Blog 111 ~ Whitenacks and Blacksmiths

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It is interesting to find out when, where, how and why the old houses and businesses of Blawenburg emerged. In this blog, we look at one of Blawenburg’s largest houses, the Whitenack house. We will learn about Thomas and Abraham Whitenack and their ownership of the blacksmith and wheelwright shop across the street from the original building in the village, Blawenburg Tavern.

Georgetown-Franklin Turnpike (red line)

Which Came First, The Road Or The Village?

In the mid-1700s, Blawenburg was just farmland with one ancient Lenni Lenape pathway running through it. A crossroad known as the Great Road had been built in 1744 to connect Blaw’s mill to the old pathway. The Dutch Covenhoven family owned much of the land on both sides of the pathway from the Great Road eastward to where Mountain View Road would later be built.

By 1816, many communities between Georgetown (Lambertville) and Franklin (Kendall Park).saw a need to construct an east/west road between their communities. They called this 20.58-mile roadway Georgetown-Franklin Turnpike. It followed the old pathway through Blawenburg creating a faster way for traffic to get from Philadelphia to New York City and move goods, especially produce, more quickly. This road improvement also led to the development of the Village of Blawenburg.

Griggs Entrepreneurs

The village had likely been called Blaw’s Mill before any houses were built there. By 1815, Catherine Stout Griggs had acquired 100 acres of land from the estate of her mother, Susannah Covenhoven Stout. This land encompassed most of the Covenhoven farm and the land that would become the village. She and her husband, William Griggs, saw an opportunity to build a stagecoach stop and tavern along the improved road. The tavern was the first house and business built in Blawenburg. (See Blog 15 - Blawenburg Tavern)

Seeing empty land near the tavern, Griggs, who was a lawyer, decided to sell off part of the Covenhoven inherited land for houses and businesses. There had long been a request to build a church in the village, so in 1830, land from the Covenhoven estate was sold to create the Second Reformed Dutch Church of Harlingen. Within two years, the new church would separate from its parent church in Harlingen to become the Reformed Dutch Church of Blawenburgh. (See Blog 23, A Church Comes to Blawenburg).

The Whitenacks

Cornelius and Catherine Skillman Whitenack had established a farm south of the Covenhoven farm sometime after their marriage in 1809. They then purchased land closer to the turnpike and sold off five acres to build the new parsonage.

The first pastor, Rev. Henry Heermance was hired, and he needed a parsonage. The church had its eye on property across the street from the new church, which had been purchased by the Whitenack family.

Pastors were held in high regard in the Reformed tradition, so the parsonage was set back from the road in deference to the pastor’s importance in the fledgling village. Thereafter, most other houses built were close to the road. Rev. Heermance left the church in 1835 before the parsonage was completed, so the next pastor, Rev. James Talmage was the first to live there.

Cornelius died in 1834 leaving Catherine and her two sons to figure out what to do with their lives. Following Cornelius’s death, Catherine became known as Widow Whitenack. She decided to sell the remainder of the farm and build a house in the village. She purchased a half-acre lot on the south side of the Georgetown-Franklin Turnpike, west of the new parsonage. There was over an acre of land between her house and the turnpike. Not wanting to upstage the pastor, she built a small house on the back of her lot. At the time, the parsonage was the only neighbor to the east of the Widow Whitenack’s house. There remained over an acre of land in front of her house fronting the road.

A Store Comes To The Village

The next building to be developed was at the corner of Georgetown-Franklin Turnpike and the Great Road. John A. Voorhees, owner of the Maplewood Farm, had purchased the land for later sale. In the mid-1830s, Cornelius Stryker bought the land from Voorhees and built a home on the corner. Sometime before 1850, he attached a general store to his house. This was an important addition the village. Like the Griggs, Stryker had an entrepreneurial spirit. He not only ran the general store and post office, but he was also the local and township tax collector, Commissioner of Deeds, and judge.

The first houses and buildings of Blawenburg

Top L-R

P/Parsonage,

WW/Widow Whitenack,

W/Thomas and Abraham Whitenack,

B/Blacksmith Shop,

St/Stryker

Bottom L-R

Ch/Church, T/Blawenburg Tavern

The Whitenack Blacksmiths

Widow Whitenack’s young adult sons, Thomas and Abraham, lived with her. Thomas purchased the lot in front of his mother’s house, and in 1838 built a blacksmith and wheelwright shop on his property across the street from the tavern.

