Westfall Winery is located at
Westfall Farm, one of New Jersey’s most historic and dynamic locations.
According to the original deed, Simon Westfall purchased the land for
Westfall Farm from the Earl of Perth in 1774. The lawyer who handled the
transaction, Elias Boudinot, would
later serve as a delegate to the Continental Congress, and sign the
Treaty of Paris. Simon Westfall built the original stone house and
farmed the tract of land. The American Revolution broke out on April 19,
1775 and Westfall Farm was suddenly thrust into the front lines as
Joseph Brant and his Tories conducted raids in neighboring Port Jervis,
New York. The farm survived the revolution and beginning in the early
nineteenth century, Westfall farm became a stop on the Underground
Railroad for run-away slaves looking for freedom in the north. The farm
passed through various members of the Westfall family
until Wilhelmus Westfall purchased the farm from Samuel Westfall in
1826. Wilhelmus lived on the farm with his family until his death in
1843. During a seventeen-year period, Wilhelmus added onto the house, and
built a productive farm that traded with Port Jervis, New York. |
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David Westfall inherited the farm from his father and
no single person has ever occupied the farm as long as David Westfall.
He was an upstanding member of the community, lived the life of a
comfortable gentleman farmer, and a successful business man.
During his ninety five year lifetime on the farm, David grew up, raised
a family, and watched his grandchildren grow up. Under his leadership, the farm dealt in a wide
array of
business enterprises, including lumber, produce, and dairy, as nearby Port
Jervis exploded into a
railroad boomtown.
Upon David Westfall's death in 1916, his grandson Dr. Wilhelmus David Westfall, inherited the farm. Dr. Westfall, a distinguished professor of mathematics at the University of Missouri, was better suited in academia than in the science of farming. He remained in Missouri while tenants worked the farm through the Great Depression. In 1940, he sold the property to Charles G. Mortimer Sr., and began a new chapter in Westfall Farm's history. At this time, Charles Mortimer was an eminent figure in the advertising world and would later assume the Presidency of the General Foods Corporation, which was at that time, one of the largest corporations in the world.
The 1940's and 1950's saw the resurrection of Westfall
The 1940's saw the growth of another Westfall tradition: Morgan Horses.
The first of the "legendary" Morgans began The mid 1960's saw a change in economics for Sussex County. The labor pool for the dairy business had dried, and the work intensive dairy herd at Westfall Farm became increasingly difficult to maintain. CGM donated the Westfall Holstein herd to the Bordentown Reformatory in 1966. The following year, Westfall farm became converted to a modern Morgan Horse facility. Van Darymple, manager of Westfall Farm for over sixty years, records this officially on the barn blackboard: " APRIL 19, 1966 - COWS OUT" "APRIL 19, 1967 - HORSES IN" For a decade, the Westfall Morgan Horses won Blue Ribbons captured many accolades as Westfall Farm evolved from a rough and tumble dairy to a refined stately horse farm. Fishing ponds and hayfields replaced the old Holstein grazing pastures. Celebrities such as Ingrid Bergman visited Westfall Farm, and in September of 1974, Westfall Farm celebrated its bicentennial with one of the largest "shindigs" in Montague's history! Charles G. Mortimer passed away in 1978 and his wife followed in 1982. Both are buried on the farm. Their eldest son, Charles "Duke" Mortimer Jr., became owner of the farm and he and his wife Elisabeth "Bette" Smith Mortimer moved into the farm in 1985. They lived there happily, enjoying the ever changing natural wonders and visits from their children and grandchildren. Sadly, Bette passed away in 1997, but her love of nature and all living things still is a major ongoing theme on Westfall Farm.
In more recent history, the farm's business has seen the continuance of
the horse breeding and boarding, the return of
Duke and Bette's youngest son, Loren, and his wife Georgene opened a new
chapter in Westfall Farm's history. Loren and Georgene set a plan in
motion in the Fall of 2000 that would culminate in what is now Westfall
Winery.
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