Some of the buildings of Washington Well Farm have stood along Route 518 for 275 years, longer than the United States has been free from British control. In this blog, we tell some of its history and recommend other resources to learn more about the storied farm. While we repeat some information reported by others, our intent with this blog is to tell stories that extend the understanding of this historic farm.
Joost Duryee was the original owner of Washington Well Farm. The Duryee family name was alternately spelled Duryea. Both names are used in this blog, and there are both Duryees and Duryeas buried in Blawenburg Cemetery.
In the Beginning
In the mid-1700s, Dutch immigrants established most of the farms in or near Blawenburg. The Washington Well Farm, as it was called after the Revolutionary War, was an exception. Joost Duryee, a French Huguenot descendent, was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York in 1729. He migrated, along with many Dutch immigrants, first to Monmouth County and then to Montgomery Township in Somerset County. In 1750, Joost married a Dutch woman, Maritie Van Liew, in Eatontown, Monmouth County, New Jersey, and then purchased 264.5 acres from land developer and New York merchant, Abraham Van Horne, to build their homestead and farm. Joost was the first Duryee to develop land in the Blawenburg area.
Duryee's property was on the west side of Bedens Brook along the road that would later be named Georgetown-Franklin Turnpike, Route 518 today. He and Maritie raised two boys and three girls on the farm. Maritie preceded him in death in 1761. Joost died in 1794, and both are buried in the family cemetery on the property.
Many generations of Duryeas followed and having families of five children or more was the norm. As the families grew, they added several additions to their house until it reached 15 rooms with seven fireplaces. There were many Duryees and Duryeas living in and around Blawenburg.
Joost Duryee built and lived in the smaller part of the house on the right side of the building above. It was gradually expanded to its present size as shown in this picture from the mid-2000s.
The Duryee homestead included the house, barns, an outhouse building, slave quarters, a family cemetery, and more. As time went on, parts of the farmland were donated and other parts were sold. Today, it is reduced to just eight acres, but most of the original buildings still exist.
The farm remained in the Duryea family until 1943, when it was sold to the Whittier family. Since its sale out of the family, ownership has changed hands at least six times.
A Prominent Duryee
Colonel Henry Duryee was the great grandson of Joost Duryee, and he described himself as an agriculturalist, living and working on the family farm. However, historian James Snell described him differently in 1881. “His educational advantages were only those afforded by the common schools. (Nevertheless), he was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and ability, and he was called upon by citizens of this township to look after their business interests, to write deeds, administer estates, etc.” He was active in Blawenburg Dutch Reformed Church, holding the offices of deacon and elder at various times. Duryee belonged to the Whig party until the Republican Party was established, but he never held political office. He was active in the New Jersey Militia, where he earned the rank of colonel.
Upon his death in 1870, Snell said, “he was honored and lamented by all who knew him.”
How Washington Well Got Its Name
General George Washington spent the winter and spring of 1778 encamped at Valley Forge. By late spring, he made a strategic move. He led his troops into New Jersey, hoping to cut off the British, who were moving north toward New York. One of the major routes at the time was to come across the Delaware River and take the stagecoach road through Hopewell that later became Georgetown–Franklin Turnpike, today known as Route 518.
June 25, 1778, was a very warm day, and a contingent of Washington’s soldiers were very thirsty when they arrived at Joost Duryee’s farm along Bedens Brook. They discovered the well on the south side of the road. The soldiers drank and drank until they drank the well dry, which was said to be a first for that well. The troops continued on to Monmouth County, where they prevailed in the Battle of Monmouth three days later.
From that time forth, even until today, the well is memorialized as Washington Well, and the farm adopted the name of its famous watering hole as Washington Well Farm.
The Slave Quarters
The slave quarters at Washington Well Farm
It is no secret that slavery was condoned and employed by many immigrant landowners in America’s early years. Dutch traders brought boatloads of enslaved Africans to America, and both Dutch and British farms in the Blawenburg area had slaves. Over the years, many original farms tore down their slave houses. Washington Well Farm was an exception. Long after slavery ended, the slave quarters at the farm served as a storage area and was repurposed as a work area for the farm’s various owners. The quarters served as office space and an art studio. In more recent years, it was called a cottage, a name that avoided revealing its original use.
Most recently, the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (SSAAM), which is at the former Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church on Hollow Road, acquired the slave quarters. They removed its modern features, deconstructed it, and stored its parts for later reconstruction. The museum plans to rebuild the quarters to show its original use. This ambitious project is supported by various grants and donations. Contributions to this and other SSAAM projects are always welcomed.
