THIS STATELY MANSION IS ONE OF NEW JERSEY'S MOST NOTED OLD HOMES
(Note: Private Residence with public access limited to shops and office on left side of 1st floor.)
In 1790, in the days when slaves were still in vogue, John Imlay of Imlaystown built for himself and family a mansion in Allentown, New Jersey. Today this house, known as the Imlay Mansion, is one of the most famous old houses in New Jersey. It saw the end of the eighteenth century, weathered the vicissitudes of the nineteenth and has passed the first quarter of the twentieth. Despite its age, it still looks out upon a changing world with conscious rectitude and an air as fresh and vigorous as if it were built but yesterday. It stands not only as a monument to the thoroughness of the handicraft of the men who built it but serves as a reminder of customs, standards and institutions of a bygone day.
Built four square on a brick foundation, standing flush with the street - as did many of the houses of that time - and shaded by grand old trees, it still more than holds its own with the houses of today.
The fine Georgian door, distinguished by a fanlight above and an old brass knocker, opens directly into a wide hall. Evidently in those days its was the custom to lock doors only on the inside, as the lock on this front door is equipped with a massive brass key - in itself a formidable weapon - which functions from the inside but not from without.
As one enters the wide hall which extends through the house and opens on a spacious garden in the rear, one is greeted with the atmosphere and assailed with the visions of centuries long past. Here is to be seen one of the most notable features of the house - a broad, winding, hand-carved stairway. This was largely the work of one man, and took nearly six months to build.
Four large rooms open off the hall. At the right is the parlor filled with relics of the past. In the room opposite, an old portrait of the founder of the house, John Imlay, hangs above the mantel. The hand-carved woodwork to be seen on every side is also the work of master craftsmen.
As one wanders through these lofty rooms one is reminded that the house was built before the day of stoves, for each room is equipped with a spacious fireplace - high, wide and deep. There are twelve in all and each a gem in its way. That in the parlor at the right of the hall is distinguished by a broken pediment while the one in the kitchen still bears the original crane and pot hooks.
Against the wall opposite the kitchen fireplace is an old slave table reminiscent of the days of slavery. As a matter of fact, John Imlay, the founder of this house, was engaged for several years in shipping between Philadelphia and the West Indies and owned several slaves, probably brought from the latter port. Two of these, Caesar and Hannibal, were known throughout the adjacent countryside as well as in Allentown.
And one is reminded that those were the days when styles, at least in furniture, changed slowly. Household equipment was chosen in that day for its fashion, to be sure, buts its beauty and wearing qualities played a much more important part than those same qualities today. In the parlor at the right of the hall, hangs a beautiful Hepplewhite mirror that has occupied its place since 1791. Its mate hangs in one of the guest rooms. The curtains at the windows, still fresh and charming, were selected and hung in 1869, and to this day are in good repair.
Perhaps the most striking example of the lasting quality of the materials manufactured in that day is the paper that is on the walls of one of the guest rooms on the second floor. And according to an old bill which is still extant, it was ordered from one William Poyntett of Philadelphia on April 18th 1794. Of such excellent quality was this paper that its color remain unfaded to this day. It was printed in sheets 22 x 18 1/2 inches and retouched with vegetable dyes. The order for the paper in the parlor was on the same bill. The bill reads:
Philadelphia, April 18th, 1794
Mr. Imlay Bt. of Wm. Poyntett
8 Pieces Paper Hanging, 3-9..... L1 10 0
8 Yards narrow black border, 1.....0 8 0
8 Yards festoon black border,1.....0 8 0
10 Pieces Elegant Paper, 11-3.....5 12 6
24 Yards Elegant broad fruit 2 5 0
border, 11-0 1/2
120 Yards Elegant narrow rose, border 6d
............................................... 3 0 0
...............................................L13 3 6
Rec'd Payment
for Wm. Poyntett
Rt. Caldclurgh
Having only 10 pieces of the Elegant Paper, I have packed it all up, but at Mr. Imlay's option, whether he chooses to keep or return what is left on putting it up, supposing that it might be agreeable to him to have some to spare in case of accident, as the same pattern cannot be replaced in case a small portion should be wanted at a future time. W.P.
That on the parlor was sold recently to the Metropolitan Museum and may be seen in the Haverhill room in the American wing. The paper was removed in the original squares by a secret process known only to two men in America. So excellent were the dyes that they were quite unharmed by the removal process. As each piece came off it was laid on a sheet of brown paper to dry. At the end of two days, the paper which had covered the wall for one hundred and thirty years was rolled into a small bundle and borne away, by hand, to its present resting place.
The original paper together with that in the room above, cost about sixty-five dollars. The Museum paid fifteen hundred dollars for the parlor paper alone, and four hundred dollars for its removal.
