Hendrick Fisher House
1960 Easton Ave.
Map / Directions to the Fisher House
Map / Directions to all Franklin Township Revolutionary War Sites
The Fisher homestead is the property of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and is located on the grounds of the St. Andrew Center.
For tour and event information, call
(732) 356-0090
and visit The Ukrainian Orthodox Church website
The sign reads:
"This 1688 house became the house of Hendrick Fisher, prominent citizen and patriot leader until his death in 1778." [1]
The house is believed to be the oldest historic structure in Somerset County. The 1688 structure remains, although subsequent additions and alteration have changed the house from the original farmer’s house.
Hendrick Fisher Junior was born in Germany in 1697. He and his family emigrated to the Colonies several years later. The family name, Visscher, was later anglicized to Fisher.
First mentioned in 1740 in Somerset County, Hendrick Fisher held the following political offices:
- Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
- Member of the Colonial Assembly for 30 years and for some time its powerful leader.
- New Jersey Representative at the Continental Congress of 1765.
- President of the Colonial Assembly.
- Member of the Committee of Governors.
- President of The First Provincial Congress of New Jersey, 1775.
- President of the New Jersey Delegation to the Continental Congress.
- One of three members of the Stamp Act.
Hendrick Fisher was present for the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. He returned to his residence bringing with him a copy of the historic document. On July 7, 1776, Fisher read the Declaration of Independence at the Frelinghuysen Tavern in Bound Brook.
In 1776, General Howe offered full pardons to those who would give up their allegiance to the American cause. Fisher was one of 4 men specifically excluded from this offer. He was branded an "enemy of the Crown".
The Fisher Homestead was raided by the British army in April 1777, on its way to New Brunswick. They had hoped to capture Fisher for their King. Fisher was not at the home, but the soldiers they plundered his barn and livestock. The losses totaled $707.50, a substantial sum in 1777. Fisher died before the end of the war. He is buried in the family burial ground, in a special fenced section of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery.[2]
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