Sarah B Hart and the Beginnings of Herrontown Woods

If you google Sarah B. Hart in our era, you're likely to find links to a British mathematician who wrote a book about math and literature called Once Upon a Prime. She spoke last year in Princeton, and will be delivering the 2025 AMS Einstein Public Lecture this March. It all sounds very interesting and Veblen-relevant. 

But we're writing here about Sarah Barringer Hart, born in 1901, who had a direct and important role in the development of Herrontown Woods back in the 1960s. Her maiden name, Barringer, takes on multiple dimensions in this story, including being the main source of funding for Richard J. Kramer's 1960s ecological study of the newly created preserve and the book that followed. Below is an homage to Sarah Hart's environmental advocacy and an interesting story or two about her ancestors, who were of considerable note.

On June 27, 1963, a fateful year for us all, the Town Topics announced that Sarah Hart "has been appointed chairman of the Herrontown Wood Citizens' Development Committee." A landscape architect, J. Russell Butler, "had surveyed the arboretum and prepared topographical maps to aid in the development of Herrontown Wood."

(We pause here to point out the further evidence that the preserve was referred to early on as "Herrontown Wood," without an "s". When we formed our Friends of Herrontown Woods nonprofit in 2013, we thought of leaving the "s" off, as in Winnie the Pooh's "Hundred Acre Wood," but the "s" hung on.) 

"The Committee," the article continues, "plans to adopt an overall scheme of identification of trees and plants, a project which has already been started on a small scale." 

Six years after the Veblens' 1957 donation of the first 82 acres, it's not clear the preserve is even open to the public. The slow pace underscores just how new was this concept of a nature preserve to Princeton and Mercer County, as they scrambled to catch up to the Veblens' vision. In 1957, the Mercer County Parks Commission, which now oversees a vast network of parks and preserves, had not yet been formed. The article mentions James C. Sayen and Richard J. Coffee, both of whom would become prominent names in open space. 

Four months later, on October 10, 1963, another article mentions Sarah B. Hart. Shockingly, this one's an obituary. Sarah Hart died only four months after being appointed to lead the citizens' effort at Herrontown Wood. The cause of death is not given. The brief obituary lists some of Sarah Hart's involvements: at the Miss Fine School (named after the sister of Henry Fine, who brought Oswald Veblen to Princeton), the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association, and the Garden Club of Princeton. 

The depth of Sarah's passion for preserving nature, however, becomes more clear upon reading the homage to her at the beginning of the book made possible by a fund in her name. That book is Herrontown Woods: A Guide to a Natural Preserve, by Richard J. Kramer. Transcribed in full below, the homage places Sarah in the middle of the great environmental battles of her time, as she advocated for the Delaware and Raritan Canal, for preserving Island Beach from a proposed freeway, the Great Swamp from a proposed airport, and for preserving Mettler Woods. Back then, the future of all of these valued natural features of our time was very much in question. 

From the Herrontown Woods book:

THE SARAH BARRINGER HART MEMORIAL

"I respectfully suggest that The Garden Club of Princeton give the proposed program of improvement whatever moral and practical support it can." With these words, "Sally" Hart in 1948 closed her report on The State of New Jersey's inquiry into the condition of The Delaware and Raritan Canal. She was then the newest member of our club, ahead of the oldest in comprehension of ecology and way out beyond in understanding the need of all for open space. For this she worked tirelessly. She led us to Island Beach when it was threatened by an expressway and a few of us followed her with some reluctance. Island Beach became a park. Through her we learned of Mettler's Woods; that bit of virgin New Jersey forest was for sale. No falls had been cleared and there were lessons ine rotting wood and in the depth of top soil for some of us to read. The Carpenters' Union bought Mettler's Woods to preserve as a memorial to their first president. Inspired by "Sally" we visited Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve in Pennsylvania. "What if we should have such a park?" she asked us gently. She was, she told us in 1956, hopeful of the establishment of a Mercer County Park Commission. 

