Dr. Nicholas Chiswell Brewer (1818-1880) built Greenwood in 1841. A two term Maryland State Senator (late 1860s and early 1870s), Nicholas was from the prominent Brewer family, which owned land throughout the Ag Reserve.
Nicholas’ father, Dr. William Brewer, served in the War of 1812 as a field surgeon and later built the historic Aix-La-Chapelle estate (likely where Nicholas was born and raised).
Nicholas was married twice (his first wife, Martha, sadly passed away at the age of 26) and had four children. Only one of these children would live past the age of 40. I’m always struck by the amount of loss our ancestors dealt with in the 1800s.
Greenwood is a beautiful home constructed in the federal style. It remained in the Brewer family until the early 1900s. Beyond that, it’s a bit difficult to trace the owners (from pictures, it’s clear that it feel into some disrepair in the 1970’s…which is something I’ve seen with a lot of historic homes around here).