And one must not depart from this atmosphere of an earlier day without a visit to the spacious garden which still stands as it was originally laid out. The trunks of the trees are vine wreathed, the beds are filled with old-fashioned flowers and a pergola or summer house stands at the end of the main walk.
The history of New Jersey is studded with the name of Imlay, for the family has produced soldiers, scholars, legislators and authors. Perhaps the most noted member of the family bearing the Imlay name was Gilbert Imlay, known not only as the author of the first American novel, The Emigrants, but also as the friend of Mary Wollstonecraft and the father of Fanny Imlay.
At the death of John Imlay, the property passed in succession to his son William Imlay, his daughter Mary A. Fish and to its present owner and occupant, Miss Mary Emma Gordon, a great niece of Ann Gordon, the wife of William Imlay.
IMLAY HOUSE WALLPAPER
SOLD TO N.Y. ART MUSEUM Metropolitan to Exhibit Product
Made Here in 1794
Allentown, N.J. Sept. 27 - The Metropolitan Museum in New York has concluded the purchase of the wallpaper in the parlor of the famous old Captain Imlay house here, and it will be removed to paper the walls of a Colonial room in the new deForrest wing of the museum.
This paper is said to have been originally ordered from William Poyntett, A Philadelphia dealer, in 1794. It is perfectly preserved, the vegetable dyes used over a century ago still retaining their original brightness. To the eye of the average observer, however, there is nothing particularly striking about the design. It is not pictorial, like many old wallpapers, but is strictly formal in composition.
COLONIAL WALLPAPER USED
130 YEARS SOLD TO MUSEUM
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has recently purchased from the present occupant of the old Imlay mansion at Allentown, N.J., the original Colonial wall paper, dating from 1794, in the parlor. It will be steamed from the wall and used in the Colonial Room in the new American Wing of the Museum. It is reported that the price paid was $1,500 although officials of the Museum, in accordance with the Museum's
rules, did not confirm this figure.
The owner of the Imlay house is Miss Mary Emma Gordon, a descendant of Captain Imlay, a wealthy sea captain, who built the house late in the eighteenth century. The mansion, with many of its original furnishings, is much the same as a century ago. The wall paper is said to be a conventional design, unlike many of the pictorial design of the period.
MORE HISTORY OF ALLENTOWN
In 1690, Robert Burnet, a Scottish Quaker proprietor of East Jersey, patented 4,000 acres
of land north of Doctor’s Creek. In 1706, Nathan Allen, Burnet’s son-in-law, purchased a
portion of this land and, by 1715, had built his grist mill on Doctor’s creek. The small
village near the mill soon became known as Allen’s Town. The town developed along a
path made by the Indians of West Jersey on their seasonal journeys to the food rich
estuaries of the Atlantic coast 35 miles to the east. In more recent years, remnants of an
Indian village have been found near the mill pond. Old York Road, today passing through
Allentown along Main Street, was the first roadway across New Jersey. Commissioned by
Deputy Governor Gawen Laurie in 1683, it connected East and West Jersey between
Perth Amboy and Burlington. Allen’s Town grew around the mill, and slong this new
transportation route. It soon became a crossroads for the hardy wayfarers of the day.
Although require by Colonial Law to provide one tavern for the travelers, the residents of
Allen’s Town graciously opener four. By the mid eighteenth century, as the roadway was
improved, a stagecoach journey between Philadelphia and New York required “only” two
or three days. Many of the settlers preceding Allen were Quakers. By 1730 however, two
more faiths were represented and their members built churches in the growing community.
The Presbyterian Church was built in 1720 (a short distance from the gristmill) and an
Episcopal Church in 1730 (near the sight of the Old Burial Ground on present day
Lakeview Drive). Today this cemetery is the resting place for 112 of Allentown’s earliest
residents. Although both of these structures are now gone, the Presbyterian Church was
rebuilt in 1837 on its present High Street sight overlooking Allentown’s lake. The lake’s
correct name is Conine’s Millpond as it is still called by many of our town’s long time
residents. Our millpond is one of the oldest man made lakes in New Jersey. The approach
of the American Revolution split the area along political lines. While most of Monmouth
County was a hot bed of Tories or supporters of the Crown, the populace of Allen’s Town
was mostly sympathetic to the Revolution. David Brearly, a town resident, first Chief
Justice of New Jersey and signer of the United States Constitution was outspoken in his
protest over high taxation by the British Parliament without representation of the colony’s
citizens. He was jailed by the provincial authorities but quickly released by his
neighbors. During the revolution, New Jersey was the sight of more battles than any other
state. Three of the most important, Trenton, Princeton and Monmouth were fought within
15 miles of Allen’s Town.