Always an active member of our conservation committee Mrs. Hart became President of The Garden Club in 1959 and held one of our meetings at the headquarters of The Stony Brook-Millstone Watersheds Association to which she was elected Trustee in 1954 where from slides we learned of the lakes and ponds created for flood control in this region. Only twenty-two of us attended. At a later meeting when her successor as conservation committee chairman failed to report, Mrs. Hart read us a chapter from "More in Anger" by Marya Mannes. Urged by her we used our pens and our pockets to keep The Great Swamp free of jetports. Few of us knew of the Great Swamp at first but we listened and learned with awe of the natural treasure to the north of us. We became consumed with anxiety to save it from destruction. We had become indoctrinated.

Retiring from office in the winter of 1962 "Sally" once again became chairman of the conservation committee and kept us abreast of the Green Acres Plan and the creation of a County Commission for The Herrontown Woods. In the following spring she spoke of her wish for a nature center and declared that planting ivy around the Watersheds Association's headquarters was down to earth labor, far pleasanter than letter writing or listening to speeches. She died in October 1963. 

We respectfully suggest to the reader of this dedication a quiet pause to catch the cry of the wilderness. 

Mary C. Savage

The Garden Club of Princeton

This article from Dec. 17, 1970 shows that the book was being developed the same year as the nation's first Earthday. Though there's no mention in the book itself, it appears to have been published by the Princeton University Press, with design work by P.J. Conkwright.

We could ask how Sarah Hart came to be an ardent environmentalist. Was it her upbringing? Courses she took in college? An internet search for her full name yielded a clue:

There's a plaque with Sarah Barringer Hart's name on it, but the plaque isn't anywhere near Princeton. Turns out that she is one of eight children of Daniel Moreau Barringer, the first geologist to prove the existence of a meteor impact crater on earth. There's a crater bearing his name near Flagstaff, AZ, open to the public. 

Sarah's grandfather, also named Daniel Moreau Barringer, was a U.S. congressman from North Carolina who is said to have become "a personal friend of fellow congressman Abraham Lincoln." 

Sarah's daughter, Sarah L. Hart (Barringers seemed to like names to continue from one generation to the next) was a pianist who performed frequently in Princeton before heading to Yale music school. 

Also found on the internet, Sarah Barringer Hart has appeared in recent years with others in her family on the Easter program for St. David's Episcopal Church in Wayne, PA, suggesting that her family has something to do with sustaining the church. 

~ MEMORIALS ~ Flowers in the Chapel are given to the glory of God and in memory of: D. Moreau Barringer, Sr., 1860-1929, Margaret Bennett Barringer, 1872-1957 Brandon Barringer, 1899-1992 D. Moreau Barringer, Jr., 1900-196 Sarah Barringer Hart, 1901-1962, Lewin Bennett Barringer, 1907-1943, Elizabeth Wethered Barringer Cope, 1904-1988 Richard W. Barringer, 1907-1973, J. Paul Barringer, 1903-1996 Philip E. Barringer, 1916-2004.

There are, then, loci of gratitude for Sarah and the Barringer family of which she was a part, scattered across the country. The plaque in Arizona tells of the "family's tradition of service to the public." We still don't know how Sarah Barringer Hart came to connect so strongly to ecological matters, but her service to Herrontown Woods and other environmental causes in and around Princeton was part of a larger family tradition.

Repairing the Field Stone Basement in Veblen Cottage

The 1875 farmhouse we call the Veblen Cottage has been a remarkably patient structure. It has long appeared to be standing forlorn in a forest clearing, but has in fact been getting considerable attention of late. Donated to Mercer County by the Veblens in 1957 as part of Herrontown Woods, it had been Oswald Veblen's study and getaway, a place to spend Saturday afternoons with Einstein and other close friends. Veblen died in 1960, and the cottage has stood empty ever since. After Elizabeth Veblen died in 1974, Mercer County spruced it up for the celebration of the country's 1976 Bicentennial, and in the 1980s, a NY Times article told of plans to make it into a nature center. That initiative was evidently abandoned, and recurrent vandalism eroded any further interest. Before the Friends of Herrontown Woods was able to intervene, the roofs of the kitchen and study had been allowed to collapse. Vines grew up and over the walls. It seemed pretty far gone, and yet appearances were deceiving. The original, 2-story portion of the cottage remained dry and intact. At some point, I pulled the vines away, built serviceable roofs for the kitchen and study, and augmented the 2-story portion's roof with a progression of tarps.

