Constitution Signer

David Brearly

1.     Early Life

a.     State of residence, offices held, occupation

• Born in Springrove, New Jersey in 1745 and attended Princeton where he received his law degree.
• President of New Jersey Society of Cincinnati
• Delegate to Episcopal General Convention of 1786.

2.     Role in the Revolutionary War – lawyer and appointed lieutenant-colonel in Continental Army in 1776

3.     Participation in the Constitutional Convention – Contributions to the final document and final vote:

Father of the Electoral College:  Brearly chaired the Committee on Unfinished Parts a/k/a Committee of Leftovers, which heavily debated the method of election up until early September 1787, less than two weeks before the convention ended. Finally, Brearly’s committee put forward a cumbersome proposal—the Electoral College that overcame all objections. Brearly’s committee proposed the adoption of an Electoral College in which both the people and the States are represented in the election of the President. This resolution of the difficult matter of Presidential election clearly meant that the partly national -partly federal model had become the deliberate sense of the convention.  The president would serve a four-year term and be eligible for continual reelection (by the Twenty-second Amendment, adopted in 1951, the president was limited to a maximum of two terms).

• Chairman of New Jersey Convention to ratify US Constitution in 1788

4.     Federal Government and Congress

• Appointed Chief Justice of New Jersey Supreme Court in 1789 By President Washington until Brearly’s death at the young age of 27. To attain the position of Chief Justice at such a young age was unprecedented in this time
• Presidential Elector

5.     Death and Legacy

• Died on August 23, 1790 at young age of 27 years old. It is said he was cut off in the bloom of his powers and as an advocate he was eloquent and forcible; and as a judge he was learned and impartial. As an advocate he was always eloquent and forcible; and as a judge he was learned and impartial.