An Introduction to Trenton Country Club - An Early History
The formation of a country club in Trenton was conceived by Charles S. Van Syckel, and the late Bennett Van Syckel, Justice of the Supreme Court, who interested Karl G. Roebling and John H. Janeway in the proposition, and a meeting was held in the library of Bennett Van Syckel to formulate plans. Judge Van Syckel had become interested in golf by driving balls up and down the beach in front of his summer residence at Mantoloking, New Jersey, and his proposal to establish a country club met with immediate favor.
The association was organized in the office of Henry W. Green and the certificate of incorporation was filed on October 21, 1897, and recorded in Book D of Corporations for Mercer County, page 76. The first officers were Frank O. Briggs, President; Hugh H. Hamill, Vice-President; Charles S. Van Syckel, Secretary; and Henry W. Green, Treasurer. At the first meeting there were present S. Meredith Dickinson, Hughes Oliphant, John H. Janeway, Karl G. Roebling and Stephen W. Blackwell, together with the officers. These men made the Trenton Country Club possible.
The question at once arose as to a suitable location for a golf course and other recreational activities. At that time “Oaklands” was owned and occupied by the late Colonel A. Dickinson Woodruff who died there August 11, 1896, a short time prior to the organization of the club. The estate, after the completion of legal formalities, became directly available, inasmuch as Colonel Woodruff left no direct heirs.
After being viewed by Judge Van Syckel this property was decided upon as being especially suitable for club purposes and was almost immediately acquired. The colonial mansion with broad acres and rolling terrain, with no sparsity of stately trees, added much to its desirability and attraction.
On the ninth day of November, 1897, the officers of the club signed a lease for “Oaklands” for a period of five years at a yearly rental of $500.00, payable quarterly. The lease contained an option to purchase the property at any time during the term thereof for the sum of $250.00 an acre. The option was exercised, and on February 26, 1903, a deed for the property, containing 98.70 acres was executed by Hugh Hamill, Surviving Executor of the Estate of Dickinson Woodruff, in consideration of the sum of $24,675.00, which deed is recorded in Book 262 of Deeds for Mercer County, page 92. To meet this obligation a mortgage was secured by an issue of $40,000.00 of bonds, of which $25,000.00 were to be devoted to the purchase of the property, and the balance to be used as a fund for improvements.
In addition to the main tract, the deed conveyed a small tract of timber land on the north side of the road, on which tract was located the water supply for the house. The water then used came from the same spring used by George Woodruff, over which spring was a small spring house, and the water was pumped by two automatic rams.
The Country Club was formally opened March 26, 1898.
By deed dated January 14, 1914, and recorded in Book 371 of Deeds, page 199, &c., The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company deeded to the club a piece of land lying south of the canal, containing 11.659 acres for the sum of $2,000.
The Club was reincorporated in 1921.
The Woodruff Family
The Woodruff family is one of long lineage, the first representative of which in America, was John Woodruff, who emigrated from Yorkshire, England, in 1638, and was one of the settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The family later removed to Northern New Jersey and subsequently to Trenton and vicinity. Among them was Aaron Dickinson Woodruff who became Mayor of Trenton, serving from September 12th, 1762 to July 17th 1817, and also District Attorney of New Jersey for many years.
His son, George Whitefield Woodruff, a Trentonian, was appointed U.S. District Attorney for the State of Georgia by John Adams, during his Presidency of the United States - 1797 to 1801. Mr. Woodruff thereupon moved to Georgia and took up his residence in the City of Savannah where he married Jean Houston, daughter of Sir George and Lady Ann Houston of the Scottish Nobility. He acquired the present site of the Country Club and built the mansion still standing, which was completed in 1808. He named the estate Oaklands and occupied it as a Summer residence, driving back and forth with his family by carriage each Spring and Fall, three weeks being required for the journey each way. He was a man of high culture and learning. His death occurred at Oaklands, September 2nd, 1876.
The late Colonel A. Dickinson Woodruff, the last surviving heir of George Whitefield Woodruff, inherited the estate from his father and occupied it as his home, when free from military duty, throughout his entire life, having been born there in 1818, and died there August 11th, 1896. His body is interred in Ewing Churchyard.
Colonel Woodruff was an admirable gentleman of the old type. Tall, erect of handsome military bearing, a graduate of Princeton, a veteran of the Mexican and Civil War, he was also a man of rare culture and wide travel. He had numerous club affiliations and his associates were men conspicuous in public and social life. He never married.