Jacob Wills House (1939 - 2008) - Marlton, NJ
N 39° 52.772 W 074° 54.715
18S E 507531 N 4414390
This house's exterior has largely gone unchanged since 1939 as evidenced by the default collage. This house, built in 1789, is located at the end of Brick Road and is the only non-modern structure located on this road, north of Route 73.
Waymark Code: WM5DT1
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 12/24/2008
Views: 9
The initials and date (as seen on default photo), like all the other existing 18th century homes, are found at the top of the east end of the home, on the side. The date 1789 is splayed out in some kind of white stone (limestone?) and intermingled with in the brick. Similarly, the initials are displayed in the same manner, with the letter W (presumably for Wills) lying just beneath the A frame and below from left to right are the initials I & M. I have no idea what these initials stand for despite many attempts to discover their significance.
When looking at the pictures of this site, one would surmise a recent addition was built onto the west end of the house, an assumption I originally made. After further investigation, I realized I was right and wrong! I thought it was built after the 1950s. Then I stumbled upon this SITE which provided me with the original blue prints to the house and there it finally was, proof of a much earlier constructed addition. The west end is not included in the original construction so I was right , but it happened much earlier than I thought.
Further evidence was found in the form an archive of a series pictures containing 110 photographs taken by N. R. Ewan (a fellow Mason like me) during the 1930s showing pre-1800 private homes and outbuildings in Burlington County. The photo of this house (see gallery) looks exactly like the house today, which of course means, the addition was built pre 1939. The older picture was taken on May 16, 1939. The pictures as well as a biography of the photographer can be found HERE. The picture is numbered #32. If you navigate to the first referenced site (Historic American Buildings Survey, click on the B& W link and you can see the actual pictures of this house and of the bricked date and homeowner initials. Take a gander at the other homes and you will see so many resemblances, that one cannot be distinguished from another.
Culturally speaking and to no surprise, the owners of this house came from England and were Quaker. They are related to the Lippincotts, the Busby and the Woolstons. Records indicate the original homeowners of the still existing 18th century structures attended Meeting together in Evesham Twp. There is no other record of this house or the history of its occupants to be found. It seems this house, and all the other homes like this one still surviving in our county (Camden) and our neighboring county (Burlington) all have initials and a date at the top at the time of construction. Perhaps the owners wanted to be immortalized? As this monogramed practice is no longer used, these homes are fairly easy to find and are still scattered throughout our landscape.
As one would expect, this house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as of 1990. The listing can be found HERE. This SITE offers an ancestral recitation of our founding families. Roots, marriages, wills and all manner of official documentation of the Wills family can be found here as well. It makes for interesting reading. All original homes still standing and their owners are mentioned in this record. Pretty cool stuff.
Address
6 Brick Road
Marlton, NJ 08053