Part of The Next Generations’ Yeoman Farmers.

The name of “yeoman” is perhaps less fitting for Ezekiel Smith, a wealthy Quaker who lived here from the 1730s until his death in 1767. He purchased the farm from merchant Joseph Burleigh, who had bought it from Joseph Houghton, one of the first landowners in the area. Of these three men, it is unclear who built the house, meaning it may date anywhere from the earliest years of the 18th century to the 1730s.

Ezekiel Smith was known for his “fast living.” A bachelor all his life, Smith entertained extensively from his house. He also owned eight enslaved people at the time of his death: five men, two women, and a girl. They all lived in a detached kitchen. We do not know who owned the house between 1767 and 1806 -- it is likely that the farm remained vacant during the Revolution, as many in Princeton did.

Later Name: In 1881, John Updike purchased this house. Three generations of his family continuously owned the house, establishing an association between the house and the Updike name. John Updike’s son, George Furman Updike, who was raised in a large farming family, came to own the nearby Updike Farmstead in 1892.

Original Sections: current home’s dining room, now encased by the front facade

Present Use: private residence