Emerging Revolutionary War welcomes guest historian Paul F. Soltis

250 years ago in 1775 John Wallace of Philadelphia was preparing to move. Born in Scotland in 1718, John was the youngest son of the minister of the Church of Scotland at Drumelizer in the Scottish Lowlands south of Glasgow and Edinburgh. While his eldest brother William would take over the ministry in the Kirk following their father’s death, John emigrated from Scotland to the colonies of British North America. Like many Scottish emigrants, Mr. Wallace entered the merchant trade, first in Newport, Rhode Island and eventually in Philadelphia where he met and married Mary Maddox of an established Philadelphia family.

At the opening of the Revolutionary War in 1775, John Wallace purchased 95 acres on the Raritan River in Somerset County, New Jersey from the Rev. Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh, minister to the Dutch Reformed Churches of the upper Raritan River Valley. At this country estate he called “Hope Farm” Mr. Wallace built the largest home constructed in New Jersey during the Revolutionary War, perhaps “hoping” to escape the revolutionary ferment of Philadelphia. Midway between the British garrison at New York and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, John Wallace instead found himself at the Crossroads of the American Revolution.

In the fall of 1778, the Continental Army arrived to this region of Somerset County where the Middle Brook flows into the Raritan River for the Middlebrook Cantonment of 1778-79. Nathanael Greene, Quartermaster General of the Continental Army, wrote on October 18, “Middle Brook is situate in a plentyful Country, naturally strong and difficult of access and surrounded with a great plenty of Wood. Great security will also be given to this Camp by the militia of the Country.” Col. Sidney Berry, a deputy quartermaster to Gen. Nathanael Greene, arranged with Mr. Wallace for use of the Wallace House at Hope Farm, a few miles west of the village of Middlebrook, as headquarters for George Washington.

Gen. Washington, nearby in Elizabethtown, New Jersey (present-day Elizabeth) wrote to Gen. Greene, “If Mr Wallace can spare two rooms below Stairs, it will certainly make our quarters much more comfortable as well as render them more convenient for public business.” The Commander-in-Chief arrived shortly after submitting these instructions, staying for two weeks in December 1778 before departing Middlebrook for meetings with the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

Gen. Washington returned, this time with Martha Washington, February 5, 1779 and remained in headquarters through June 3. During this time Gen. Washington celebrated the first anniversary of the French alliance at Pluckemin, cantonment of the Continental Artillery, and hosted ministers of France and Spain as well as a delegation of American Indians.

250 years later, the Wallace House is going under construction again. The Wallace House today is part of the rich collection of Revolutionary War historic sites and structures preserved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as part of New Jersey’s State Parks, Forests & Historic Sites. The State of New Jersey, with a Semiquincentennial Grant from the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund and an allocation by the Governor and Legislature of New Jersey from the American Rescue Plan, is conducting a major rehabilitation of the Wallace House due to begin this year.

The Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage Association, dedicated supporters of Wallace House & Old Dutch Parsonage State Historic Sites, host Historic Building Architects, architectural consultants for this project, for a presentation on The Wallace House at 250: New Research and Rehabilitation on Washington’s Birthday, Saturday, February 22, 2025, 2:30 p.m. at St. John’s Parish Hall in Somerville, New Jersey. Annabelle Radcliffe-Trenner and Kallie Kothmann of HBA will share new findings from their structural study and analysis of the historic house and plans for the exterior rehabilitation due to begin in the spring.

Visitors for the architectural presentation February 22 may enjoy a full Washington’s Birthday weekend at George Washington’s Middlebrook. Sunday, February 23 the Heritage Trail Association offers the Five Generals Middlebrook Bus Tour, taking guests on tour of the Middlebrook Cantonment and visiting the five surviving historic houses that hosted generals of the Continental Army in the winter and spring of 1779.

Later in the spring, the Middlebrook Consortium of historical organizations presents The Forage Wars: The Battle for New Jersey, a full day of speakers sharing new insights into the American Revolution in New Jersey as part of the Middlebrook Series leading the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and New Jersey’s first Constitution, in 2026.