There are several reasons to preserve the Cottage. For one, it appears to have been Oswald Veblen's spiritual center. He asked that his ashes be buried nearby, and Elizabeth's ashes were to join his. The Cottage is also the only remaining, unaltered example of the smallholder farmhouses that dotted the Princeton ridge in the 19th century.

We are thrilled, then, to report that the Friends of Herrontown Woods has made the first substantial investment in the Veblen Cottage's future. In October, FOHW hired the first-rate masonry firm, deGruchy Masonry Restoration, to repair and repoint the field stone walls in the basement. Through his 40 year career, Andy deGruchy has been part of a movement to bring back the tradition of lime mortar, of the sort that was used in cathedrals and other stone buildings before being displaced by Portland cement.

Though the stones in the cottage basement had long since lost their mortar, the walls had nonetheless remained standing. Only a couple stones had to be hammered back into place. Fifty years of neglect and still sturdy and repairable!

The grout bag that Charlie used to refill the crevices with mortar looked a lot like a pastry bag. Turned out he had enjoyed making cakes when he was a kid. 

This photo shows the prepped wall on the left, applied mortar on the right. Before hiring deGruchy, we had gone through a lot of hemming and hawing about whether to use mortar containing Portland cement, and if so, what percentage. Portland cement largely replaced lime mortar in the 1920s and '30s. It's easy to use, sets quickly, and is very strong. But deGruchy made the case that Portland cement's impermeability traps moisture in the walls. Only by using high quality lime mortar could we restore the walls to have both strength and breathability. I found this concise writeup on the history of lime mortar very informative.

DeGruchy's lime is actually sourced in France, of the sort that was used to build cathedrals. Here, the mortar is being brushed in preparation for application of a lime whitewash. 

The whitewash they used is thicker than normal, for durability. 

The high quality and authenticity of deGruchy's work has raised the bar for work to follow, as we rehab  the sills, walls, and floors. Our aim is to preserve the unique features of this smallholder farmhouse while making it useful, as a nature center and museum to tell the story of Herrontown Woods.

Appreciating and Repairing the Stone Horserun at Veblen House

When I tell visitors that the big circle of stones near the Veblen House was a horserun, people frequently say "But it's too small." They just can't imagine a horse running in such a tight circle. Not knowing much about horses, I could only say I'd remembered reading it in an old newspaper article. That article, which I just reread, appeared in the March 17, 1985 Trenton Times. It was a feature on Max Latterman, who by then had served as caretaker of the Veblen House, Cottage and grounds for nearly 60 years. Back in 1927, when the property was probably already owned by Jesse and Mary Whiton-Stuart, Max was told to "build an exercise ring out of rocks for the owners' 22 horses." 

If a news article isn't convincing enough, I can now point to a new source of corroboration. The Cowboy and the Queen is a recently released documentary about a horse trainer in California who developed a non-violent way to train horses. Rejecting the brutal methods traditionally used to break a horse, he studied how mustangs communicate in the wild. The film shows him in a circle much the same size as our horserun, demonstrating how he could saddle an untrained horse in half an hour by using little more than body language. He replaces violence with compassion, trust, and respect. Few adopted his methods until Queen Elizabeth took an interest and transformed his life. My heart was in my throat through the whole film. 

The horses were gone by the time the Veblens bought the house from the Whiton-Stuarts in 1941, but the wall remains. (This photo was likely taken by Veblen in the 1950s.)

Much of the wall is still in good shape -- a testament to Max Latterman's skill and strength.

But a few areas have collapsed, perhaps disturbed in past years as we freed the wall from smothering wisteria vines. Recently, one of the participants in the weekly Gratitude yoga sessions, Artem Grebennik, approached me, offering his services to repair the wall. He had studied with a master wall builder in California, Skip Schuckman.

