FIRST -- Freemason Resident in America - Westampton, NJ
N 40° 02.104 W 074° 48.127
18T E 516882 N 4431668
To the rear of one of the original farmsteads in New Jersey, Peachfield Plantation, is a marker which narrates the biography of America's first Freemason and land owner of West Jersey.
Waymark Code: WMBZV3
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 07/08/2011
Views: 6
To the rear of the house is a small maze of shrubs, in the center of which is a marker shaped like a headstone in a cemetery. Don;t worry, no one is under it. The namesake of the marker is buried somewhere at the property directly across the road from this house. At the top of the reddish granite marker is the square and compasses, the symbol of Freemasonry. The marker reads:
The Hon. John Skene
Born in Scotland
Early Settler of the Province of West Jersey in 1682
Laid Out "Peachfield Plantation" in 1682
Last Deputy Governor of the Province 1685-1688
Presiding Justice of the Burlington Court 1685-1690
Buried Near This Site on August 27, 1690
The First Freemason Resident in America
Installed and Dedicated By
The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge
Of Free and Accepted Masons
Of the State of New Jersey 1984
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