While everyone has their own holiday traditions, longtime West Windsor resident Kay Reed recently organized her family’s 100-year anniversary on Christmas Day at their historic family home in Hamilton. Their traditional recipes, including scalloped oysters, pecan pie, and corn pudding, were divided and prepared by family members near and far.##M:[more]##
Reed was born and raised in the historic John Abbott house, where she was active on the family farm, raised and showed cows, and was active in the 4-H and Grange. “I never wanted anything but a horse,” she says. Her father bought her one and expected her to take care of it. By the time she was 10 she had to clean the stall out every morning before she went to school. “We worked the farm; they expected a lot of us,” she says.
When she was older she babysat for her neighbor Edith Perrine Sprague, who had traveled with Borden’s Elsie the Cow during World War II (The News, October 5, 2007).
She majored in horticulture at Cornell University and then worked in a flower shop. Reed, who was West Windsor’s long time tax collector, retired in 2002, although she continues to work for the township as needed.
In 1959 she married long time West Windsor resident Clifford Reed, the son of Lester and Evelyn Reed, who owned a farm in Dutch Neck. The couple had met at a grange meeting when she was 14. He was her first boyfriend.
Clifford Reed graduated from Trenton Junior College, became a mason contractor, and founded Reed Brothers Construction with his brother, L. Stanley Reed. The brothers, along with their sister, Mildred Loomaw, live in three adjacent houses on Village Road. “We built them as we married,” says Kay Reed.
Their three children all attended Dutch Neck School, as did their father. They also all graduated from WW-P High School (now called High School South). All three were docents at the Abbott House for many years.
Bryan lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with his wife, Beth Sheets, also a WW-P graduate. Their children are Kate and Matt.
Keith lives in the Dutch Neck area of West Windsor with his wife Julie, and their son Kyle, a sophomore at High School North. Kyle, active in sports, is on the school’s varsity basketball team. “It is fun to be able to watch his games,” says Kay Reed of her grandson. “When he played baseball in Hamilton his father told him that his grandmother used to drive the tractors on the very same fields.”
Brenda and her husband, Charles Stines, live in Hamilton.
The family’s first dinner was created by George and Abby Tindall in 1907. Tradition has been to enjoy the meal at the historic home but this year close to 60 people were in attendance and the event was moved to the Hamilton Square Baptist Church. The family met at the house for tours, refreshments, and a family photo. “It was so comfortable that nobody wanted to leave the house,” says Reed. “It was a special day.”
Family members take turns organizing the family reunion and this year Reed’s brother, George Tindall III, was supposed to be in charge of the event. A township administrator in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, he could not devote his full attention to the 100th anniversary details and Kay accepted the position of chairperson.
Their cousin Lois Tindall Stoller, a resident of North Mill Road in the Grovers Mill section of West Windsor, helped with the 70 centerpieces for the event. She was raised on a dairy farm where Stonelea Drive is now located.
The John Abbott House, built circa 1730, is located at 2200 Kuser Road, Hamilton. The homestead originally contained 810 acres from the Crosswicks Creek on Bordentown Road to Hamilton Square Road and to Pond Run toward Nottingham. It had a prominent history during the Revolutionary War
Most of the farm was willed to his nephew Samuel Abbott who protected more than 1,”500 pounds of money from the British. In 1776, the British were advancing upon Trenton and Tucker wanted to save the state’s money — and his own. He brought unsigned public money, his personal effects, and property of estates he was handling, to John Abbott’s house. He also brought more than $1,”500 signed public money that the Abbott family hid in a bin with dishes and household utensils in the cellar. The signed money was not discovered and a replica of the bin is on view during tours of the house.
The homestead and 186 acres were sold to Daniel Ivins, a farmer, trader, tanner, and currier, in 1839. His son, Joshua, inherited the farm. Their daughter, Anna, married John W. Tindall. They left the house when their eldest son, George Ivins Sr. married Abbie Rogers. George Tindall Jr. and his wife Frieda purchased the homestead and 87 acres in 1944. Their children, Kay and George III, were the fifth generation born on the farm purchased by their great, great, great grandfather Daniel Ivins.
The house is unusual in that half of it is set in Colonial times and the other half in Victorian period. With the addition added in 1840 the house was historically renovated in 1976. The house is open to the public every weekend from noon to 5 p.m.
Tours are usually led by Lillian Tindall Smith, 87, who was born and married in the house. She worked many long hours on the farm and talks about how they did not have indoor plumbing, electricity, or telephone service while growing up. Both she and Kay Reed still miss the wraparound porch that was removed during the renovation.
She remembers that the dining room was always damp and that wallpaper did not stay on the wall but it was not until the renovation when a brick fireplace and beehive oven was discovered. Reed Brothers Construction was hired to do the masonry work at the Abbott House renovation. They built all of the fireplaces and their names are on a plaque in the house.
Although Kay Reed has a longtime attachment to the Hamilton family home, she is more active in the Historical Society of West Windsor. “This is where I live and Clifford wants to be involved in the house we saved in our town,” she says. She is treasurer of the organization and Clifford is president. She recently spent many hours decorating the Schenck House for the holidays. “It was so pretty with all of the fireplaces going,” she says. “We worked all week and then were only open one day.” Clifford is very diligently collecting used farm machinery for the historic farm. They are both looking forward to seeing the renovations and restoration of the buildings on the property.
Tours, John Abbott House, 2202 Kuser Road, Hamilton, 609-585-1686. www.hamiltonnj.com. Historic home built in 1730. Saturdays and Sundays, from Noon to 5 p.m.
