The People of Turtle Island

​Humans first reached the east coast of North America around 12,000 years ago. Their descendants who lived in what became New Jersey were the Lenni-Lenape. Lenni-Lenape translates to "we, the people," The land on which the Trent House was built is part of the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape, called “Lenapehoking.”

​Indigenous people in New Jersey began to garden about 900 CE (Common Era). They grew corn, beans, squash, and harvested wild berries and fruits. The Lenape had knowledge of healing plants and used them to treat ailments. They hunted and fished, as well.

​The Lenape society was matrilineal. Lineage was traced through the mother's side and clan affiliation was determined by the mother. When they got married, Lenape were expected to marry outside of their clan, and husbands lived with their wives' families. Lenape lived in small villages organized by clan and lived communally in wooden longhouses.​
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Researched and narrated by Dr. Karelle Hall, a member of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe of Delaware, this Trent House video, "Lenape Relationship with the Natural World," explores relationships within the Lenape tribal nations, as well as with the natural world, and the Lenape's steadfast role as stewards of the Earth. ​

Made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH), a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this video do not necessarily represent those of the NEH or NJCH.

Based on European accounts, the Lenape were tall and healthy. They often adorned themselves with body paint and tattoos. They wore clothes made out of skin and fur.

The spiritual beliefs of ancient Lenape cannot be completely verified. According to oral tradition passed down through many generations, they believed that the world was made by a creator and that everything in creation had a spirit--good or bad. Like some other indigenous American groups, their creation story was that the land they lived on was created on the back of a turtle in the midst of the sea, given the name “Turtle Island.”

RESOURCES:

The Lenape: Archaeology, History, and Ethnography (1986) by Herbert C. Kraft
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Lenape Country: Delaware Valley Society Before William Penn ( 2016) by Jean R. Soderlund

Contact With Early Colonists

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European fur traders encountered Native Americans in New Jersey around the year 1600. Archaeological evidence and written history show that the two groups of people exchanged goods. Native Americans traded pelts and other goods for European objects such as glass beads, metal tools, and alcohol.


Copper ornaments and a glass bead were found during archaeological excavations conducted by Hunter Research on the Trent House property. They suggest that Europeans and Lenape may have engaged in trade here. 

Made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH), a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this video do not necessarily represent those of the NEH or NJCH.

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Later Europeans came with the goal of creating permanent settlements. The first colonists were the Dutch, followed by Swedes and Finns, then the Germans and English. Sometimes, the colonists purchased land from Native Americans, though they paid small amounts of European money or objects. These "purchases" disregarded the fact that the Lenape believed all land belonged to all people and living things. The Lenape believed these purchases were agreements to share the land with the Europeans.

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Researched and narrated by Brianna Dagastino, a member of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation, Trent House's production of "Native American Government & Sovereignty" describes traditional Lenape governance, the influence of those practices on the basic principles of the Constitution, and the ongoing struggle for justice and recognition of the Lenape in New Jersey today.

RESOURCE:

Separate Paths: Lenapes and Colonists in West New Jersey (2022) by Jean R. Soderlund

Dispossession and Diaspora 

By the early 1700s, some Lenape were being pressured to leave the colony of New Jersey to find new homes in the west while others assimilated into European culture. Those that stayed in New Jersey resented the colonization of their homeland and raided European settlements during the French and Indian War (1754-1763).

​William Trent, the youngest son of the founder of Trenton, organized a militia to defend British interests in the northwest territory known as the Ohio country. Accounts of his interactions with the native people of the area are included in two books by Jason Cherry, “Pittsburgh’s Lost Outpost: Captain Trent’s Fort” (2016) and “William Trent: Factor of Ambition” (2024),
from his role in giving them blankets from smallpox victims during the French and Indian War to his reputation for effective communication in his “frame of speech to the Indians, in their style.”

In 1756, a colonial commission on Indian affairs was created with the goal of resolving conflicts. In 1758, a peace conference was held and some Lenape were paid for their land while even more Lenape groups made the difficult choice to leave their homes to go westward.

​The colonial New Jersey government also created the first Indian reservation in 1758. Some of the Lenape were relocated to the Brotherton reservation, located in what is now Indian Mills in Burlington County, New Jersey. The reservation failed as the land was not productive and the Lenape continued to be harassed by colonists.

Tribal Nations Today

Some Lenape people remain in their ancestral lands today. Those who left New Jersey had to move again as white settlers expanded westward. Regardless of where they originated or finally settled, Native Americans across the country continued to be oppressed by colonial and then federal expansion and only gained citizenship in 1924.

In 1982, the New Jersey government acknowledged the Powhatan Renape, Ramapough Lenape, and Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribes. Subsequently, state recognition was dropped during the Christie administration. In 2017, the Nanticoke sued the state to regain their recognition. In 2018 and 2019, the NJ state Attorney General officially recognized the existence of the Ramapough Lenape, Powhatan Renape, and Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape nations. This state recognition qualifies the tribes for all state benefits and rights.​

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This video, researched and narrated by Brianna Dagostino and produced by the Trent House Association, includes interviews with some of New Jersey's Lenape residents who fought for state recognition. 

Made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH), a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this video do not necessarily represent those of the NEH or NJCH.

RESOURCE:

An Indigenous People's History of the United States (2015) by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

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Mahlon Stacy

The first European colonist in the area was Mahlon Stacy, a Quaker immigrant from England. He purchased about 3,500 acres in West Jersey. This purchase is described in detail in an indenture or contract prepared in 1677 while Stacy was still in England, giving his brother Robert rights to a portion of this property. 

The Trent House Association and the Trenton Historical Society jointly purchased this indenture, which is currently on display in the Trent House Visitor Center. 

