David Brearley (often misspelled as ''Brearly'') (June 11, 1745 – August 16, 1790) was an American

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

, Chief Justice of the

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, a delegate from

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to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which drafted the

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, a signer of the United States Constitution, and a

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of the

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Education and career

Born on June 11, 1745, to Mary and David Brearely Sr. (1703–1785) in Lawrence Township, New Jersey,

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1783. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after the ...

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

, Brearley attended the College of New Jersey (now

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) and

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

. He was in private practice in

Allentown, New Jersey Allentown is a borough, located in western Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, bordering nearby Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 1,828,''Dictionary of American Biography'' Vol. 2 p. 1 until 1776.

Opposition to British colonial rule and military service

Prior to the start of the American Revolution, Brearley was on one occasion arrested for his opposition to the rule of the British Parliament but was freed by a mob. With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Brearley was at first a captain in the Monmouth County

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

after having spent many years speaking out against the Parliamentary absolutism. He eventually rose to the rank of colonel in Nathaniel Heard's New Jersey militia brigade. From 1776 to 1779 he served in the

New Jersey Line The New Jersey Line was a formation within the Continental Army. A "New Jersey Line" was the quota of numbered infantry regiments that the Congress of the Confederacy assigned to New Jersey at various times. New Jersey Line, 1776 The first two ...

of the Continental Army, seeing action at

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, and

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey

Brearly was chief justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey from 1779 to 1789. He decided on the famous '' Holmes v. Walton'' case where he ruled that the judiciary had the authority to declare whether laws were unconstitutional.

Constitutional Convention

While at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Brearley was Chairman of the Committee on Postponed Parts, which played a substantial role in shaping the final document. The committee addressed questions related to the taxes, war-making, patents and copyrights, relations with Native American tribes, and Franklin's compromise to require money bills to originate in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. The biggest issue they addressed was the presidency, and the final compromise was written by

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

with the committee's input. They adopted the earlier plan for choosing the president by the Electoral College and settled on the method of choosing the president if no candidate had an Electoral College majority, which many such as Madison thought would be "nineteen times out of twenty". The committee also shortened the president's term from seven years to four years, freed him to seek re-election, and moved impeachment trials from the courts to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. They also created the vice president, whose only role was to succeed the president and preside over the Senate. This also transferred important powers from the Senate to the president, who was given the power (which had been given to the senate by Rutledge's committee) to make treaties and appoint ambassadors. He ultimately signed the finished Constitution.

Federal judicial service

Brearley was nominated by President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

on September 25, 1789, to the

, to a new seat authorized by . He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on September 25, 1789, and received his commission on September 26, 1789. His service terminated on August 16, 1790, due to his death in Trenton.

Death

He is interred in the churchyard of Saint Michael's Episcopal Church in Trenton, and a

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

was placed there in 1924.

Legacy

At the close of the Revolutionary War, Brearly became one of the founding members of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

in the State of New Jersey and served as the state society's vice president from 1783 until his death in 1790. In 1789, he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

David Brearley High School David Brearley High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Kenilworth in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Kenilwo ...

Kenilworth, New Jersey Kenilworth is a borough in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,914,Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, is named in his honor. Brearley Crescent in

Waldwick, New Jersey Waldwick () is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 9,625,Bridgeton, New Jersey Bridgeton is a city in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the county seat of Cumberland CountyBiography

Colonial Hall Biography

External links

Brearley House, Lawrence Historical Society