Allentown, N.J., its rise and progress, Part 22 07/28/2005 (javascript: openEmailWindow();) _Email to a friend_ (javascript: openEmailWindow();) (javascript: openOpinionWindow();) _Voice your opinion_ (javascript: openOpinionWindow();) (http://www.zwire.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=1091&dept_id=425690&newsid=14928461) _Printer-friendly_ (http://www.zwire.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=1091&dept_id=425690&newsid=14928461) HISTORICALLY SPEAKING From the New Jersey Historical Society's Charles R. Hutchinson collection— referenced in new book about Allentown's revolutionary war hero, "David Brearley and the Making of the U. S. Constitution" by Donald Scarinci—the story of Brearley's wife, Elizabeth, and her daughter, Harriet Luttrell. Harriet, wife of James Rogers, has a somewhat interesting history. In 1749, there died in Amwell, Hunterdon County, one John Mullen, leaving a wife named Elizabeth, and a son and four daughters, all of whom were minors. The widow subsequently married a man named Stevenson and the family removed to Trenton, where they occupied the large old brick mansion known as the Clay Hill property, still standing (in 1888) on what is now Pennington Avenue. In 1759, there was temporarily quartered in Trenton, awaiting service in the French and Indian war, then in progress, H. M. 48th Regiment of Infantry, an ensign in which was on Henry Lawes Luttrell, the eldest son of the (Irish) Earl of Carhampton, and who was then about twenty years of age. He met and fell in love with Elizabeth Mullen, one of the daughters above mentioned, then about eighteen and who is said to have been very beautiful. Her family strongly opposed their intimacy and an elopement was the consequence. It is claimed by their descendants that there was a marriage between the parties, but anyway, both afterwards married other persons, as will hereafter appear. Elizabeth was reclaimed by her mother, just as she was embarking with Luttrell for England, where a captain's commission had been procured for him. He served subsequently in Portugal and elsewhere; married in 1776, Jane, daughter of George Boyd, Esq. of Dublin, and in 1787, upon the death of his father, the first Earl of Carhampton, he succeeded to the title. He died in London, April 25, 1821, aged about 83 years, after a somewhat stormy and eventful career, leaving no children, and was succeeded by his brother John, upon whose decease without male issue in 1839, the family honors expired. Elizabeth Mullen, in due course of time gave birth to a daughter, who was named Harriet, and was commonly known as Harriet Luttrell. About the year 1766, Elizabeth was married to David Brearley, a young law student at Princeton, who was then about twenty years of age, while she was twenty-five. In 1767, he was licensed as an attorney by Governor Franklin and they settled in Allentown, where she died August 3, 1777, leaving several children. The following notice of her death appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette of August 13, 1777: "On the 3d instant, died at Allentown in New Jersey, Elizabeth Brearley, wife of Col. David Brearley, after a long and painful illness, which she bore with great fortitude. It may with truth be said of this lady that her external form, (for she was eminently beautiful,) was but a fair copy of her mind; and it would be injustice to her memory not to say that she possessed all the qualities that adorn human nature." David Brearley, Junr., of Maidenhead (Lawrence) Township, where he was born in 1746, and was twenty-one years old when, in 1767, he began the practice of law at Allentown [most likely as protégé to Samuel and Isaac Rogers]. He was Surrogate at least as early as 1771, and appears to have executed the business of that office, at Allentown, not only for Monmouth County but for Burlington, also, for in that year the will of William Montgomery of Upper Freehold, and that of Mary Cubberley of Nottingham, were both proved at Allentown, before David Brearley, Junr., Surrogate; and there are later instances of the same kind. In 1776 he was a member of the first constitutional convention, for which he was outlawed by the British government and a reward of L500, was offered for his apprehension. He was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel Nov. 28, 1776, was serving in that capacity in General Maxwell's New Jersey Brigade, when on March 17, 1780, he was called upon to take office of Chief Justice of New Jersey, succeeding Robert Morris, the first Chief Justice, who had resigned after a service of less than two years. At this time, Brearley was thirty-four years old. The "Judicial and Civil History of New Jersey" says of him: "The appointment was in a measure forced upon him, as he preferred to