​A transcription of the text of the indenture is available to view or download by clicking on the image to the right.

After sailing to Burlington in 1679, Stacy and his family settled at the Falls of Delaware near present-day Trenton circa 1680. He built a grist mill on Assunpink Creek. At his death in 1704, Stacy’s will left his plantation Ballifield, along with the mill and other buildings, lands and meadows, to his only son Mahlon. Although a Quaker, Stacy had enslaved people and his probate inventory listed “four Negroes.”

After sailing to Burlington in 1679, Stacy and his family settled at the Falls of Delaware near present-day Trenton circa 1680. He built a grist mill on Assunpink Creek. At his death in 1704, Stacy’s will left his plantation Ballifield, along with the mill and other buildings, lands and meadows, to his only son Mahlon. Although a Quaker, Stacy had enslaved people and his probate inventory listed “four Negroes.”

More information on Quakers in New Jersey and Mahlon Stacy is available in a presentation prepared by Shawn Carney, Museum Administrator, in 2019. Click on the image to the left to view or download.

William Trent of Philadelphia

Trent's Scottish Heritage

William Trent (–1677) was a merchant and entrepreneur based in the port of Inverness in the 1600s, coming to prominence during its occupation by Cromwell’s army. In 1622, he married Issobell Stewart, daughter of a prominent Inverness merchant. They had seven children, one of whom was William, the founder of the City of Trenton, although his date of birth is uncertain. Some sources indicate that he was born about 1653-1655 in the Scottish Highlands; others attribute the date of his birth to 1666 when he was baptized at South Leith in southeast Scotland. 

​In 2023 Dr. Jim Mackay, chairperson of Kirkmichael in Scotland, shared his research on the life and times of Inverness merchant William Trent, the father of Trenton's founder.

​Additional details can be found in Dr. Mackay's extensive paper, "The Life and Times of William Trent, Merchant of Inverness, and his Family including son William Trent, founder of the City of Trenton, Capital of New Jersey, and brother Maurice Trent, Merchant of Leith." More information is available here.

Trent as a Man of Business and Politics

Exactly when Trent emigrated to the American colonies is also unknown. Based on Philadelphia tax rolls in 1693, we know that he had followed his brother James to the American Colonies. 

William Trent became a very successful and wealthy merchant in Philadelphia, trading with Great Britain and the English colonies on the mainland and in the West Indies. At one time he owned an interest in over forty ships, exporting such products as tobacco, flour, and furs, while importing wine, rum, molasses, and dry goods. He also bought and sold enslaved people, as described in more detail in the next section.

While a resident of the New Jersey colony, Trent was elected to the Assembly, commissioned a colonel in one of the militia regiments, and in 1723 became New Jersey’s first resident Chief Justice.

Trent's Family

In the 1690s Trent married his first wife, Mary Burge, with whom he had three children, James, John, and Maurice. Apparently it was through her family connections that William Trent eventually acquired the land at the Falls of the Delaware River where he would build his country seat. She died, perhaps in childbirth, in 1708, and a contemporary noted in a letter to William Penn that Trent was greatly affected by her death.

In 1710 Trent, when he was around 50 years of age, married his second wife, Mary Coddington, who was in her late teens at the time of her marriage. Born into a wealthy family and well connected Quaker family, she was the stepdaughter of Anthony Morris, a prosperous Philadelphia brewer and merchant who was a business associate and contemporary of her new husband.


​​This video imagines Mary Coddington Trent, widowed after Trent’s sudden death, reflecting on her life and uncertain future. Worried about her future, this video, first aired on December 20, 2020, shows her explaining her personal history and describing her concerns.

In 1711, Mary Coddington Trent gave birth to a son, Thomas, who died that same year. A surviving son, William, was born in the 1720s, perhaps in the Trent House. The couple and Trent’s children from his previous marriage continued to live in Philadelphia as their primary residence until 1721, when Trent made his plantation on the Falls of the Delaware his permanent home for himself, his second wife, and his youngest son.

Wealth Created from Slavery

Slavery was central to Trent's wealth. Trent was active in the slave trade, buying and selling enslaved people of African descent. We know of thirteen such transactions with other prominent Philadelphia men in just the few years (1703-1708) covered by trade ledgers in the archives of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Trent owned several enterprises on his New Jersey plantation, including a grist mill, saw mill, fulling mill, and bakehouse. These enterprises produced goods for shipment to market in Philadelphia. We know that enslaved workers contributed to Trent's income through their labor in those enterprises. And after his death, Trent's probate inventory listed eleven enslaved people, assessed at almost one-third of the market value of Trent's movable property. 

After Trent's Death

William Trent died unexpectedly on Christmas Day 1724 without leaving a will. His burial place is unknown. 

​Trent’s oldest son, James, became executor of his father's estate, which was complicated by  his heirs from his two marriages, the number of businesses and properties Trent owned, and the debts he owed and monies he was owed. 

A first step in settling the estate was to have a probate inventory conducted, which was substantially completed in April 1726, with an addendum one year later.  ​

​The probate inventory of Trent's estate listed the furnishings of the House as well as other items on the plantation. Included on the inventory was an “Account of Negroes” that included eleven enslaved people – six men (Yaff, Julius, Bossin, Harry, Cupid, and Pedro), one woman (Joan), two boys (Bob and Dick), one girl (Nanny), and one male child (Tom). For more information see the section below.
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To view or download a transcription of Trent's probate inventory, click on the image to the right.

