REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN MEDFORD, NEW JERSEY

Peacock Cemetery / Adonijah Peacock Grave Site
Chairville Rd. and Rte. 70
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Adonijah Peacock made gunpowder for the Continental Army on his farm which was located about two miles from here on what is now Brannin Road. In January 1777, he was killed when gunpowder he was drying exploded. 

John Hunt, A Quaker Minister in Moorestown, recorded the following in his diary on January 20, 1777: [1]
(Spelling has not been modernized or corrected.)

"This day Nijah Peacock was buried, a very ingenous man in Evesham. He had, since the wars began, erected a powder mill and carryed it on to considerable perfection till one day he was at work amongst his powder and by some means it catchd fire and kild him and hurt several of his family besides. It was said that the rhoof of the house was blown off and very much shattered to pieces with the blast of the powder heard for ten miles around"

Note that this area was then known as Upper Evesham, which explains Hunt's reference to "Evesham" rather than Medford. The town did not take the name Medford until the 1820's. [2]

Taunton Furnace and Forge Site
Breakneck Rd.
Map / Directions to the Taunton Furnace and Forge Site
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A historic marker on Breakneck Rd near Taunton Lakes marks the area which was once the Taunton Furnace and Forge. It produced cannon balls for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

Taunton furnace and forge were created in 1766-1767 by Charles Read. Read had a very successful iron business, which also included the Batsto Iron Works, located about 25 miles from here. Batso Iron Works also produced supplies for the Continental Army. It is now the New Jersey State Park, Batso Village. [3]