...officials and merchants vied with each other in creating country residences and farms () finest of all, Brookfield, the property of William and Henry P. Thomas.

() William Thomas was foremost in every benevolent work. As a very young man he was secretary to the society for improving the condition of the poor; he was equally distinguished as a merchant and a politician. He filled all positions well, whether presiding at a religious meeting or as president of the Chamber of Commerce. Through a professedly religious man, sometimes the old leaven broken out him. He was very active, and fond of directing everybody. Often, as he paced his long wharf, if one of his ships was beating in the Narrows, say his fine brig the ''Cynthia'', Captain Goldsworth, he could be heard muttering, "Luff, confound you, Goldsworth, luff, you lubber!' Brookfield, the fine house at Devon Row, their Water Street premises, and the beautiful cottage at Topsail, are monuments to the large progressive ideas of the Thomases, and especially of the constructive ability of Henry Phillips Thomas.〔