The Thompson-Neely House served as the `House of Decision' and as an army hospital during General George Washington's military encampment of the Continental Army in December 1776. Ill and injured soldiers were brought to this home and farm for medical treatment and recovery. A young officer from Virginia named James Monroe (fifth President of the US), who was seriously injured during the First Battle of Trenton, convalesced here. Wounded with Monroe was William Washington, a cousin of the commander-in-chief. He too recovered at this location. Washington's soldiers encamped at the Thompson Farmstead for 10 days leading up to the historic crossing of the Delaware on Christmas Night. It was here that Washington would meet daily with his military leaders to ascertain the condition of the troops, to discuss plans for the Revolutionary War, and to make the decision for the famous crossing of the Delaware River and to attack the enemy Hessians at Trenton. Captain James Moore of the New York Artillery died here of camp fever on Christmas day and is buried on the property (in what is now the Soldiers' Graves area), along with other men who died during the encampment. Strategy meetings at the Thompson-Neely farmstead included young Alexander Hamilton, Lord Sterling, Captain William Washington, Lieutenant James Monroe, Colonel Hugh Mercer, and most probably Lieutenant John Marshall (later chief justice of the Supreme Court).

On the National Register of Historic Places the Thompson-Neely House is a fine example of vernacular 18th-century architecture. Its expansion from a low, one room dwelling to a two-story, multi-roomed farmhouse reflects the growth of colonial Pennsylvania's agricultural economy and the prosperity enjoyed by those who milled grain into flour for export. Early Scots-Irish settler John Pidcock, who farmed and traded with the Native Americans, settled on this site before 1701. The next owner of the property, Quaker miller John Simpson, constructed the original central section of this house about 1740, as well as a gristmill along Pidcock Creek. At the time of his death in 1747, Simpson was a prosperous farmer with an interest in a sawmill besides his other holdings.

Hannah Simpson, widow of John Simpson, married Scots-Irish miller Robert Thompson in 1748, whose farming, grist milling, and saw milling businesses on the property made him one of the wealthiest men in Solebury Township by 1761. When the Revolutionary War began, the elderly Robert, wife Hannah, daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law William Neely lived in the home. The patriotic Thompsons supported the war effort. Owner Robert Thompson supplied the troops with grain and flour for making bread, son-in-law William Neely was an officer in the local militia, and Robert and Hannah's daughter "Elizabeth Thompson-Neely came over each day to help as best she could. There was something about the tea she brewed and the gruel she cooked that made them feel better." (House of Decision by historian Ann Hawkes Hutton, 1956). Although unconfirmed, at least one source cited that Thomas Paine wrote the now infamous "Common Sense" at the Thompson-Neely Farmstead (Bucks County Traveler, June 1956, page 4).

William Davis, in his detailed 1876 History of Bucks County, reports that "Robert Thompson had the reputation of never turning a poor man away from his mill with his bag empty, whether he had money of not." (page 281)

In 1757, owner Robert Thompson built a two-story addition on the west end (away from the river) of the house. Nine years later, when his daughter Elizabeth married Ulster-Scot immigrant William Neely, he added a second story above the old first section. The households of both families were under the same roof when 7,400 Continental army troops encamped on the farm and in the area during December 1776. Robert Thompson enlarged the house once again by constructing the two-story east wing in 1788 to accommodate the Neely's growing family. Taller ceilings gave this newest portion a higher roof line than the existing structure.

When he died in 1804, Robert Thompson left his large estate to his grandson, Robert Thompson Neely, including the main farmhouse with outbuildings, two mills, a cooper's shop, and a distillery. When the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acquired it in 1926, not much had changed with the building since the early 19th century. Once the centerpiece of a working farm and milling complex, the Thompson-Neely House is surrounded by the numerous outbuildings needed for farm life in the 18th-century, such as the restored Grist Mill, barn, and out-buildings. The Washington Crossing Historic Park, run by the Friends of Washington Crossing Park, maintains the farmstead, conducts regular tours of such, and even keeps a small herd of sheep in the restored barn!

The following pictures were provided by Dr. Neale Messina. Thank you Neale.

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Who Knew?

From The Bucks County Scrapbook of Old Roads and Towns

(1948) by Charlotte Stryker Pervy

"About three miles below New Hope the river road crosses Pidcocks Creek. here the first settler built a small house in 1701. The original dwelling was enlarged about 50 years later, and, at the time of the Revolution, another addition was made. Still in its original condition, it illustrates the way of Bucks County piecemeal building. The house, begun by first settler Pidcock, is known as the Thompson-Neely house. Thompson, the owner about 100 years ago, made an amazing discovery. He found a small copper mine on the place which gave evidence of having been worked and abandoned a very long time before. Who had worked this mine no one knew and no one knows with certainty to this day. Some suggest that it had been worked by the Indians; others, and this is more probable we feel, that it was a mine by the Dutch.

Just south of Pidcock's Creek Bowman's Hill rises about the river. The legend of the hill is that it is named for a Dr. Bowman who was a fellow pirate with Captain Kidd. Dr. Bowman, pursued by the authorities, sought refuge with Pidcock. In the hill near Pidcock's house, he is said to have buried enormous quantities of pirate loot. On the strength of this tale, Bowman's Hill has be practically turned upside down by treasure seekers. Although Dr. Bowman himself was buried on the hill nothing else of interest has been found there so far." (Chapter VIII, Page 43)

Note from co-webmaster Jack Thompson (3/1/2026): As many times as I have been to the Thompson-Neely Farmstead at Washington-Crossing, I had never heard of the Thompson discovery of the copper mine on the property. Who Knew? I had heard of the stories about Bowman's Hill and Captain Kidd however as they were often passed along by family members at the annual Wilson-Thompson Family reunions looking to entertain younger members of the family with such lore.

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Portrait of Robert Thompson Neely (1769-1848), son of William and Elizabeth Thompson Neely, grandson of 1st generation Robert and Hannah Simpson Thompson. Portrait hangs in Thompson-Neely Farmstead House. Artist and date are unknown.

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