By Anne Levin
Multiple tributes, some of them tearful, were voiced in memory of Elric Endersby at a meeting of Princeton’s Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) on Monday evening. Endersby, a longtime member of the HPC, died on October 13 at the age of 79 (see the obituary on page 40).
Best known as co-founder of the New Jersey Barn Company and the editor of the Princeton Recollector, Endersby has also been remembered not only by the HPC, but also by members of the local community dedicated to preservation and architectural history.
“Elric’s passing is devastating to all his friends and all the people with whom he worked and interacted,” wrote historian and author Clifford Zink in an email. “He was the go-to source for Princeton history and historic architecture, a superb illustrator documenting historic buildings, and so prescient when he started the Princeton History Project to record oral histories of older Princetonians, many born in the late 19th century, and in publishing those and other stories in the Princeton Recollector he co-founded with Jamie Sayen in 1975. He thankfully donated the archives of both of those major initiatives to the Historical Society of Princeton for researchers to mine for decades to come. His knowledge in our local history is irreplaceable, but his infectious curiosity and joy in studying, recording, sharing, and protecting that history endures with all who were fortunate to know him.”
HPC member Shirley Satterfield, founder of the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society, became emotional when speaking about Endersby at the Monday meeting. In an email following the meeting, she wrote: “Knowing, remembering, respecting, and honoring Elric could take an entire page. He was a man of valor, thoughtful of others, caring and kind. Anyone who has received original Christmas cards from Elric or has spent a day conversing with and enjoying his knowledge of history and architecture, has shared time with him as classmates through the Princeton school system, or has spent quality time as friends or acquaintances, fondly remember and cherish the moments.”
Satterfield first met Endersby during her early years as a trustee of the Historical Society of Princeton.
“His small office was located at Bainbridge House, where the HSP meetings were held, and often after our board meetings I would climb the squeaky stairs to his office, to converse and learn from him about the history of Princeton,” she wrote. “We would talk at length about his knowledge and articles that he shared in his publication called The Recollector. When I started my journey as a historian, I can proudly say that Elric was my mentor. I had the opportunity and the honor again to serve with Elric on the Princeton Historic Preservation Commission. Every application that came before us, Elric knew about the historic buildings, gave the history, explained the architectural features, and gave meaningful suggestions for the applications that came before the Commission.”
Architect Max Hayden wrote in an email that Endersby “was gifted at an early age and honed his skills early on. He lived on his own terms and enjoyed an artistic freedom that few achieve, and made his life’s work saving old buildings and teaching about them. He had a singular professional focus which guided all of his life’s actions.”
Endersby was known to gain access to old buildings under removal or restoration, “take exacting measurements and then draft/render them to scale all the while analyzing the possible stages of construction and deducting how the buildings had evolved,” Hayden said. “His knowledge was immense and wide — his love of old timber-framed buildings coupled with their contents was unparalleled except perhaps by his longtime business partner Alex Greenwood of the New Jersey Barn Company. These two worked side by side to save and reconstruct old buildings otherwise slated for demolition. Their inventories of salvaged materials gave new life to old doors, mantels, windows, flooring and the like. They still have plenty.”
Members of the HPC recalled Endersby as gifted, kind, and generous with his knowledge of Princeton’s past — its characters as well as its buildings.
HPC commissioner Roger Shatzkin said Endersby provided anecdotes about area residents of the past. “It was wonderful because we didn’t have that historical, institutional memory that he had from 12 years of doing The [Princeton] Recollector. As a member of the Commission, to be very honest, I always wanted to hear what Elric had to say before figuring out what my position was going to be. Because he clarified things.”
Councilman Leighton Newlin, the governing body’s liaison to the HPC, quoted a statement by Martin Luther King Jr. in tribute to Endersby. “It reminds me of everything I know, witnessed, and felt about our good friend Elric,” he said. “Rest in peace.”
HPC Vice Chair David Schure recalled having his young son with him during a visit with Endersby, who took the time to engage the boy in an activity — checking on his progress — while the grownups talked.
“I think it’s his kindness, with his subtleness, his enthusiasm for every single built thing he ever came across,” Schure said. “That enthusiasm that he wanted everybody to have about history and the built environment is going to be really missed.”
Julie Capozzoli, who chairs the HPC, said a memorial for Endersby will be held at Howell Living History Farm in Hopewell Township, at a date to be announced.