Mary Coddington Trent renounced her role as executor in March of 1725 so she could sue her stepson James for her dower rights. She hired well known Philadelphia attorney John Kinsey to sue for one-third part of the income from four messuages (dwelling houses with considerable land), three grist mills, one saw mill, one fulling mill, one bakehouse, one dye house, one ferry house, half an ironwork, one barn, three gardens, two orchards, thirty acres of meadowland, three hundred acres of pastureland, and two hundred acres of woodland.

Mary won her court case in 1728. Her stepson James and subsequently William Morris, her half-brother, had to pay the mortgage on the estate to her from 1729-1735. This included profits and ownership of the mills and other industries on the property. She sold all rights to most of these properties to George Thomas in 1735. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mary Coddington Trent never remarried, thus retaining control over her property until she died on December 15, 1772, in her 80s. Her death is recorded in the register of Saint Michael’s Church and she is most likely buried in the Hopewell Church Burying Ground on the site of the modern day Trenton Psychiatric Hospital.

In March of 1737, two enslaved African men were arrested in Trenton for "practising poison," citing among their victims William Trent. They were found guilty and hanged. 

It is not known if Trent was actually murdered, or if his sudden death was later used by these men as “proof” of the efficacy of their poison. For more information on this case, the question of whether Trent was poisoned, and the laws under which the men were charged and executed, see

The People Trent Enslaved 

Included on Trent's inventory was an “Account of Negroes” that included eleven enslaved people – six men (Yaff, Julius, Bossin, Harry, Cupid, and Pedro), one woman (Joan), two boys (Bob and Dick), one girl (Nanny), and one male child (Tom). 

Although we do not know the names these eleven people were given at birth, their exact ages, or how they may have been related to each other, information from the inventory gives us clues about their skills, jobs, and responsibilities. 

For example, we believe that the first group of six individuals - the only mixed age and gender group - lived and worked in the house, while the other five adult men worked elsewhere on the plantation, in Trent's mills and other businesses or on the farms.

As the only adult man in the first group, we believe that Yaff or Yaft served as Trent's butler and manservant or valet. This was a position of considerable responsibility; Trent must have trusted Yaff with the day-to-day running of the household and supervision of the other servants as well as the intimate tasks of dressing and shaving him.

Joan and Nanny are the only two females and were given high values in the inventory by the assessors. We interpret Joan as the cook for the Trent Household, capable of preparing elaborate meals using the many kitchen tools and equipment listed on the inventory. Nanny may have been Mary Trent's maid and caregiver for young William, Trent's youngest son.

Mr. Porterfield appears to have been the miller and while we do not have concrete evidence, it is likely that one of the other adult men listed on the probate inventory might have worked in the grist mill, as illustrated in this video.

From a letter written by Trent to his eldest son James, we believe that Harry may have been a skilled baker as well as perhaps a good manager, as Trent expected him to be able to ensure that bread was baked for shipment to Philadelphia.

This video,"George Washington's Grist Mill," was edited with the express permission of the History Channel, incorporating information about Trent's grist mill. 

Advertisements for the capture and return of people who sought freedom by running away from their enslavers are a valuable source for learning more about people who were considered property, as they often contained detailed information about individuals.  After Trent's estate was finally settled in 1728, Yaff was either sold or given in lieu of repayment of debts to James Alexander of New York, who was also an executor of the estate. In June 1729 Alexander had an ad placed in the New York Gazette, seeking the return of Yaff who had escaped.  From this ad we learn some things about Yaff - his age, his history in enslavement, his literacy skills unusual for anyone except the elite of the times, and of course his desire for freedom and courage to seek it.

Major William Trent

Major William Trent, Trent’s youngest son by his marriage to Mary Coddington, led a fascinating life. He was a fur trader, military leader, and land speculator on the colonial frontier. 

William was still a child when his father died suddenly on Christmas Day 1724. After an apprenticeship in Philadelphia, Trent followed in his father’s footsteps as a man of business, trading with Native Americans for furs. But unlike his father he was also a military man, being commissioned by the royal governor of Virginia to assemble a force to defend British trading interests against French competition in Ohio territory. He, along with young Colonel George Washington, was sent by the Royal Governor of Virginia to establish a fort at the Forks of the Ohio River near what is now Pittsburgh to defend English control of the frontier from the French.

The Trent House is honored to own his silk waistcoat, worn at the Court of St. James in 1769, as he sought repayment for losses he and other traders experienced during the French and Indian War. While the waistcoat itself is in storage, visitors to the Museum can see close-up photographs of it on display.

Jason Cherry, a long-time colleague of the Trent House, has written two books about the life of Trent's youngest son, based on extensive research. On Saturday, July 20, 2024, Jason gave a talk on his second book on William Trent, the son of the man who founded Trenton. 

Two earlier talks on William Trent, Jr., were given by Jason on March 13, 2021, and on June 5, 2022 - recordings of both talk are on this website under Videos on the Media page.

Lewis Morris, Royal Governor of New Jersey

Lewis Morris is a common name in New Jersey colonial politicians. The Lewis Morris who leased the Trent House – then known as XXXX – from its owner George Thomas, Governor of the colony of Pennsylvania, was born in 1671. He was active in the political affairs of the colonies of New York and New Jersey from his early 20s, serving in the East Jersey Provincial Council in 1692.

​After Queen Anne established New Jersey as a unified royal colony in 1702, Morris was appointed to the New Jersey Provincial Council. In 1738, New Jersey petitioned the crown for a distinct administration from New York, and Lewis Morris served as Governor of New Jersey until his death in 1746. Morris lived in what was then known as Kingsbury from 1742 and probably died in the house. 

