In 1850, a man named Joseph McGill bought 21 acres on South River Road in the town of Cranbury, N.J. He built a farmhouse and began growing crops on the land that would stay in his family for generations to come. It wasn’t always easy. The house burned in 1879, but he rebuilt it. In 1936, his son, who now owned the property, died, leaving his wife and daughter to manage the farm. By 2012, McGill’s great-grandsons, Andy and Chris Henry, inherited the land where they’d grown up. They invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into it, and today, they lease it to cattle and sheep farmers.
The area, which was once filled with family farms like the one that belongs to the Henrys, has changed quite a bit over the years. According to AgWeb, the New Jersey Turnpike ran near the property, and when an exit was built close to it in 1972, people began selling their farms to developers. Green pastures and grazing animals were replaced with metal warehouses and industrial buildings. The Henrys have received numerous offers to buy their land over the years — some as high as $30 million — but they refused them, opting to hang on to the place their family called home for 175 years.
“The town loves driving by and seeing something besides warehouses. Keeping this legacy intact and passing it to the next generation has been, and is always, our plan,” they told AgWeb.
As it turns out, the town of Cranbury had something else in mind. Back in April, Andy received a letter from the Cranbury Township Committee. It stated that if he didn’t sell to the town for an “agreeable price,” it would use eminent domain to take over the property to build “affordable housing units.”
Chris spoke at a Cranbury Township Committee meeting last week, begging them not to take his family’s property, but it didn’t matter. Officials are going through with their plans to seize the land anyway. They say they will pay a “fair price” for it, but they do not care that the Henry family doesn’t want to sell it and have turned down much higher offers than what the town will pay.
As it turns out, Cranbury is desperately responding to a controversial state mandate. Here’s more from NJ.com:
The family’s plea comes as Cranbury races to meet a June 30 deadline to submit its affordable housing plan to the state. The township is required to build 265 affordable housing units over the next decade — part of a statewide mandate that has stirred controversy in some towns.
By 2035, municipalities across New Jersey must add or renovate more than 146,000 affordable units under quotas established by the state. The mandate stems from the Mount Laurel Doctrine, a series of New Jersey Supreme Court rulings that require towns to provide their fair share of affordable housing in the region.
Towns are not required to build the housing themselves. But they are required to come up with a plan that includes areas where developers can build affordable units.
To help meet those requirements, the Cranbury Township Committee voted unanimously on May 12 to acquire the Henry family farm.
The town’s former mayor has spoken out on their behalf, claiming that the land is not even a good place to put housing because it’s surrounded by industrial buildings. The Henrys’ lawyer, Timothy Duggan, an eminent domain specialist, claims that this is not a proper use of eminent domain and the complete opposite of what government should stand for.
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And now, the Henrys have someone else on their side: the Donald Trump administration. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is getting involved and said she will explore every possible legal option to help this family keep their land. She also says, “We must protect our family farms at all costs” and encourages others to come forward if they’re experiencing similar issues with their own family farms and this “Biden-style government takeover.”
We hear you, and I am looking into this situation immediately.
We must protect our family farms at all costs.
Standby. https://t.co/kBKkX5shjz
— Brooke Rollins (@BrookeLRollins) June 17, 2025
On the phone with Andy Henry of Highland Ranch in Cranbury, NJ.
The city govt has approved seizing his 175-year-old family farm via eminent domain for affordable housing units.
Whether the Maudes, the Henrys or others whom we will soon announce, the Biden-style government… pic.twitter.com/0zFSdO9sYj
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 17, 2025
On a personal note, I’ve been very impressed with Rollins so far and the way she stands up for people who may not otherwise have a voice when dealing with oppressive governments, people like the Maude family of South Dakota. If you’ll recall, the Joe Biden administration went after this young family and nearly jailed them over a fence that was built decades ago.
I’m also dealing with a similar situation involving my own home and land that has been in my family for numerous generations. While it’s not the government — it’s a private company building data centers, and maybe I’ll write something more about this later — I fear what the future holds. No one should ever feel forced from their own land, and the government should certainly never be allowed to take it from you.
Anyway, we’ll see what happens to the Henrys.
Do a quick Google search and only agriculture and local New Jersey sites are covering this story because the mainstream media would never bother to do anything that might destroy their lefty Big Government fantasies or point out that the Trump administration truly stands up for the little guy. We will.
I will always do what I can to highlight these stories because this shouldn’t be allowed. This family and every family should be able to do what they want with their own land. But I can’t do it without you. When y’all sign up to become PJ Media VIP members, it keeps us in business so that we can bring you stories like these and make sure they see the light of day and get in front of a national audience.
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