Bainbridge House, Princeton

Place Title: Bainbridge House, Princeton
Identifier: NJS-PLC-00251
Place Type: Domicile; College or university
Description: Bainbridge House is an 18th-century historic house located at 158 Nassau Street in Princeton, New Jersey. The house is owned by Princeton University (since 1877). Bainbridge House served for a long time as the home of the Historical Society of Princeton, and it is now operated by the Princeton University Art Museum.

Several enslaved persons are known to have lived at the house in the 18th century. The house was originally built in 1766 for a tanner named John Stockton (1734-1771). When Stockton died in 1771, the inventory of his estate showed that an enslaved man named Peter lived in the household.

After John Stockton's death, his heirs rented out the house to Dr. Absalom Bainbridge and his wife Mary. While Absalom Bainbridge lived at this house, he enslaved a man named Prime. Prime eventually attained freedom for his service during the Revolutionary War. Extensive information about Prime and his long quest for freedom is available with digitized archival sources. See the illustrated essay by Izzy Kasdin for the Princeton & Slavery Project, which draws on Giles R. Wright and Gloria Halpern's 1991 article in the Princeton History (the journal of the Historical Society of Princeton).
Address: Bainbridge House, Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States of America
Locality: Princeton
County (Modern): Mercer County
County (Historical): Somerset County
State or Province: New Jersey
Country: United States of America
Located In: Princeton
Organization: Princeton University
Latitude: 40.350440
Longitude: -74.657573
References: Giles R. Wright and Gloria Halpern, “Prime: Another Resident of Bainbridge House,” Princeton History, no. 10, 1991.

Izzy Kasdin, "The Manumission of Prime," Princeton & Slavery Project. https://slavery.princeton.edu/stories/the-manumission-of-prime.

"History of Bainbridge House," Princeton University Art Museum. https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/story/history-bainbridge-house.

"Bainbridge House," in Green Oval Tour: A Snapshot of 18th Century Princeton. Historical Society of Princeton. https://princetonhistory.org/green-oval-tour/bainbridge-house.html.
Image Rights: Bainbridge House, 158 Nassau Street, Princeton, Mercer County, NJ. Exterior South Elevation, photographed on October 14, 1936, by Nathaniel R. Ewan, for the Historic American Buildings Survey. Survey number: HABS NJ-336. Library of Congress control number nj0561. https://www.loc.gov/item/nj0561/
Record Contributor: Jesse Bayker
Linked Persons: To filter persons by location and other criteria, visit the Persons browsing page.
Persons of African descent linked to Bainbridge House, Princeton:

Prime (b. 1755)

White persons linked to Bainbridge House, Princeton:

Absalom Bainbridge (1742-1807)

Mary Taylor Bainbridge

Part of Bainbridge House, Princeton

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