Before moving into Kingsbury, Governor Morris required that a separate kitchen building be constructed adjacent to the house, replacing the first kitchen in the cellar that suffered from dampness and occasionally flooding.  LINK TO SHORT VIDEO OF KITCHEN APPEARING NEXT TO HOUSE

This 1759 advertisement for lease of Kingsbury describes the kitchen building as "a Large Brick Kitchen, 30 Feet by 20, with a Handsome pav'd Gangway between the House and Kitchen, 14 Feet by 20 Long, the Kitchen two Story High, with a Well in it, and Four handsome Appartments for Servants, with a Fire-place in one room, if any of the Servants should be ill."

In 2014 Hunter Research was commissioned by the Trent House Association, with funding from NJM Insurance Group, to conduct a preliminary excavation of the area where the kitchen building had stood. This and later projects successfully uncovered evidence of the building's foundation and other artifacts. 

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House on Both Sides

There is an argument to be made that during the American Revolution the Trent House was owned first by a Loyalist and then by a Patriot. However, while it is clear that the second owner - John Cox - was a declared and ardent advocate for independence from Britain and an active participant in the Revolution, the sympathies and actions of  the first owner - William Bryant - are not as easily proved.

William Bryant

​Doctor William Bryant was a Yale educated physician who traveled to France to study surgery. He visited Surinam, where he recorded his observations of the electrical eel. His paper on the subject was read at the American Philosophical Society and he was made a member.

In 1759, he began service with the British army as a "staff surgeon." He worked in an army hospital in Guadeloupe in the West Indies.

After he retired, Bryant purchased Kingsbury in in 1769 for 2,800 pounds and lived there with his wife and enslaved servants. He continued practicing medicine.

It is difficult to say whether Bryant was a Loyalist or not. In fact, he was in a difficult situation as calls for independence from England increased. If Bryant were to declare himself a Loyalist, he would have his property confiscated by the local Patriot Committee of Safety. If he declared himself a Patriot, he would lose his British army pension.

Dr. William Bryant, who owned and lived in today’s Trent House from 1769 to 1778, is usually identified as a Loyalist. But was he? His story, and the stories of people he knew in Trenton, tell us much about how people in Trenton grappled with difficult decisions about which side to support in the American Revolution and how public and vigorous their support would be.

This recording of a talk by William (Larry) Kidder explored Dr. Bryant’s life and examined the evidence often cited about his political stance. Researching Dr. Bryant’s story illustrates how a “fact” sometimes requires reconsideration and how historians act as “detectives,” sorting through partial and often conflicting evidence to shed new light on a mystery.

John Cox

There is no doubt that John Cox was a Patriot.

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​Born in 1732, Cox was a prominent, wealthy Philadelphia merchant and a declared advocate for independence from England. 

During the years before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War Cox served as a Justice of the Peace for Burlington and Gloucester Counties and was a member of the Committee of Observation for Burlington County, which enforced the boycott of British goods enacted in 1774 by the First Continental Congress. In 1775 he was appointed to the position of Major in the Pennsylvania Associated Militia and became a Lieutenant Colonel in 1776. In late December 1776 and early January 1777 he fought with Washington in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. 

In 1778 Cox purchased Kingsbury from Dr. Bryant and renamed it Bloomsbury. In the same year he was appointed Deputy Quartermaster of the Continental Army under General Nathaniel Greene. 

Cox drew on his skills in business in provisioning the army. Bloomsbury became a supply depot for the Continental Army and in 1781 Rochambeau’s artillery were parked on the property in preparation for being ferried across the Delaware River during the march to Yorktown. 

Cox was friends with the Washingtons, Generals Knox and Greene, Count Rochambeau, the Marquis de Lafayette and other revolutionary leaders and entertained them at Bloomsbury. His wife and daughters helped organize the welcome Washington received as he traveled through Trenton on his way to his inauguration in New York in 1789.

Cox and his family were very likely to have also participated in welcoming the Marquis de Layatette when he visited Trenton in December 1784. This was during the short period that Trenton was the new nation's capital and Lafayette met with Congress there.


A hero of the American Revolution, Lafayette would have been feted by music of all kinds in private home and public houses. Two hundred and forty years later the Trent House produced an original video recording of historic music of the period, with performance by the Practitioners of Musick (John Burkhalter and Donovan Klotzbeacher) and introductory remarks by Mr. Burkhalter.

Trenton Eyewitnesses to the Revolution

During the Revolution the town of Trenton had about 500 residents. Among them were Patriots and Loyalists, men and women, adults and children, enslaved and free people of color.

Based on extensive research and with funding from the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission, William (Larry) Kidder prepared first-person narratives of the lives and experiences of forty-one of these individuals. The narratives are printed on one side of cards approximately 7 inches by 5 inches.

The other side of the cards is the image to the right, which is from the memoirs of Georg Flohr, a German who had served with General Rochambeau during the Yorktown campaign. His memoirs are interspersed with depictions of what he saw during that campaign. On March 15, 2026, Dr. Robert Selig, a distinguished historian of the Washington-Rochambeau march to Yorktown, gave a talk on Flohr.

The full set of narratives can be viewed or downloaded by clicking on the image. A printed set can be requested by emailing [email protected]. 

Trent House in an Era of Rapid Change

During the almost 70 years that the Stokes family owned the house (1861 to 1929(, Trenton underwent tremendous social change as its industrial economy grew.  From 1870 through 1920 the U.S. Census recorded no less than 20 percent of Trenton's population as foreign born, reaching 25 percent in 1920. In 1900 English, German, and Irish immigrants together represented 70 percent of Trenton's foreign-born residents, while in 1920 these groups were only 23 percent of foreign-born Trentonians. Immigrants from Czech-Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Russia were about half of all foreign-born residents with Italian immigrants adding almost another quarter. 