Stuck in the Mud
Travel along Georgetown-Franklin Turnpike wasn’t easy in 1830. It was a stagecoach road that was given the enhancing name of Georgetown-Franklin Turnpike, but it was not without challenges. Blawenburg Church was being constructed in that year, and it required sending workers out in horse drawn wagons to get materials. They found a large, solid tree in a Rocky Hill swamp that could serve as the main beam for the new church. They likely trimmed it and cut it to size in Rocky Hill. Even at its reduced size, it was still very heavy, so this delivery job required a yoke of oxen rather than horses.
Henry Brister, the slave of Judge Voorhees, was dispatched with a team of oxen and a large wagon to mount the timber and bring it back to the church. All was going well until they got to Bedens Brook at Washington Well Farm. The oxen decided to take a break and have a drink of water from the brook. Maybe they had heard about how good the water was from their ancestors who traveled with Washington!
The oxen turned left mid-stream, and the wagon turned right, becoming hopelessly mired in the mud. A passing horseback rider saw the problem and quickly rode to the church to get help to dislodge the wagon. When help arrived, the oxen pulled eastward and the horses westward. Eventually, they got the team on course and successfully completed the journey to the church. The large girder continues to support the historic church today.
The Neighbors’ Dispute
Sometimes neighbors don’t get along well. Such was the case in 1847 when William Duryea of Washington Well Farm and John Voorhees of Maplewood Farm just north on Burnt Hill Road were “at variance”. It seems Duryea owed Voorhees $800, a sizable sum in those days. To express his anger, Voorhees broke down Duryea’s fence and threatened to give him “a devilish thrashing”. He offered to settle it by fighting “with any weapon between a grub hoe and a cannon.”
In those days, the church intervened in conflicts between neighbors, and both men were members of Blawenburg Dutch Reformed Church—Voorhees, a deacon, and Duryea, a member. Initially, the church sent two members to help the men resolve their problem, which was really a property line dispute. When negotiations failed, the Consistory (Board) of the church held a trial, which took up most of their meetings in 1847 and 1848.
The Consistory finally ruled that Duryea should abstain from taking the sacrament of communion. Voorhees voluntarily abstained from church for a while. It is unclear if the neighbors ever mended their fences!
The farmhouse today
Washington Well Farm Is Not So Well
Washington Well Farm is not in good shape at the present time. On September 2, 2021, Hurricane Ida struck New Jersey with a vengeance. It caused 30 deaths across the state, four of them in Montgomery Township. All the area streams flooded, and Bedens Brook, which was only feet away from the Washington Well house, flooded the first floor, rendering the house unlivable. It has been vacant for years, and this once beautiful, historic farmstead is for sale again. It was offered for sale for $1.8 million in 2008, but now it is owned by a bank and is for sale for $404,950. Everyone’s wish is to save Montgomery’s 275-year-old historic treasure and not to see it be demolished.
These tales of Washington Well Farm are just the tip of the iceberg. Over its long history, there were undoubtedly many more stories that involve the old farm and its residents. Unfortunately, they are long gone as the many ancestors who lived there are.
Related Articles
You will find additional information about the slave quarters and sale of the Washington Well Farm in an article written by Richard D. Smith in the February 2025 edition of the Montgomery News, p.16 -17 and online.
Historic Cottage Relocating to Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum
For Sale: Pre-Revolution-Era Dutch Farmhouse
FACTS
1. Although not a part of Blawenburg Village, Washington Well and other surrounding farms such as Maplewood used a Blawenburg address after the village was established circa 1818.
2. Abraham Van Horne owned the Van Horne tract of about 9,000 acres in southern Montgomery Township. Route 206 was named Van Horne Road in recent years.
3. For more information about Maplewood Farm, see Blog 109.
4. Joost’s name in English is George.
5. Bedens Brook goes by many names. It is also known as Beden Brook, Bedens Brook, or Beeden’s Brook. It is a tributary of the Millstone River.
SOURCES
Information
Baker, Walter. Family Burying Grounds, Montgomery Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, 2nd Edition, Belle Mead, NJ, The Van Harlingen Historical Society, Inc., 2008.
Brecknell, Ursula C., Montgomery Township, An Historic Community, 1702-1972, Van Harlingen Historical Society, Montgomery Township, NJ, 2006.
Cochran, David W. Blawenburg Reformed Church, 1832-2007, 175 Years of Faith and Hope. Blawenburg, Blawenburg Reformed Church, 2007.
Montgomery News articles (see citations above in Related Articles)
Snell, James D. History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties. Vol. II. Philadelphia, Everts and Peck, 1886. p.850
Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beden_Brook
Pictures
Map of farm–D. Cochran
Washington Well Farm, 2008–Princeton Real Estate blog
Slave quarters–Shared with me many years ago by the late Tom Skillman.
Henry Duryee–Snell book
House at farm today–Zillow
Ad for house sale-Town Topics, 1976
Writer—David Cochran
Editor—Barb Reid
Researcher—Ken Chrusz
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