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 in 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.