Description
The Burrowes Mansion of Matawan, New Jersey: and Notations on the History of Monmouth County is the definitive work about one of New Jersey’s most important historic landmarks. It was written in 1976 and published in 1978 to commemorate the Bicentennial years. This second, greatly expanded edition was written during 2023, marking the 300th anniversary of the building of this historic house.
During the American Revolution, the Mansion was occupied by the family of John Burrowes, Sr., a prominent local merchant and Patriot. His son, Major John Burrowes, Jr., was a leader in the local Militia. Their home was the site of a dramatic Tory raid on May 27, 1778. The lives of the Burrowes families were connected with those of many notable figures of the Revolution, including the Forman family, and Philip Freneau, the “Poet of the American Revolution.” This book tells the story of individuals whose lives were upended by the conflict—a veritable civil war in which neighbors fought their neighbors.
Not just a story of the Revolution, this book also tells of the other interesting families who lived in the Burrowes Mansion over the centuries. These include the Brown family, whose members included Benjamin Franklin Strong Brown, the dynamic newspaper publisher affiliated with Teddy Roosevelt, and Miss J. Mabel Brown, his extraordinary eldest daughter who successfully ran the publishing business after the death of her father.
The book is exhaustively researched and written in an engaging style, filled with vivid details of life in early Matawan. It also includes valuable information about the founding of New Jersey and the early history of Monmouth County. New material in the second edition describes the celebration of the Mansion’s 300th Anniversary, as well the successful efforts made after 1978 to preserve the Mansion and develop it as a first-class “working museum” run by the Matawan Historical Society. Several heretofore little-known stories about some of the Mansion’s residents are revealed.
This second edition boasts an exhaustive Index and Bibliography. A must-have for genealogists as well as history lovers.
About the Authors
Mary Lou Diecker wrote her first book when she was seven years old, fell in love with words and just kept writing. She is best known for having researched and written The Burrowes Mansion of Matawan, New Jersey and Notations on the History of Monmouth County, M.L. Koegler, 1978, and a second greatly expanded edition in collaboration with Barry C. Orr in 2023. She is a member of the Matawan Historical Society and a retired Mansion docent who is delighted to reside in the (Philip) Freneau section of NJ’s Matawan Borough. A voracious reader, she is also a student of her Hungarian language & the art of Tai Chi.
Barry C. Orr is a writer and software consultant who lives just blocks from the Burrowes Mansion in Matawan, New Jersey. He is a member of the Board of the Matawan Historical Society and Chair of the Burrowes Mansion Museum Committee. He is currently involved in local historical research and preservation efforts.
Book Details
5.5 x 8.5 inches, 188 pages, paperback
$20.00 (plus $4.00 for Media Mail shipping)
ISBN: 979-8-218-38943-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024906489