Only four years later in 1842, Thomas sold his property to his brother, Abraham, for $2200. Like his brother, Abraham’s ownership of the blacksmith shop was short lived. A map from 1860 shows a house on the property owned by Matthias Perrine. It is not clear whether it was the Whitenacks or the Perrines who built the house or when it was built. Perrinne took over the blacksmith shop and continued the business as a wheelwright and carriage business. The Whitenack house still exists today and is one of the largest houses in Blawenburg. Succeeding generations of the Perrine family lived in the house for many years, well into the 20th century.

The 1838 blacksmith shop today west of the Whitenack house

Note the date of 1838 near the top center of the picture.

By 1850, Abraham was selling the blacksmith and wheelwright shop. Vendue is an old word for auction.

Matthias Perrine continued the business as a wheelwright and carriage shop after buying it from Abraham Whitenack.

Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights

Blacksmithing and wheelwrighting were important occupations before the invention of the automobile in the late 19th century. Blacksmiths worked with metal, making horseshoes, tools, and metal machines needed for farming communities.

Wheelwrights worked with wood, making wheels and other parts for wagons and carriages. These were separate skills. Some smiths did both jobs, while others worked together on projects that required both metal and wood.

A modern day wheelwright

After the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century, blacksmiths found new ways to ply their skills. New mechanical machines were being invented. One example is the carding machine, which was used to separate the fibers into single strands of cotton and other fabrics so impurities could be removed before weaving. Other machines like corn shellers, clover machines, and apple graters, were commonly made in blacksmith shops. The ad below shows that Thomas Whitenack was continuing to apply his skills to make machines after he sold his blacksmith shop.

Although hard to read, this 1846 ad shows that Abraham Whitenack teamed up with Charles Hankins to build machines for farm use.

Times Have Changed

Blacksmithing continued in Blawenburg into the early 20th century. As automobiles became more prevalent, the local residents began to use more cars and trucks rather than horses and wagons. Eventually, Georgetown-Franklin Turnpike was paved. This dramatically changed the presence of horses on this main road. Horse prefer dirt roads or tracks to paved roads because dirt absorbs shock and protects their feet better than abrasive surfaces.

Blacksmiths and other metalworkers are still in business today, but their tasks have evolved. Blacksmiths are still needed for the many horses owned by individuals and those operating race tracks today. Wheelwrights still make replicas of old carriages, but this trade is less involved in making primary transportation vehicles than they were in the 19th century.

Even though he no longer operated the blacksmith shop, Thomas Whitenack found a new way to make money. Lever power must have been innovative in 1845.

It is not surprising that the early residents of the village held trades that were needed at the time—stagecoach stop, church, general store, tavern, and blacksmith shop. These occupations were the only ones in Blawenburg except farming for many years. After its initial formation, the village and these trades stood in time until the 20th century. Time seemed to stand still until other businesses were established in and near the village. The development of the State Village for Epileptics created many new jobs at its site just north of Blawenburg beginning in 1898. The only original “business” still in operating today is Blawenburg Reformed Church.

FACTS

1. Smith or smithy is an abbreviated word for blacksmith, an artisan who hammers tools and other items out of hot iron or steel. The term smith is used for other workers who make things. Some examples include a bladesmith, coppersmith, locksmith, and gunsmith.

2. You have heard of a blacksmith, but have you ever heard of a whitesmith? Both work with metals. A blacksmith works with heavy metals while a whitesmith works with lighter metals such as tin.

3. The houses of Widow Whitenack, Thomas and Abraham Whitenack, the Blacksmith Shop, tavern, and church are all still standing, and are on the State and National Registry of Historic Places.

4. One of the most unusual uses of the Blacksmith Shop began in 1890 with the founding of the Blawenburg Band. It started with a small group of local musicians who met in the upstairs of the shop for many years. Like the shop, the band still exists today and with over 80 members is stronger than ever. It has existed for 135 years! Dr. Jerry Rife has been the director for the past 40 years.

SOURCES

Information

Much of the content for this article came from the application for the State and National Register of Historical Places. The late Ursula Brecknell and the many people who provided information to her are credited with creating the successful application to put the village on the registers in 1988. They did a great job of capturing the history of the village.

Ken Chrusz provided the old ads from Princeton newspapers.

Graphics

Georgetown-Franklin Turnpike map - Wikipedia

Blacksmith Shop today – D. Cochran

Blawenburg map – E. Cochran

Vendue – Princeton Whig, 3/2/1850

Matthias F. Perrine – Princeton Standard, 1/25, 1859

Wheelwright – Wikipedia Commons

Farmers Look Here – Princeton Whig, 1/3/1846

Important Discovery – Princeton Whig, 1/31/45

Writer—David Cochran

Editor—Barb Reid