By the time we gave approval, he was about to return to California, but he came for one day to test the concept that one man could move such heavy stones into position. He explained the logic of the wall, with two rows of big stones running along the top edges,  firmly keeping the stones below in place. The big stones lining the top are in turn held in place by smaller filler stones in the interior of the wall. 

Artem, who goes by the name Tyoma, was surprised at how heavy and dense the stones are, but the result of his day's work was impressive. One more positive step for the Veblen House grounds.

"Super-Stabilization" of Veblen House Complete

Thanks to donations large and small, and a good deal of coordination, the Friends of Herrontown Woods has completed what could be called a "super-stabilization" of Veblen House. I call it super-stabilization because the house has always been a sturdy and stable structure, even back when those wishing to demolish it were alleging otherwise. 

Still, there was some buttressing of the foundation to do, and so our architects drew up detailed plans, and we were fortunate to find a mason and carpenters to do the work.

A desire to hold public events in the house required adding girders in the basement. These, too, were designed by our architects with input from a structural engineer and much internal discussion to get it right. Volunteers have since spread a plastic liner over the crawlspace dirt, to reduce humidity.  

We also moved the basement stairway to better utilize space on the first floor.

Though the basement doesn't flood, even in heavy rains, the hot, humid summer air was still getting in through various openings, causing condensation on the new girders. Fortunately, carpenter Robb Geores has returned to install basement windows. 

With new windows and tightly sealing vents, we now can control when and if outside air enters the basement. 

Thanks to our supporters, mason Jerry Ganz, carpenters Chris Farr and Robb Geores, architects Ahmed Azmy and Sigmund Lerner, and volunteers Scott Sillars and Robert Chong. 

 

Who was Richard J. Kramer?

There's been way too much mystery about the man who wrote the 1971 book Herrontown Woods: A Guide to a Natural Preserve. True, the names Richard and Kramer are common, making it harder to google the name, but how many botany PhD's out of Rutgers named Richard J. Kramer could there be? The book itself devotes only one sentence to Dr. Kramer, divulging only that he "served for two summers as Herrontown Woods park naturalist." That would have been in the mid-1960s, when Kramer was doing the field work for his dissertation about Herrontown Woods. Only ten years earlier, in 1957, had the Veblens donated Herrontown Woods as Mercer County's first nature preserve.

Somewhere on the internet back in 2016, I found the following about Kramer, which has proved less than accurate:

"A native of Fairmont. Minn., he is a graduate of St. John's University in Maryland, and holds an M.S. in plant ecology from Arizona State University, where he also received a graduate teaching assistantship. Mr. Kramer has worked for the U.S. Forest Service, and spent two years in the Army as a second lieutenant."

Those with a keen eye will note that there is no St. John's University in Maryland, but rather St. John's College,  renowned since the 1930s for its Great Books program in liberal arts. Its Maryland campus is squeezed onto 36 acres in an urban setting.

It took our genealogist, Patricia Brady, who teaches at Rutgers. to confirm that a young Richard Kramer spent his college years at St. John's University in Minnesota, known for its sprawling, verdant campus--a far more fitting and inspirational setting for a future botanist. The University's website describes a campus 

"set amid 3.300 acres of varied terrain ... remarkable in its natural beauty. It includes wetlands, several lakes, an oak savanna, a restored prairie, and hiking trails that wind through an extensive pine and hardwood forest."

According to her research, our future author of Herrontown Woods was born May 27, 1938 in Martin, MN--an unincorporated town in the Chippewa National Forest. Not far away is Lake Itasca, where the Mississippi River is said to begin. He was the son of John Kramer and Genevieve Devine, and had two brothers, Thomas and Edward. 

After receiving a B.A. from verdant St John's U, he headed to the Arizona desert to gain a M.S. degree from Arizona State U. All this would prepare him for writing his dissertation in New Jersey, with the catchy title The biotic and abiotic influences on, and delimitation of, the plant associations in Herrontown Woods, Mercer County, New Jersey.