As was the case across the nation, Trenton's foreign-born residents, particularly those from Eastern Europe and Italy, found it difficult to be accepted as American, even after years of living in the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen, and being fluent in English. An analysis of employment records from the Roebling wire works factories in the late 1910s and early 1920s illustrates this and places this in the context of nativism of the time. 

This analysis addressed the questions, “Why are some workers who emigrated to the United States considered 'American' while others were not?" and "How was the process of becoming American influenced by public attitudes and the political circumstances of the day?"​

The House's Changing Architecture and Footprint

During the 19th century, the house that had been called first "Kingsbury" and then "Bloomsbury" was renamed "Woodlawn" by  Joseph Wood when he purchased the property in 1852. By that time, substantial changes had been made to the house's architecture, as shown in this photograph taken around 1850. 

The roof had been lowered, the cupola removed, and porches added. It was during these renovations that we believe a single shoe, probably one made to be worn by a woman servant, was left in the roof infrastructure. This shoe was found again during roof repairs in 2018. How did this shoe, which experts estimated was made in the 1830-1850 period, get into a roof constructed in the 1700s? And if it was deliberately placed there, why? Read this brochure to learn our answers to these questions.

The Trent House's architecture changed again and by the late 19th century it had been transformed into a "Gilded Age" mansion, though still in an area surrounded by factories and rowhouses. Two large structure, additional porches, and a greenhouse had been added by the time this photograph was taken in 1899. 

By then Woodlawn was owned by Edward H. Stokes, son-in-law of Joseph Wood having married his daughter Permelia in 1860 and thereby becoming one of the wealthiest men in Trenton. For the next nearly seven decades the house was occupied by two generations of the Stokes family, until it was given to the City of Trenton in 1929 by Edward A. Stokes. During the 1930s the house was restored to its colonial appearance intended for use as a public cultural institution as required by Stokes' deed of gift.

Working in Trenton's Factories & Homes

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Changing Neighborhood Landscape

Over the more than 300 years since Trent bought one thousand acres at the Falls of the Delaware, the area surrounding the house he had built has changed from woodland and farmland with a few mills and workers' homes on Assunpink Creek to its current landscape of office buildings, parking lots, and highways. LINK TO HUNTER RESEARCH'S VIDEO OF MAPS/IMAGES

SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGES
immigration/migration - increases-density, who moved in-land uses (houses of worship, retail)
political/economic - Great Depression/federal policy: red lining - disinvestment and deterioration, federal policy: urban renewal; need for increase in state government infrastructure
economic - changes in manufacturing economy -

Our Neighbors - 1880 to 1950

Like Trenton today, Trenton in the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th was a destination for newcomers seeking jobs and a better life. During those decades, the Trent House was surrounded by factories and the homes of working-class Trentonians. Early residents in the neighborhood were from England, Ireland, and Germany. By the turn of the 20th century, Jewish immigrants from Russia occupied most of the homes. In the 1930s through 1950s many residents were African Americans moving to Trenton from the South. Hannah Lee, graduate student in public history at Rutgers University-Camden, used multiple sources to trace the neighborhood’s changing population and highlighted some of the fascinating personal histories of residents from each era.  This section draws from Hannah's research reports and presentations. These include XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX.

Changes in Built Landscape

Hannah's research focused on the residential area directly to the east from the boundaries of the property of the Stokes family at 539 Warren Street. INSERT MAP FROM 1890; SHOW SERIES OF MAPS AND AERIAL PHOTOS IN THIS PERIOD

NOTE INDUSTRIAL USES AND OTHER NON-RESIDENTIAL USES SHOWN IN MAPS 


Demographic Changes in Resident Population

The Trent House neighborhood quickly changed from a population comprised largely of New Jersey and Pennsylvania natives and Western European immigrants to one of Russian and some Eastern European Jews (mostly from Poland). In 1880, 34% of its inhabitants were immigrants but by 1910 the percentage of immigrants had risen to 80%, most of whom were Russian Jews.

The year 1880 marks the beginning of the Great Immigration, which is also known as the third wave of Jewish immigration to the United States during which thousands of Russian and Eastern European Jews settled in Trenton. In census records, Russian-Jewish immigrants first appear in 1900 and their population peaks in 1910 and 1920.
 
Soon after, between about 1920 and 1950, hundreds of Black southerners migrated to the neighborhood during the Great Migration. By 1930, the neighborhood was incredibly diverse with white and Black Americans and Russian immigrants living among one another. Although, some streets were more diverse than others. Between 1930 and 1950, South Warren's residents were more mixed, but Union’s Black population never exceeded 25% while all Decatur residents were Black by 1950.
 
Most of the neighborhood's properties were demolished in the late 1950s through the 1960s as part of Trenton's urban renewal projects, displacing over 380 individuals. Later, the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex was built between 1978 and 1982 on top of the land.

Great Migration Stories

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Preserving Trenton's Connection to Our Colonial Past

Colonial Architecture

William Trent built his country home north of Philadelphia, in what was known as West Jersey, on these lands about 1719. It was a large, imposing brick structure, built in the newest fashion, and is an excellent example of an early Georgian house.  This architectural style is based on classical forms of the Italian Renaissance period and was the first architect-inspired style built in America, reflecting a period of growth and prosperity and a desire for more formally designed buildings. Construction followed building manuals called “pattern books” that began arriving in the colonies around 1700. Common features of Georgian style buildings include: a symmetrical form and window placement; multi-paned sliding sash windows; five bays with center doors and hall; hipped or side-gabled roof with dentilated or modillioned cornices; brick or stone walls with a water table and/or belt course; and a transomed window over a paneled front door.  These features are all found on the Trent House.

