J. Joseph Henry House
Objects and furnishings collected and used by generations of the Henry family remain in the J. Joseph Henry House.
In 1832 J. Joseph Henry (1786-1836) and his wife Rebecca Smith Henry (1785-1871) built the ambitious Philadelphia townhouse on the Bushkill. Five generations of the Henry family lived in the home, filling it with musical instruments, books, tools, paintings, furniture, and numerous other personal belongings.
The most important history painting produced in colonial America, the “Death of Socrates” that a young Benjamin West painted for William Henry of Lancaster in 1756, hung in this home until the family donated it to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania several decades ago. (A full-size photographic reproduction still hangs on the second floor in the Gentleman’s Study.)
A reproduction of West’s “Death of Socrates,” painted for William Henry in 1756, hangs over the mantle.
Mary Henry Stites (1907-1989), the great-great-grandchild of J. Joseph Henry, bequeathed the home to the Jacobsburg Historical Society. On the first floor, the family’s parlors, dining rooms, and kitchens are open to visitors; on the second floor, a bedroom, a work room, and a gentleman’s study are open to visitors.
The home is open for tours during our special events, as well as by special appointment.