The front of the Barclay farmhouse on June 1. The structure is more than two centuries old and occupies 32 acres.
The Barclay Farmstead holds an open house on the first Sunday of every month to educate the community about its history and surrounding land.
The house is more than two centuries old, built by Quaker farmer Joseph Thorn in 1816 on a 32-acre property. The site was originally 168 acres, but over the years, families who lived there sold off portions.
The land and the farmhouse are now owned by the township, but the historical artifacts and furniture are owned by the Friends of the Barclay Farmstead, a volunteer-run nonprofit that promotes historic, educational and interpretive activities there. The organization has operated for 50 years with activities that promote the preservation and restoration of the farmstead, its outbuildings and grounds.
The site also features preserved nature trails and community gardens to continue its legacy as a farm. Tours are free for Cherry Hill residents, children under 12 and members of the Friends. Non-residents are charged $5. Farmstead tours are also offered to all the fifth graders in the township, with volunteers dressed in historically accurate costumes that are also displayed throughout the home.
Betty Eigenrauch is a member of the Friends and a volunteer who offered tours during the June open house. The monthly events are run by Friends’ volunteers who show the first and second floors of the main building, giving attendees insight into the lives of its former residents.
“These people were self-sufficient,” noted Eigenrauch, who gestured at the kitchen fireplace that served as a stove, with dishes, pans and a crane for hanging pots that could be pulled from the flame or pushed over it. “They grew all the food that they ate, for instance. So, the house has no kitchen sink, has no refrigerator.”
Eigenrauch also explained the role of the parlor, where families of the past placed more expensive possessions like upholstered furniture and fancy dishware. The family room held handmade toys, wooden furniture and materials for making clothing.
The Thorns made their own clothing, using flax for anything close to the body like undergarments and bedsheets, and wood for outer garments.
“The Quakers don’t believe in slavery or war or any of that,” Eigenrauch offered. ” … They boycotted cotton. So they only used flax and wool.”
On the home’s second floor, multiple rooms are set up to display bedrooms from different time periods and owners. Dottie Sevast pointed out that the Thorn family would have made their mattresses and pillows by filling a large cloth sack made from flax with hay and placing it over ropes strung across a wooden bed frame.
She also described how the Thorns eventually left the property because they couldn’t make the mortgage payments. It was then purchased by the Coopers, a wealthy Quaker family from Camden. Their daughter, Ellen Champion, married Charles Barclay, thus the farmstead’s name. A replica of her wedding dress and one of her portraits is displayed in a bedroom.
“Back then, they didn’t wear white for weddings and things,” Sevast said. “They wore whatever was their best outfit. This is a replica. We do have the original, but it’s packed away because the sun was damaging it.”
Sevast also offered the back story on the last person to live in the house, Helen Champion Barclay. She never married or had children, so when she was ready to leave, she sold the home to the township so it could become a museum and remain a farm.
“We really have such a treasure here in Barclay,” Sevast offered. “I think the signs on Route 70 have sort of rusted out and things like that. It’s a shame people don’t know that it’s here.”