A clue to how Kramer ended up at Rutgers for his PhD can be found in the Herrontown Woods book's acknowledgements. The book was edited by Professor Murray F. Buell, Department of Botany. Among Buell's many contributions to ecology was his role as director of the William L. Hutcheson Forest. According to a biography on the Ecological Society of America's website, "He devoted great effort in setting aside this forest and in making it into a major ecological study area and one of the best studied woods in North America." Some of Buell's areas of interest seem particularly relevant for Herrontown Woods: the impact of people on park ecosystems, the ecology of power line right of ways, and "tension zones" between vegetation types. As someone who learned of fire ecology in the 1970s, I was also intrigued by Buell's research decades earlier into the effect of fire use on forests and hydrology.

Kramer likely first came under the influence of Buell close to his hometown in Minnesota. According to the Buell biography: 

(Buell's) "life touched many hundreds of North American ecologists through the Rutgers Ecology Seminar that he initiated and sponsored. In the many summers he taught at the University of Minnesota's Lake Itasca Biological Station, he recognized exceptionally promising young students. Often the fortunate person was hired as an assistant, transported across the country in his car, fed chicken dinners and given a thorough introduction to life as a field ecologist."

1968 was a big year for Richard J. Kramer. He finished his dissertation at Rutgers, married Patricia Ann Cahill of Highland Park, NJ, and became an assistant professor at Mary Baldwin College in Stanton, Virginia. At the time, Baldwin was an all-women's college that had only become racially desegregated five years prior. His wife was due to attend the college at which he was teaching.

It appears that Kramer's assistant professorship at Baldwin did not translate into an academic career. By 1972, he had undertaken a career in the environmental profession that may have been influenced by an ongoing mentorship by Buell. At various points in his life, Kramer lived in Cary, N.C. (close to where Buell had done his early ecological studies at NC State), and in Redlands, CA (near where Buell briefly held a visiting position at U of C--Santa Barbara in the 1970s). Kramer died Jan. 12, 2002 in San Bernardino.

One internet tidbit that suggests Kramer had an impactful environmental career is the "Kramer Medal for Environmental Practice Excellence," overseen by the Academy of Board Certified Environmental Professionals (ABCEP). According to the website:

The Dr. Richard J. Kramer, CEP, Memorial Award for Environmental Excellence was established by the ABCEP to recognize extraordinary achievements of individuals in the environmental profession.

Dr. Kramer's involvement in ABCEP spanned more than two decades. In 1982, he earned his Certified Environmental Professional (CEP) designation. He served on the Academy's Certification Review Board from 1985 to 1999, when he resigned to become the first President of the Academy. Dr. Kramer began his career in the environmental profession in 1972. For many years he was head of the environmental planning and NEPA office for the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in California.

The award was presented for the first time in 2004, to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the creation of the Certified Environmental Professional credential by the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) and the 5th Anniversary of the creation of the ABCEP, which was created in 1999 to oversee the CEP program. The objective of the award is to nationally recognize extraordinary achievements, leadership, and spirit of CEPs.

My life has significant parallels to Kramer's, beyond being a botanist who took a deep interest in Herrontown Woods, 40 year's after Kramer's two year tenure. I, too, grew up surrounded by natural splendor in the midwest (Wisconsin and Michigan), followed by some years in North Carolina before moving to Princeton. In my 20s, I spent a few months living in a tipi near Black Duck, MN, an hour away from where he grew up. Kramer's botanical mentor, Murray Buell, had a close professional partnership with his wife Helen Foot Buell. Similarly, my botanical mentor at the University of Michigan, Warren (Herb) Wagner, worked closely with his wife, Flora Wagner, whom I remember sitting in the room across the hall from his office, peering into a microscope. Many times I accompanied Wagner on his field trips in search of Botrychium ferns and butterflies.

Perhaps some day we'll learn more about Richard J. Kramer--his middle name for instance, and something about his wife. A photo would be nice, but this is a good start.

Update: Many thanks to Liz Knuth, Archives Associate at the library for St. John's University in Minnesota, for her generous sharing of the following photos and other gleanings from the University's archives. The registrar's office also helped out with some info. 