​The interior has a central floor plan, with a large entry and staircase and four rooms on each floor, and is little altered, retaining its the original stairway and floor boards. The nine fireplaces and cellar kitchen hearth are all in good condition, with one fireplace on the second floor surrounded by its original Delft tiles.  

Analysis of building materials used in the Trent House indicates that the exterior walls are made of locally produced brick conforming to 1683 regulations on a foundation of fieldstone.  The dentilated roof is crowned by a hexagonal cupola with weather vane. Segmental arches over the main windows are of imported Dutch brick and pointing was sand and lime mortar. Structural and trim woodwork, both interior and exterior, is of oak and pine, with exterior paint in two layers – a reddish brown primer with high oil content on which was a white lead-in-oil finish paint. 

​Window sashes and most hardware were imported. Wood paneling and trim were finished with a yellow/white semi-gloss oil, with baseboards and baseboard height accents on trim and doors painted in gloss black made of lamp black and linseed oil.​

The interior walls were plastered over oak plank and lath and then whitewashed. Window sashes and most hardware were imported. Wood paneling and trim were finished with a yellow/white semi-gloss oil, with baseboards and baseboard height accents on trim and doors painted in gloss black made of lamp black and linseed oil.

The interior of the House is furnished with period-appropriate antique and reproduction items, based on the probate inventory conducted in 1726 after Trent’s death.​

Trent's Probate Inventory

An inventory of a decedent’s property was typically taken within thirty days of a death in order to determine the estate.  Trent's probate inventory was conducted in April 1726, more than a year after his death, with an addendum one year later.  Click here to download a complete printer-friendly transcription of the inventory. The inventory itself is on file in the office of the Superior Court of New Jersey, State House Annex, contained in a bound volume filed as 1211-1216C, 1433-1448C.

When a greater period of time has elapsed between an individual’s death and the inventory (16 months, in Trent’s case), it suggests that the estate was contested – which was certainly the case of William Trent. Since William Trent died without a will, his estate was contested between his eldest son, James, and his widow, Mary Coddington Trent. Mary Trent’s possessions were inventoried separately by others and are listed at the end of the inventory.  Mary’s suit was successful and she received income in rents and mortgage payments from Trent’s mills and other property.  Click here to read more under "After Trent's Death". ​

​Eighteenth century inventories included household goods and personal possessions such as clothing and jewelry, real estate, cash, or bonds, tools of trade, shop inventories in the case of a merchant, livestock, outbuildings, farm implements, as well as people who were enslaved by or indentured to the decedent.  Trent’s probate inventory included information on eleven enslaved people of African descent - six adult men (Yaff, Julius, Bossin, Harry, Cupid, and Pedro), one adult woman Joan, two boys Bob and Dick, a girl Nanny, and a child Tom.  

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Interpreting Colonial Enslavement - MAKE A NEW SUBPAGE

To help our visitors understand about slavery as it existed in colonial New Jersey, a number of exhibits are on display and discussed during tours of the House. These include mannequins representing Yaff dressed in livery as the butler and Joan as the cook in the kitchen; displays of personal items that enslaved people of the time might well have had and used; replicas of typical food stuffs given as rations to enslaved people along with information about deficiencies in calories and nutrients that this diet would have produced.​

Trent's estate remained unsettled for a considerable period after his death and their fate would have been uncertain, determined by those who claimed ownership of them. We know only that Yaff was sold to James Alexander, one of the executors of Trent’s estate, from a runaway advertisement in mid- 1729.  Click here to read more under "After Trent's Death." 

This video of an imagined conversation that Joan and Nanny, the two women enslaved by Trent, illustrates the  challenges and potential opportunities for freedom that they and the others listed on the probate inventory would have faced at the time of Trent's sudden death. 

​To learn more about our work interpreting slavery and presenting information on the enslaved people in Trent’s household, please view this recent presentation on enslavement in colonial New Jersey. What we can learn about enslaved people from runaway advertisements is described in this 2018 presentation by Shawn Carney, Trent House docent and researcher. 

On December 3, 2025, the Trent House was honored with the unveiling of a New Jersey Black Heritage Trail marker.

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 The New Jersey Black Heritage Trail was signed into law by Governor Murphy on September 7, 2022. The legislation called for the New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) to establish a Black Heritage Trail “to promote awareness and appreciation of Black history, heritage, and culture” that will “highlight Black heritage sites through historical markers and a trail-like path that connects the stories of Black life and resiliency.” The William Trent House was selected for a marker in the first cohort of 32 sites across the state.

The Trent House Association is also honored to be a founding partner in the Sankofa Collaborative, along with its partners, 1804 Consultants, the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, and the New Jersey Historical Society.

Following the Collaborative’s first invitational symposium in January 2017, the Collaborative has held numerous workshops for wide-ranging audiences with the goal of helping individuals in schools, museums, libraries, cultural institutions, and civic groups present, interpret, and discuss African American history. You can visit the Sankofa Collaborative site here.

Sharing New Stories

Esta Es Su Casa initiative ??​

Garden and Grounds

Garden and Grounds

The garden is designed and managed by historical horticulturist Charles Thomforde with the assistance of Rutgers Master Gardeners of Mercer County.

​The Trent House Museum's grounds include a small-scale garden, a replica bee house, and a planting of heirloom apple trees. These represent in miniature how produce was grown on the property that Trent purchased in 1714.
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The garden is divided into four raised beds and in 2021 was redesigned to represent what the three groups of people who occupied this land would have grown for food - the Lenape and their ancestors who lived here for many thousands of years before European arrival, English colonists like the Stacy and Trent families, and free and enslaved people of African descent who lived and worked her

The William Trent House Museum is a member of the Garden State Gardens Consortium, a consortium of New Jersey's public gardens. See here for more information about the Consortium and all its member gardens. To learn more about the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Mercer County, see here.

