Wood Lawn Mansion, New Brunswick
- Identifier
- NJS-PLC-00034
- Place Type
- Domicile
- Located In
- New Brunswick
- Description
-
Wood Lawn Mansion was constructed in 1830 as the country estate of James Neilson (1784–1862), a prominent New Brunswick businessman and major Rutgers University benefactor. Bequeathed to Rutgers in 1937, the building currently houses the Eagleton Institute of Politics. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Neilson family of New Brunswick profited from enslaving people of African descent since the 18th century, amassing generational wealth that enabled them to support Rutgers University with donations of land and money. By the time the Neilsons moved to Wood Lawn Mansion in the 1830s, slavery was on the decline in New Jersey, but several individuals enslaved by James Neilson still worked at the house and most likely resided there in the 1830s and 1840s. Many archival sources documenting the Neilsons' involvement in slavery have been digitized as part of the New Jersey Slavery Records database. Particularly, the bill of sale for Mark Harris Jr, dated 1838, confirms the presence of enslaved people at Wood Lawn Mansion. - Locality
- New Brunswick
- County (Modern)
- Middlesex County
- State or Province
- New Jersey
- Country
- United States of America
- Organization
-
Rutgers University
- Latitude
- 40.481721
- Longitude
- -74.433150
- Related Resource
- Virtual Tour: Around Campus with Scarlet and Black
- Keywords
- National Register of Historic Places
- Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker
- Linked Persons
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Persons of African descent linked to Wood Lawn Mansion, New Brunswick:
White persons linked to Wood Lawn Mansion, New Brunswick:
- Linked Events
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