Here's Dick Kramer as a freshman at Minnesota's SJU in 1956. Other photos in the university's yearbook, the "Sagatagan," show him standing in coat and tie or uniform with other young men in the Biological Society, the ROTC Distinguished Military Students, the Sanctuary Club, the Social Recreation Club, and sitting with a trombone in the University Band. 

SJU in Minnesota (there's another St. John's University in NY) has a strong Catholic underpinning. Here's Kramer (above) standing in surplice and cassock in the Sanctuary Club.

The description of the Social Recreation Club's activities conveys something of 1950s America. 

Kramer earned a B.A. in biology from SJU in 1960, which happens to be the year Oswald Veblen died. There are a few parallels between his life and Veblen's. Both came from families with Minnesota roots. Both received military training in midwestern universities and served stints in the military later on. Of Kramer, SJU's Liz Knuth wrote, "Two years of Military Science were obligatory at that time, but not everyone stuck it out all four years." In his military studies, he might have learned of Veblen's leading role in advancing ballistics during the World Wars.

We can wonder if these parallels were known to Kramer when he decided to devote his graduate years in New Jersey to an ecological study of Herrontown Woods. 

One other thing Liz discovered: The "J" in Richard J. Kramer stands for John. Of the many people who have given their time and talent to studying and rehabilitating the Veblens' legacy of land and buildings, some make such special contributions that they seem like "angels in our midst." For the book he wrote about Herrontown Woods, Richard J. Kramer will always be our "Saint John." 

Astronomy and Family: The 1945 Eclipse

This post comes as many prepare to head off to hopefully witness a total eclipse tomorrow, April 8, 2024.

There are a couple Princeton connections to the total eclipse that took place on July 9, 1945--one being a "Princeton Party", presumably from Princeton, that journeyed to Montana for the event. The other has to do with a renowned astronomer named Chandrasekhar, whom Princeton sought to add to its faculty the following year. But I primarily want to tell of a familial connection I have to that eclipse nearly 80 years ago.

From a biography of my father, astronomer Al Hiltner: "In 1945 Hiltner and Chandrasekhar went to Canada to photograph a total eclipse of the sun. This represented a unique collaboration with the theorist Chandrasekhar, for I believe that the paper showing those photographs remains the only observational research paper ever published by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar." 

I found these photos, probably taken by my father, online. That may well be the family tent in the background, more often used for canoe trips, with Chandra standing in the foreground, maintaining the formality of a suit in the outback of Manitoba, Canada. 

They had chosen to set up on "a slight ridge commanding a clear view of the eastern sky some five miles southeast of Pine River."

It looks like they even installed a fence around their site, perhaps to discourage cattle or other animals from disturbing their equipment.

The combination of all their preparations and some good luck made for a successful mission:

"On July 9th morning the eastern sky was cloudy, but the drifting clouds produced a clear region some twenty-five minutes before totality. The entire sky clouded over again half an hour later."

By July 1945, Germany had surrendered and Japan would soon thereafter. According to wikipedia, Chandra worked in the Ballistics Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Grounds during WW II. He would surely have collaborated with Veblen, who oversaw scientific work at Aberdeen. That Princeton offered Chandra a position one year later, after Veblen's close friend, Henry Norris Russell, retired, may not be coincidental. Princeton's interest resulted in the doubling of Chandra's salary, as U. of Chicago increased his pay to match Princeton's offer. 

Veblen a "Towering Figure" in Mathematics

It's gratifying to see Oswald Veblen being more widely recognized on the internet for his contributions to American mathematics. There are still many tellings of history in which Veblen remains hidden, however. Meeting a retired Princeton-based physicist/violinist recently, I naturally thought of Einstein and told him I was researching Oswald Veblen's influence in bringing Einstein to Princeton. He said emphatically that it was the Bambergers who brought Einstein instead, through their funding of the Institute for Advanced Study. He then mentioned Richard Courant, and gave credit to New York University for bringing this great jewish mathematician to America after he was displaced from Gottingen by the Nazis. 

