History of David Brearley
David Brearley was born June 11, 1745 in Spring Grove, New Jersey. He was 1 of 5 children born to an unwealthy family. His father David Brearley, Sr. was a landowner. He attended Princeton College of New Jersey but did not graduate. He chose law as his career and practiced in Allentown, New Jersey where he took on Public Security and Interests Law as his profession. He married Elizabeth Mullen in 1767 who died in 1777 and remarried to Elizabeth Higbee in 1783. He was the father of 4 children. He was backed by the Revolutionary cause and was arrested by the British for High Treason, but the Patriots freed him by an angry mob who stormed the prison.
In 1776 David Brearley became part of the Constitutional Convention …show more content…
He was also a staunch Patriot. His father led land riots against New Jersey royalty in 1747. Brearley ran for New Jersey Governor three times and lost to William Livingston all three times.

He was a delegate to the US Constitution who signed the US Constitution on behalf of the state of New Jersey. He was the first Grand Master Mason of New Jersey and he was an
Episcopalian. He served in the Continental Army and saw action at Manmouth, Germantown and Brandywine. He also served at Valley Forge with the New Jersey Line as a Lieutenant Colonel.
He became the spokesman for the proposition that Law is primary over government and social
Institutions. A student of the Enlightenment philosophies and English jurists adopted their idea that a contract existed between an individual and the state. He believed that citizens possessed basic rights encapsulated in common law and the customs of England. His contribution to the Constitutions Convention after he arrived on May 25th was that he was present everyday but two June 28th and July 5th through the signing of the Constitution and he was instrumental in creating the Electoral College. He was the Chief presiding Officer at the New Jersey Ratifying Convention and supported the Ratification of the