John Berrien

For his son, an officer in the American Revolutionary War, see John Berrien (major). For his grandson, the United States senator from Georgia, see John M. Berrien.
John Berrien
Portrait of Berrien by Charles Willson Peale
Born(1711-11-19)November 19, 1711
Newtown, New York
DiedApril 22, 1772(1772-04-22) (aged 60)
Rocky Hill, New Jersey
Burial placePrinceton Cemetery
NationalityAmerican
OccupationJudge

John Berrien (November 19, 1711 – April 22, 1772) was a farmer and merchant from Rocky Hill, New Jersey.[1][2] He was appointed a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1764 and was a trustee of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, for eleven years.[3]

Biography

Berrien was born on November 19, 1711, at Newtown on Long Island, now known as Elmhurst, Queens. He was the grandson of Cornelius Jansen Berrien.[4] His parents were Peter Berrien and Elizabeth Woodhull Edsall.

After his first wife died, and they had no children. In 1759 he married again, to Lady Margaret Eaton. He and Margaret had a total of six children. Their son John Berrien (1759–1815) became a brigade major during the American Revolutionary War.[5]

Although Berrien was a prosperous and prominent individual, on April 21, 1772, he drowned himself by jumping into the Millstone River. He was believed to have committed suicide, because of "lunacy", as one account said at the time.[4] His will divided his property equally among his wife and six children.[4] He is buried in Princeton Cemetery.[3]

His house Rockingham, near Rocky Hill, New Jersey was used by General George Washington as his last headquarters during the war. Congress leased it for Washington for three months while the legislators were in residence in Princeton. Washington wrote his final address to the army in 1783 while staying there.[6]

References

  1. ^ Bailey, Rosalie Fellows (1936). "House of John Berrien; Washington's Headquarters". Pre-Revolutionary Dutch Houses and Families in Northern New Jersey and Southern New York. New York: William Morrow & Company. pp. 431–3. OCLC 1464629.
  2. ^ "DEP Officially Reopens Rockingham". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. July 1, 2004.
  3. ^ a b Keasbey, Edward Quinton (1912). "John Berrien, 1764–1772, His home called "Rockingham," Washington's headquarters at Rocky Hill". The Courts and Lawyers of New Jersey 1661–1912. Vol. I. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 303–5.
  4. ^ a b c Tonaszewski, Charlotte (July 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Rockingham". National Park Service.
  5. ^ Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, Volume 52. National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 1918. p. 652.
  6. ^ McFarlane, Kate E. (1912). "The Washington Headquarters at Rocky Hill". In Honeyman, A. Van Doren (ed.). Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society. Vol. I. pp. 85–90.
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