But behind both of these stories of brilliant and impactful immigration is Oswald Veblen, who was quietly instrumental in bringing many displaced mathematicians and physicists to America. A succinct, attractively rendered telling of the story, called "Collaboration and Companionship," repeatedly mentions Veblen's involvement in bringing Einstein, Hermann Weyl, Emmy Noether, John von Neumann, Kurt Godel, and Richard Courant to the U.S.

That webpage links to another entitled "Towering Figures," in which brief stories are told of four "key individuals in pioneering and continuing the growth of the American Mathematical community": J.J. Sylvester, Felix Klein, E.H. Moore, and Oswald Veblen. 

Veblen had a connection to each of the three who preceded him. His father, Andrew, would surely have studied with J.J. Sylvester at Johns Hopkins before moving to the University of Iowa in 1883 to teach physics and math--the same year Sylvester returned to Europe. And surely his father would have taken a 13 year old Oswald to hear Felix Klein speak in 1893 at the International Mathematical Congress held as part of the Chicago World's Fair. Oswald went on to study with E. H. Moore in Chicago, before moving to Princeton. 

A couple asides: Biographies of Sylvester and Klein mention their work to encourage women to pursue careers in mathematics, as did Veblen.

On a more autobiographical note, I expect the Veblens would also have witnessed the 40 inch refracting telescope on display at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. When I was growing up 70 years later, my father, W. Albert Hiltner, was director of Yerkes Observatory, where that largest of refracting telescopes still functions beneath the big dome. The Collaboration and Companionship story also describes how the Manhattan Project convinced President Hutchins of the University of Chicago to "throw massive resources into the reorganization" of the physics and math departments near the end of World War II. That funding and resources may be why I grew up where I did, as my father was hired by the U. of Chicago astronomy department around that time. 

Exploring Veblen House Genealogy

By chance and serendipity, through friends in Durham, NC, I learned of Patricia Brady, an expert genealogist who teaches at Rutgers University. After a career as a therapist, Pat has become an avid genealogist who has generously offered to explore the lineages of former owners of the Veblen House. 

She began by researching the Whiton-Stuarts--the idiosyncratic and once wealthy couple who moved the prefabricated house to Princeton in 1931, and had the house interior customized with oak trim and paneling. 

Now she is turning her expertise and energy to the lineages of Oswald and Elizabeth Veblen, 50 years after they made their last gift of land and home to the public. The Veblens donated the first nature preserve in Princeton and Mercer County: 82 acres for Herrontown Woods back in 1957. Then, when Elizabeth Veblen died fifty years ago, on January 26, 1974, the Veblen House and its 14 acres were added to Herrontown Woods. 

Thanks to Patricia for sharing her passion and knowledge, in exploring the history of those who made history. 

Historical Clues on an Old Tin Roof

When we successfully fought off attempts by Mercer County in 2017 to demolish the Veblen House and Cottage, we had a lot of allies. Community support was crucial, as was support from members of town council. Largely unsung, however, was the quiet work of the Veblen House roof to keep the structure dry since 1941. Mischaracterized in a 2011 study as consisting of cedar shingles, the roof is in fact made of two different materials. On top is a metal roof, and along each side are shingles made, surprisingly, of asbestos cement. Asbestos cement? It sounds dangerous, but we've been reassured that the shingles are "non-friable", and could be taken off by any licensed roofer. Back in 1941, asbestos cement shingles were considered more durable than cedar shingles, and less costly than slate. This combination of ultra-durable roofing materials has protected the house since the Veblens had it installed 82 years ago, with only a couple minor patches required in recent years. 

The roof fooled the professional firm back in 2011, and it fooled us for many years, until we finally got a ladder long enough to climb up and discover that the top portion of the roof is metal. 

A stamp on the metal reveals its maker: Fable and Company. The stamp says:

COLONIAL

OLD METHOD

401 B

OPEN HEARTH

COPPER BEARING

FABLE and COMPANY

When we first found this stamp six years ago, I assumed the roof had been part of the prefab moved to Princeton from Morristown by the Whiton-Stuarts, I sent an email to the Morris County Historical Society, hoping that they'd recognize the company name. 

A quick response came from historian Sara Weissman.

