Edward Ansley Stokes and the William Trent House

Stokes Monument

Edward A. Stokes (1869-1939), son of Trenton photographer Edward H. Stokes, was a lawyer, author and poet. He was also the last private owner of the William Trent House which he donated to the city in 1929. After extensive restoration it was opened as a museum in 1939.

The Trent House is the oldest of Trenton’s landmarks. An excellent example of Early Georgian Colonial architecture, it was built in 1719 on an 800-acre tract of land as the country estate of William Trent, a prominent Philadelphia trader and merchant, who laid out a settlement around his house in 1720 which came to be known as Trent’s Town, later Trent-Town, and finally Trenton.

Over the years the house has been known by several names. At one time it was named “Kingsbury Hall,” then “Bloomsbury Court,” and finally “Woodlawn.” It was occupied by Hessian troops in December of 1776, and has been the home of three New Jersey governors, Lewis Morris from 1742 to 1746, Philemon Dickerson from 1835 to 1838, and Rodman McCamley Price from 1854 to 1857.

The house came into the possession of Edward H. Stokes on his marriage to Permelia S. Wood in 1860, where they resided from 1861 to 1887. It then passed to his son Edward A. Stokes, who lived there from 1887 to 1929.

The Trent House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Stokes is interred in the family plot in Section A, Lot 121-123, 160-172. The monument of white marble is surmounted by the figure Hope depicted by an allegorical female with a finger pointed to heaven and holding an anchor. It is from the works of John W. Conroy, Trenton.