First of a two-part series
By: Lea Kahn
On a warm, spring day in 1761, John Brearley II gazed proudly at the two-and-a-half story brick farmhouse he and his son, James Brearley, had just completed.
It was his trophy, just as surely as it now is Lawrence Township’s. The township, which has owned the property since 1978, plans to share John Brearley II’s trophy — restored to its former glory — with the public next month.
The 1761 John Brearley House gala reopening has been set for Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6, at the house, located at the end of Meadow Road, off Princeton Pike. A cocktail reception is planned for May 5, and tours of the house will be given May 6. The events are sponsored by the Lawrence Historical Society.
As a child, John Brearley II likely never imagined that he would live in such a grand home as the Georgian-style farmhouse. After all, his father had arrived in Philadelphia in 1682 as an indentured servant to the Pownal family.
John Brearley was freed from his indentured service in 1686, after his required four years had expired. He arrived in Maidenhead Township — the original name for Lawrence — in 1695. He purchased 200 acres of land along the Shabakunk Creek from Mahlon Stacy, and 600 acres in Hopewell Township.
John Brearley acquired the tract of land on which the present day Brearley House stands in 1697, after his marriage to Sarah Biles. The 300-acre parcel is located between what is now Princeton Pike and the Delaware and Raritan Canal, north of Interstate Highway 95.
The first John Brearley and his wife built a small house on their newly acquired land. The foundation of that house — home to the first generation of Brearleys to live in Lawrence Township — was discovered in front of the 1761 house during an archeological dig last spring.
Hunter Research Inc. archeologists also discovered the foundation of another house, behind the present day house, they believe was built by John Brearley II between 1720 and 1760. That house was likely demolished when the 1761 house was built.
The prosperous John Brearley II probably built the 1761 house for his son, James Brearley, and his young family. It is possible that John Brearley II and his wife lived in the 1761 house with James Brearley and his family.
The 1761 farmhouse was handed down by James Brearley to his son, John Brearley III. The farmhouse remained in the family’s hands until 1918, when it was sold to a man from New York state. The house changed hands several times before Lawrence received Green Acres Program money to buy it in 1978.
The Brearley family was one of the most prominent families in early Lawrence Township. John Brearley served as overseer of the poor in 1712, and as a commissioner in 1719. His son, John Brearley II, held those positions in 1729 and 1753, respectively. John Brearley III also served in those posts, from 1816 to 1818, and 1804 to 1812, respectively.
One of John Brearley’s grandsons, David Brearley, was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and a signer of the U.S. Constitution.
The 1761 John Brearley House is listed on the state and national Registers of Historic Places. It is important in architectural terms because it is a rare surviving example of a farmhouse built in the vernacular Georgian style. The bricks probably were produced from local clay.
The use of glazed brick headers to form “1761” — the date of construction — in the eastern end wall is one of the striking features of the John Brearley House. This was most commonly done in houses built in southern New Jersey.