English Colonial Kitchen Garden

Though considerably smaller than Trent’s own kitchen garden would have been, two of the four beds in today’s garden are planted in an 18th century style with raised beds and tamped dirt paths between and within the beds.  ​

These beds grow examples of vegetables and herbs that Trent’s garden probably contained.  Many are still recognizable today: shell peas, cabbage, kale, asparagus, carrots, cucumbers, turnips, radishes, Irish and sweet potatoes, garlic, onions, as well as chives, spearmint, lemon balm.  Other may be less known to modern gardeners, such as borage (for the flowers), good King Henry and sorrel (pot herbs), gooseberry and currants, citron melons (for pickling), radish pods, and elecampane (for medicine).  Among the medicinal plants grown in the garden is celandine, used for various problems with the digestive tract including upset stomach, gastroenteritis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), constipation, loss of appetite, stomach cancer, intestinal polyps, and liver and gallbladder disorders. ​

Lenape Cultivated and Wild-Gathered Plants

​The Lenape people who lived in the region of what is now New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware both grew crops in cultivated areas and harvested plants from the wild for food and other uses. 

One of the garden beds is often planted with corn and squash (pumpkin) that would have been carefully tended. Native blueberry bushes and elderberry are included there as well as goosefoot, a wild plant with tiny seeds that resemble quinoa and may have been cooked in a similar way or eaten raw. Additional varieties will be added as we learn more.

African Diaspora Kitchen and Market Garden

​Another garden bed is planted with plants that might have been grown both to add favorite flavors to the meals cooked by free and enslaved people of African descent and to sell or barter in local markets. 

Plants like okra and chili peppers would have been familiar from African and West Indian cuisine, while potatoes, squash, and pumpkins could have been taken to market to trade for other goods or to sell for cash. Some enslaved people were able to accumulate enough money to purchase their own freedom and one way to obtain cash was through selling produce and other items.

The Bee House

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​Adjacent to the garden is a replica of a “bee house” with two skeps, which housed bees.  Europeans brought honey bees to North America in the early 1600s.  By the time William Trent built his house at the Falls of the Delaware in 1719, escaped wild bees were living in the woodlands all over the colonies.  The native people called bees “the Englishman’s fly.”  Bees were kept to produce honey as a sweetener and wax for candles.  The role of bees in pollinating food crops was not discovered until the mid-1700s.

​The Apple Orchard

​An advertisement to sell or lease the House in 1759 described “an Orchard of about 350 Apple-trees, whereof about 150 are old bearing Trees, the others just beginning to Bare and are of the best Grafted Fruit, there is also a fine Collection of other Fruit, to wit, Peaches, Damsels, Cherries of several Sorts, Squinces, English Walnuts, Grapes, Raspberries, and a handsome large  [kitchen] Garden.”  The Pennsylvania Journal, no. 866, 12 July 1759, reprinted in Nelson, Newspaper Extracts, first Series, Vol XX, page 365.

Our cultivated apples are not native to the New World, probably originating in Central Asia. Grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe, they were introduced to North America by European colonists.

From the beginning, European arrivals in New Jersey grew apples for cider. They also grew apples for eating fresh, for drying, and for cooking. The Trent estate would have included an orchard sufficient to yield 1,000 gallons of cider per year.

Today there is a miniature orchard of heirloom varieties likely grown in the region in the 1700s, researched by Charles Thomforde and designed and planted as the Eagle Scout project of Sidhant Swami of Troop 43, Princeton, with the help of members of the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Mercer County and other volunteers.   To learn more about apples and the Trent House orchard, click here.  For a map of the orchard, click here.

Collections

The Trent House maintains three collections of items relevant to its history and mission - furnishings and other items of material culture; archaeological artifacts; and reports and historical documents. These collections are documented in an on-line archive using CatalogIt database. For more details on the items in the database and on how to access the database, please contact [email protected].

Furnishings Collection

Archaeology and Archeological Artifacts

Archaeology as History 
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The Trent House site encompasses thousands of years of history, both recorded and not. In researching a place like the Trent House, the fields of archaeology and history often overlap; this is the field of Historical Archaeology.

When excavating, archaeologists can use historical records and documents to guide their research. For instance, the 2015 excavations done by Hunter Research unearthed the remains of the 18th century kitchen wing, and they knew it was there based on a historical drawing and published description of the house.

Excavations with the goal of unearthing Colonial or later era items are a little easier to plan, since historical data can be used in conjunction with technology like ground penetrating radar to identify likely excavation sites. Prehistoric excavations are harder to plan for.

Using Archaeology to Discover Ancient Lives

​Where the Trent House stands today used to be an intersection of Native American trails. This site is also very close to the falls of the Delaware River, which makes it a good place for fishing. The House stands on a small knoll that overlooks the surrounding area, which would have been very useful in prehistoric times. While there were no villages on the Trent House site, seasonal occupation and mobile groups left traces of their lives here.

Many archaeological excavations have been completed in Trenton, as well as some in the surrounding towns. Evidence for Native American occupation at the Trent House site has been found while archaeologists were searching for colonial artifacts. These projects have found thousands of Native American artifacts from many different prehistoric time periods. Some excavations occur by law when a location is undergoing construction, and others are done for educational purposes, like those done at the Trent House by Hunter Research. More than 5,000 artifacts have been found on site at the Trent House, many of them Native American. 