remain in the army, but gave way to the solicitations of the Legislature that he would accept the position. He seems to have been a man of great activity and of more than ordinary intellect. In 1781, the College of New Jersey [Princeton] gave him the degree of A. M. In 1787, while still Chief Justice, he was sent as a delegate from New Jersey to the Convention which framed the Federal Constitution. He took an active part in the deliberations of that body, supported the "New Jersey plan" for a constitution, but signed the organic law when it finally passed [as chair of the final Committee of Unresolved Disputes, Brearley brokered this compromise]. He was a member [along with his former neighbors, Samuel Breese and Elisha Lawrence] of the convention which met in New Jersey to consider the new Constitution and urged its ratification. In 1788 he was a presidential elector and voted for Washington. He resigned his position as Chief Justice in 1789, and was succeeded by James Kinsey." When the Masonic Grand Lodge of New Jersey was instituted at New Brunswick, December 18, 1786, David Brearley was chosen Grand Master, and he still held that position at the time of his death. He married a second wife, Elizabeth Higbee, of Trenton. He died August 15, 1790, in the 45th year of his age and the inscription on his monument in [St. Michael's Episcopal] graveyard at Trenton gives a full account of his virtues and public services. Harriet Luttrell, (or Mullen, as the case may be,) was about six years old when her mother married David Brearley, and she grew up in his family. February 16, 1779, when she was sixteen and like her mother very beautiful, she married James Rogers, and in the succeeding twelve years became the mother of his seven children. At the time of this marriage her mother had been dead about eighteen months, and Colonel Brearley was still at his post with Maxwell's Brigade. According to the dates we have, James Rogers would have been a boy of sixteen at that time, which is hardly likely, and there is evidently a mistake somewhere for which I am not responsible. That he was very young is quite certain. The date of his birth, and that of his marriage, are taken from a pamphlet entitled "A Sketch of some of the descendants of Samuel Rogers," prepared by George S. L. Ward and Louis Richards (two great grandsons of James and Harriet Rogers), printed for private distribution in 1888, and are supposed to be from family records in their possession. The account says that "after the death of James Rogers his widow continued to reside for some years at Allentown, but about 1804 removed to Bordentown, where she occupied until the close of her life, the former residence of Colonel Kirkbride, which, with other property at that place, was purchased out of the estate appropriated to her use by her father, the Earl of Carhampton. She was married (2nd) to Dr. Henry Gale, an Englishman of culture and good family connections, who survived her. She died January 2, 1819 and buried in the Hopkinson ground at Bordentown." The traditions of Allentown regarding Harriet are to the effect that she was the illegitimate daughter of Henry Lawes Luttrell, that she devoted her whole life (after her father had become Earl of Carhampton) to obtaining recognition from him, for which purpose she crossed the ocean several times: "the first being in 1791, when, after having undergone the perils of shipwreck on the Irish coast, she met him at his ancestral home, at Luttrellstown, near Dublin." How successful she may have been in this I cannot say, but from the account given by Ward and Richards I quote as follows: "On subsequent occasions Harriet was the guest of her father at his elegant estate at Paine's Hill, Surrey, England. She was the recipient of many substantial marks of his favor, and continued during her life to be the object of his affection and solicitous care, being his only offspring. He settled upon her a considerable estate, of a position which constituted Governor Thomas McKean and George Emlen, of Philadelphia, the trustees for her use." That this was her chief object in life is plainly shown by the inscription on her gravestone, which totally ignores both of her husbands and gives prominence only to the fact of her birth. It reads as follows: "Sacred to the memory of Harriet Luttrell, daughter of Henry Lawes Luttrell, Earl of Carhampton: Died January 2, 1819, in the 56th year of her age / My flesh shall rest in Hope / For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." The statement about her age is an error; she was about 59. Historically Speaking is a regular column presented by John Fabiano, president of the Allentown-Upper Freehold Historical Society. For information about the historical society, send e-mail to AllntwnUFHistSoc@aol.com.