Much of Plainsboro’s scientific legacy has been well documented, from the fusion research at the Plasma Physics Lab (and before that the Rockefeller Institute) to the high tech innovations at the Walker Gordon Dairy Farm and its legendary Elsie the Cow. But Plainsboro also has been home to the largest wholesale plant nursery in the world, a verdant site where dozens of patents on trees, shrubs, and vines were developed. William Flemer IV, the fourth generation of the Princeton Nurseries family, presents its history at a meeting of the Plainsboro Historical Society on Saturday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m.##M:[more]##
The Princeton Nursery story begins in 1913, when the Flemer family moved from Springfield in Union County in search of more land for their nursery business.
His father, William Flemer III, was called “the scholar” as he received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University. Born on the farm, he holds patents on more than 45 trees, shrubs, and vines. He’s 84 and retired now.
His mother, Elizabeth Sinclair Flemer, was born and raised in Princeton. “She never was part of the nursery; she was the traditional stay-at-home mom,” Flemer says.
“My father grew up with impending doom like others raised during the depression,” says Flemer. During the depression, the farm had some difficult times. “It’s not anything people had to have to live. It’s not like producing milk,” he says. “Grandpa was determined to make the nursery work.”
Japanese beetles put the farm in quarantine for decades beginning around 1930. “It was a major black eye for the nursery.” says Flemer. “In later years we filled two or three large trucks daily with orders.”
“At the end of the season there was always a lot of surplus and waste. There were always big sales at the end of the season. All records were hand-written so we never knew how much we lost.”
Flemer IV was born and raised on the Princeton Nurseries property. “I thought of myself as a Kingston resident even though the house that I spent most of my youth in was located in Plainsboro,” says Flemer. He was a student at Princeton Public schools through fifth grade and graduated from Princeton Day School. He attended the University of Wisconsin. Working at the nursery was a foregone conclusion: “Just like my father and grandfather, we began by working with the crews and worked our way up,” he says. “We also learned the trade by working at other nurseries in Europe and elsewhere.”
His two older sisters, Louise and Heidi, are still in the nursery business. They run Pleasant Run Nursery in Allentown, New Jersey, where they sell perennials, flowering shrubs, and grasses. It is a container growing nursery on 40 acres.
Flemer IV now runs Mapleton Nurseries, located in South Brunswick, on land formerly known as Princeton Nurseries and now rented by Princeton University. His three children by previous marriages are Emma, Nell, and Will. Flemer is engaged to Louise Hutner.
Active in country rock and is a member of the Riverside Bluegrass Band, an eclectic mixture of sounds from banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and bass, Flemer plays guitar, bass, and vocals. The band’s next gig will be at a familiar site for Flemer: The D&R Canal State Park open house and arboretum dedication on Saturday, April 29, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 145 Mapleton Road. The D&R’s new office is the newly-acquired Mapleton Preserve, located in the former Plainsboro Nurseries office building.
History of the Princeton Nurseries, Plainsboro Historical Society, Plainsboro Municipal Building, 609-799-9040. www.plainsborohistory.com. Saturday, March 18, 7:30 p.m.