We can fill in the gaps of our knowledge of the people called Lenape through European written sources. The Europeans learned that the Native Americans they encountered called themselves Lenape. The groups that lived before that are only known to us through archaeological evidence or oral traditions passed down through generations of Native American people.

Ancient Native American occupation is broken down into different eras. In New Jersey history, there are three: the Paleoindian, the Archaic, and the Woodland. The distinctions between the periods are based on technology, tools, types of common activities and occasionally climate patterns. To learn more about each period in detail, click here.

Artifacts are sorted into periods by archaeologists based on their identifying factors. For instance, the projectile point on the left is from the Archaic Period. Archaeologists know this based on comparison to other existing artifacts. Sometimes, artifacts can be dated by the soil layer they were excavated in, if there was no disturbance. ​

The identifying factors of this point are its material (argillite), its size, its shape, and where the notches in the point are. Click on the image to go to a website with New Jersey projectile point typologies. ​

Tool making, or flintknappping, usually begins with a large chunk of rock. In New Jersey, common stone types are jasper, chert, argillite and quartz. The flintknapper hits off pieces ​of the rock using a hammerstone or antler. This is called chipping and flaking. Flakes were likely turned into tools themselves.

​For finer details like notches and edges, pressure flaking is used. A small tool, usually the end of an antler, is pressed onto the rock to make the desired shape. Projectile points are made this way. 

Another method of rough shaping is pecking and grinding. A hammerstone is hit against a rock to shape it, and the edges are rubbed on another surface to smooth them. Axes and other tools are commonly made this way. 

Toolmaking is also a way to study trade between pre-contact Native Americans. Stones that are sourced from Maryland found in New Jersey sites, for instance, show that groups of people from each region traded with each other. 

Some people still practice the art of flintknapping today, and many videos can be found all over the internet. Flintknapping was, and still is, dangerous. Modern flintknappers report injuries to their fingers, hands and legs. Ancient people had to be careful and skilled to avoid major injuries. ​

Archaeology in Practice
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Archaeology is a slow paced-profession. Extensive planning and research (when applicable) is required before any digging starts. Excavations are done in careful layers, with every step of the process documented. After excavations are over, archaeologists analyze all of their findings and write a site report. The findings on this page are written through an archaeological view of the past. 
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In 1995, the cultural resource management firm Hunter Research performed archaeological investigations and historical research in connection with repairs to the Trent House tunnel.  Two trenches were excavated across the line of the tunnel.  Native American  artifacts were found including a projectile point dating to between 3000 and 1700 B.C.  From 2000-2003, a public archaeology program was implemented with students and volunteers excavating 235 shovel tests on the property. Additionally, an excavation unit was dug which produced prehistoric and historic artifacts, pre-20th century soils and historic features. Historic artifacts included Dutch bricks and sugar molds from the nearby William Richards pottery of the 1770s and 1780s. ​

Historic features include an 18th century mica schist footing thought to be the southern wall of the covered walkway leading to the 18th century kitchen.  A part of a 19th century foundation was also found, believed to be part of the 19th century eastern wing. In 2002, archaeologists investigated the sides of construction trenches in which 17th, 18th 19th and 20th century features were found.  ​

​​In 2015, Hunter Research performed archaeological excavations on the east side of the house.  This investigation exposed the foundations of the prominent mid-18th century kitchen wing, a free-standing, two-story structure connected to the house by a gangway.  ​

A total of 2539 historic and prehistoric artifacts were recovered as well as several historic features including one interpreted to be the south wall of the 1742 Lewis Morris kitchen wing and remnants of the attached gangway.  The former kitchen wing, shown here in a drawing from 1789, is no longer visible on the property, but these excavations hinted that more information about the use and occupation of this wing are waiting to be discovered beneath the ground surface.  ​

During the summer of 2019, with funding from NJM Insurance Group and the Trent House Association, a team of professional archaeologists from Hunter Research and Monmouth University undertook new investigations. Expanded exploration of and near the 1742 kitchen site revealed additional evidence of its foundation and structure.  Richard Hunter, James Lee, and Richard Veit summarized findings from that excavation in a talk at the Trent House on July 24, 2022. A recording of their talk, "Governor Morris' Kitchen and Other Findings from Archaeology at the Trent House," can be viewed from the Videos & Recordings page.

The project also investigated a new area to the south of the House; this site produced extensive artifacts from Native American settlement on the site as well as from European occupation in the 1600s and 1700s, examples of which are shown below. For a recent analysis of Native American archaeological artifacts found on the Trent House property, see here. 

​Additional investigations have included a ground penetrating radar study in 2016 and deep soil sampling using augering in 2020. For an overview of archaeology at the Trent House see here. ​

Students and adults can learn about the basics of archaeology and how archaeological research on the Trent House site has informed our understanding of Native American life and take a quiz to see how much they now know by clicking here. 

Artifacts on Display at the Trent House Visitor Center

​There are two displays dedicated to archaeology at the Trent House. One is for Native American artifacts, and other contains colonial era artifacts. ​In the Native American case (shown to the right), a variety of projectile points, stone tools, and some pottery is displayed.
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Click the image to see a digital copy of our flintknapping booklet that accompanies our Native American artifacts in the museum. The display also has a timeline of Native American history in New Jersey on top of the case. 

The colonial case contains ceramic sherds, pieces of bottles, pipe fragments, bones and shells from the kitchen excavation. 

​The New Jersey State Museum loaned the Trent House a large piece of pottery to improve the display. Please consider visiting the exhibits of its Archaeology and Ethnography Collections.

Reports and Documents

List types in CatalogIt and in Visitor Center - how to get access

Catalog of books at Visitor Center?