"The enclosed indicate that Fable and Co launched in Philadelphia in January 1921. The news item is from Sheet Metal Worker issue of Jan. 7, 1921, p 474. "

Sounds like sheet metal was a big deal back then, if a publication dedicated to the subject is 500 pages long.

Her email continued, "The box ad with slogan is from the Swarthmore College yearbook of 1936. Firm principal Frederick A. Fable died in 1944, age 81, still president of Fable & Co, per his death certificate."

The Veblens added the roof to the house in 1941, and if the roofing tin truly is "of unexcelled quality," as its 82 years of service attest, that fits with the reputation of the Veblens, and the Matthews Construction Company, which built many buildings on Princeton University campus, along with Veblen's roof.

Interestingly, in my inquiry, I had misspelled the name as "Fabel," but Sara found that I was not the only one to misspell the business owner's name. "He was recorded as Fabel in the 1900 Census."

The steeper portion of the gambrel roof are covered with asbestos cement shingles. It should be said right off the bat that the shingles are "non-friable", not considered a hazard in their current state, and can be safely removed by any licensed roofer. (Small amounts of asbestos inside the house have already been removed, thanks to support from the municipality.)

We found some labeling on a few extra shingles left in the attic. They were Granada Red, No. 7 M, manufactured by Johns Manville. Asbestos composite shingles were produced to replace not only wood shingle siding, but also slate roofing shingles.

As most people know, asbestos was at first highly touted for myriad uses in buildings, ships, and elsewhere, but its embrace in manufacturing did not end well. As asbestos.com tells the story:

In the 1970s and ‘80s, thousands of people began developing serious illnesses as a result of exposure to the company’s asbestos products. Many instituted legal actions against Johns Manville, and the company filed for bankruptcy in 1982.

After decades of bankruptcy proceedings and changes in ownership, Johns Manville still manufactures construction materials, but now they are asbestos-free.

Now, in 2024, the Veblen House roof has begun to develop small leaks here and there. We will likely need to replace it rather than do repairs, but it speaks to the quality of the house that the roof has served well for 82 years. 

Long-Awaited Foundation Repairs Now Complete

As 2023 draws to a close, it's time to celebrate a big step forward in the repair of Veblen House. A mason and his crew arrived last week to pour footings and underpin eroded areas of the house's foundation in the basement. 

Back in 2011, a detailed assessment of the Veblen House was conducted by a local architectural firm that noted, among other things, erosion beneath the chimney's foundation. Repair was characterized as "urgent." A cynic might say that the report, with its high calculated pricetag for restoring the house, was meant less to spur repair than to intimidate anyone wishing to take the project on. The report detailed all of the house's flaws, and none of its assets. Seeing promise where others saw only expense, we remained undaunted.

The sense of urgency was lessened slightly when I took a closer look under the chimney, and found that only a third of it had been undermined. 

Still, it was a great relief this past week to see the chimney, and a couple other spots in the house's foundation, at last properly underpinned with concrete. 

The cement arrived in a miniature cement truck, which promptly got stuck on ground softened by a heavy rain earlier in the week. Herrontown Woods was created by the Veblens specifically as a place to get away from motorized vehicles, so it's amusing to see how the land itself enforces their decree. 

The crew quickly adapted, carting the concrete down to the house in wheelbarrows.

Bucket after very heavy bucket of cement was handed down through the trapdoor in the kitchen to waiting hands in the basement,

where it was poured into moulds to form footings. Our desire to use Veblen House for events requires reinforcement of the already sturdy floors. 

The masons had to get creative where the footings intersected with existing structures.

Cutting into the basement floor for one of the footings revealed a drainage pipe running beneath the floor. This pipe may well connect to a series of wells outside. The Whiton-Stuarts, who built the house and lived in it for the first ten years before selling to the Veblens, had many horses. It's possible that seepage underneath the basement flows into wells that may at one time have provided drinking water for the horses

The masons reconnected the severed drainage pipe so that it can continue to help keep the basement dry.

Thanks goes to FOHW board member Scott Sillars, who was able to find a mason to do the work (we had been searching on and off for years), and to our supporters whose donations fund repairs.