became the Straus. Woolen Mills. The building was last used as a manufacturing facility when Atlantic Products took over the plant in the 1930's. 

Unfortunately, the only know photo of the old Anderson mansion is from this old offset news photo.

HAMILTON'S OLD "ANDERSON FARM" A COLONIAL LANDMARK

I have been researching information on one of the oldest historic families in Hamilton Township. The Anderson family roots go back to the pre-Revolutionary war years when Eliakim Anderson settled in "Nottingham," Burlington County. Today the only reference points available to this very historic discovery is the approximate location. I have been chasing this fascinating family farm for more than 30 years. The above article I wrote a number of years ago tells of Mr. James Anderson's battle with the "Biddle Tracy Gang" who were terrorizing the area back in the early 20th century. My research has revealed the fact that the Anderson Farm was located at the city line on North Logan Avenue, and extended all the way out to the area of Greenwood Cemetery, including all of the area we know of today as Bromley. Unlike the city of Trenton, Hamilton Township has been sadly derelict in preserving local history. Old maps and documents that should have been preserved over the years were discarded and lost for all time. As an example of the dereliction, many years ago, I found that the Hamilton Township Board of Education was getting ready to dispose of extremely valuable correspondence relating to the early history of our Hamilton Township schools with illustrated invoices from the early part of the 20th century. Fortunately, I was able to rescue them, and many of those pages are digitized and included in this web site.

As to the Anderson Farm, I have made it a priority subject to search and will be sure to post any future references to that Colonial farm that once stretched all the way from the Trenton city line, along E. State Street, Bromley and the Greenwood Cemetery area.

1887: THE SUBURBS EXPANDING TO THE EAST OF THE CITY. (ANDERSON'S GROVE)

One of the really great things about historic research is found in some very unexpected places. I have been actively seeking any and all information I can find on Hamilton Township's historic Anderson Farm which went back to Colonial times. Like my search for elusive information on Camp Olden, the Anderson farm has at least given me enough information that I can safely place it just on the township line with the city of Trenton in the areal of today's Woodlawn Avenue and eastward all the way to the Greenwood Cemetery area. Much of today's Bromley is within the boundary of the Anderson Farm. The article above adds a bit more intrigue into this interesting area of Hamilton.

1902: THE BIDDLE TRACY GANG AT THE ANDERSON FARM

I have been on a dedicated search for information on the Anderson Farm for more than 20 years. An article I wrote for the Trenton Times back in the 1980's was found in an old news article in my newspaper collection. That article launched a search for additional information on a heretofore unknown historical treasure that was once a major part of the history of Hamilton Township. Note that I gave an approximate location of the farm as I understood it when I wrote the article, based upon the information in the old news article. I only recently found information that the farm was extensive; encompassing the entire Bromley area between Hamilton and Greenwood Avenues from the city line on South Logan Avenue all the way out to Greenwood Cemetery. The article above, telling of the Biddle Tracy terrorists and how they attacked the Anderson farm was the catalyst for my search; a search that will go on until I can find more definitive history.

NOTE: WHEN YOU CLICK ON THE GRAPHIC, YOU WILL GET THE FIRST ENLARGEMENT. A SECOND CLICK WILL ENLARGE IT FURTHER AND RENDER THE GRAPHIC LEGIBLE.

1911: THE SEARCH FOR ANDERSON FARM

The following post, along with this post tells of the fire the boys at the Hamilton Volunteer Fire company fought on the land owned by the Anderson family. Absent any maps of the area that date back past 1935, I must depend on news accounts such as this to establish historic facts; in this case, referring to the fire on Greenwood Avenue near Norway on the Charles Anderson Farm. To those not familiar with that area, it ultimately became a part of today's Bromley section.

1906: HAMILTON'S HISTORIC ANDERSON FAMILY FARM (BROMLEY)

I am researching the evolution of the neighborhoods in Hamilton Township and in that research I am coming up with very interesting material which points to the true rural character that was once the location of huge farms. Right now I am looking for a very elusive subject: The Anderson Farm, which goes back to Revolutionary War years. I have found that the Anderson Farm homestead was located in the area of today's Atlantic and Greenwood Avenueand that the Anderson Farm extended all the way to Greenwood Cemetery; mute testimony to the size of these local farms. 

vicki said...

I hope you can come up with more information please! This was my Great Grandparents Family. There must be old maps in the survey office maybe?

Monday, April 11, 2011

      vicki said...decendants?

      1860 United States Federal Census about James Anderson
Name: James Anderson ge in 1860: 62
Birth Year: about 1798
Birthplace: New Jersey
Home in 1860: Hamilton, Mercer, New Jersey
Gender: Male
Post Office: Trenton
Household Members:
James Anderson 62
Thirza Anderson 55
Hezekiah A Anderson 35
Matilda Anderson 33
Adaline A Anderson 31
Mary J Anderson 29
Caroline Anderson 26
Aaron Anderson 24
Ellen A Anderson 22
Charles C Anderson 20
George A Anderson 19
Thirza Anderson 17
Louisa R Anderson 13
Phebe C Allen sister of Thirza 52
There were more Anderson's in Hamilton also: Original Farm Sold in 1874 eventually to Greenwood Cemetery Assn.

Hi Vicki: Many thanks for the interesting addition to the Anderson family. My home lies within a city block of where the original Anderson homestead originally stood in the area of Woodlawn Avenue. My research indicates that the farm extended all the way from just over the Trenton border, (today's North and South Logan Avenue) all the way to Greenwood Cemetery; a huge plot of land. As to a map, if you find one, I would love to know about it. I have been searching for years.Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you return often. If I find additional information on the Andersons, I will post it.

Tom Glover