Medford, New Jersey: Killed Making Washington's Gunpowder
One of the stranger fatalities of the Revolutionary War. Adonijah Peacock's headstone is engraved: "Killed 1777 by explosion while making powder for Gen. Washington."
Peacock Cemetery
- Address:
- 353 NJ-70, Medford, NJ
- Directions:
- Peacock Cemetery. Midway between Medford and Red Lion. On the northeast corner of NJ-70 and Chairville Rd. Park in the lot of the adjacent dentist's office.
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Adonijah Peacock used a mill on his New Jersey land to manufacture gunpowder for George Washington and the Continental Army. In January 1777, Washington's quartermaster rejected a batch of wet gunpowder, which Peacock took home to dry by a fire. The gunpowder ignited, and the resulting explosion, which was heard ten miles away, blew the roof off of the house and killed 53-year-old Peacock. His headstone is engraved: "Killed 1777 by explosion while making powder for Gen. Washington."
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