The History of White Hill Mansion
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1722 - Robert Field (1) purchased White Hill
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1757 - Robert Field (2) inherited White Hill.
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1775 - Robert Field (2) drowns mysteriously in the Delaware River.
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1776 - Captain Houston of the American Navy docks at White Hill and joins Mary for dinner. This resulted in her neighbors reporting her as a colonial sympathizer.
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1776 - December 8th the British army invades Mary’s home looking for rebel colonial soldiers.
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1776 - December 12th Captain Wrenden of the Hessian army makes White Hill his temporary quarters. During his stay Colonel, Carl von Donop visited Mary.
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1779 - The Widow Field married Commodore Thomas Read. The Commodore decides to make White Hill his County Seat.
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1779 - Mary assists Commodore John Barry escape capture by the British.
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1788 - Commodore Thomas Read dies at White Hill.
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1797 - Mary signs White Hill over to her son Robert (3) and his wife Abigail Stockton
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1804 - Robert (3) loses White Hill due to mismanagement. To save his sister’s good name Richard Stockton purchased White Hill and allowed Robert and Abigail to remain in the Mansion.
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1832 - David Bruce invented a new typesetting machine at White Hill, as well as perfecting typefaces still in use.
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1847 - Isaac Field purchased White Hill.
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1853 - The Name of White Hill was changed to Fieldsboro to honor the Field family.
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1885 - Joseph Mayer bought the property and developed several pottery techniques at White Hill.
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1896 - The Mansion was traded to Joseph Crossley for a building in Trenton and $10,000.
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1897 - Famous pollster, Archibald Crossley is the last baby to be born at White Hill.
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1922 - Heinrich and Katrina Glenk purchase White Hill and open an upscale German restaurant in 1923.
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1972 - Katrina Glenk sold White Hill to a consortium. The name is changed from Glenks White Hill Mansion Restaurant to "The Mansion”.
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1977 - The Mansion Restaurant is sold to the Zusack Family
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1991 - Stepan Company bought White Hill with plans to open corporate offices in the Mansion.
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1999 - The Borough of Fieldsboro purchased the Mansion.
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2004 - Preservation efforts begin
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2011 - The first archaeological dig is conducted and the Preservation Plan is completed. These projects were partially funded with the HTNJ grant.
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2012 - The New Jersey State Review Board for Historic Sites approved the nomination to submit White Hill Mansion to the State Register.
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2013 - The White Hill Mansion becomes a State Registered Historic Place.
Mary Peale Field
Matriarch of White Hill
1741 - 1816
Married Robert Field II in 1765. and had 7 children together but only three lived to adulthood.
Widowed in 1775, her home visited by the Navy, searched by the British, occupied by the Hessians, Mary survived as best she could by appearing nonpolitical. Remarried in 1779 to Commodore Thomas Read.
David Bruce Jr.
Inventor in Typography
1802 – 1892
In 1838, he invented the Pivotal Typecaster and subsequently patented it in 1845. This machine replaced men who worked as hand casters. Some saw the machine and plotted its destruction but Bruce was able to foil the plot.
Joseph Mayer
Owner of Arsenal Pottery
1845 –1899
Born near Staffordshire, England around 1800, Joseph Mayer emigrated to the United States in 1865. In 1876, he started the Arsenal Pottery in Trenton, a city that became a pottery epicenter for the United States.
Joseph Crossley
Trenton Industrialist
1857 - 1942
In 1879 he established the Crossley Machine Company in Trenton, which manufactured machinery used to process clay for chinaware, porcelain fixtures, bricks, and other products. He obtained a wide variety of U.S. and British patents for his mechanical improvements.
Henry Glenk
Restaurant entrepreneur and businessman Henry Glenk owned and operated a successful restaurant from 1922 to 1972. Known as the Mansion House, it was a favorite among political and distinguished guests. Its beautiful view and secluded setting, combined with the Glenk's quality menu, brought patrons back to the mansion house for years to come.
1884 - 1952