REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN SOMERS POINT, NEW JERSEY

SOMERS MANSION

Somers Mansion
1000 Shore Rd.
Map / Directions to Somers Mansion
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For visiting hours and information call (609) 927-2212
or Belleplain State Forest at (609) 861-2404.

Somers Mansion was built circa 1720-1726, and is the oldest house in Atlantic County. It was the home of Richard and Judith Somers, who raised ten children here. One of their sons, also named Richard, was born here on November 24, 1737. He would go on to serve as a Colonel in the Revolutionary War, in command of the 3rd Battalion of the Gloucester County Militia.[1] (Although Somers Point is now in Atlantic County, this area was then part of Gloucester County; Atlantic County was not created until 1837, fifty-four years after the end of the Revolutionary War. [2] )

The house where Colonel Somers lived as an adult, and his gravesite are also located in Somers Point. They are described in the entries below.

A monument to the men who served in Colonel Somers Battalion stands in Battle of Chestnut Neck Monument Park in Port Republic.

COLONEL RICHARD SOMERS HOMESTEAD & TAVERN

Colonel Richard Somers Homestead and Tavern

Colonel Richard Somers Homestead & Tavern
599 Shore Rd.
Map / Directions to Colonel Richard Somers Homestead & Tavern
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The left-hand side of this office structure was built circa 1770 and was originally the homestead and tavern of Colonel Richard Somers. It is connected to a newer unrelated section of this office structure by a glass atrium.

Colonel Richard Somers and his wife Sophia had a son, also named Richard, who was born here during the Revolutionary War in 1778. He went on to become a famous Navy Commandant; he died in 1804 at the Battle of Tripoli during the First Barbary War. [3]

SOMERS BURIAL GROUND

Somers Burial Ground
On the grounds of the New York Avenue School
121 West New York Ave.
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The Somers Burial Ground is located inside a low walled-in space next to the New York Avenue School. Colonel Richard Somers is buried here, along with his wife Sophia and other members of the extended Somers family. [4]

A monument to Richard's more famous Navy Commandant son stands in the middle of the burial ground, but he is not actually buried here. He was buried in Tripoli, Libya, after his death in the First Barbary War. There has been an ongoing effort by members of the Somers family to have his remains brought to the United States. [5]

Source Notes:

1. ^ Information was drawn from:

• National Register of Historic Places / Inventory - Nomination Form for Somers Mansion
Available as a PDF on the National Park Service website here

• The website of the Colonel Richard Somers Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution

• John F. Hall, The Daily Union History of Atlantic City and County, New Jersey (Atlantic City: The Daily Union Printing Company, 1900) p.433
Available to be read at the Internet Archive here.

2. ^ John F. Snyder, The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968 (Trenton: Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1969) Page 67
Available as a PDF on the State of New Jersey website here. (Note that although the information is on pages numbered 67 of the document, it is on page 78 of the PDF file.)

3. ^ City of Somers Point Centennial Celebration (1902 - 2002) historic sign at the Colonel Richard Somers Homestead & Tavern

• For more information about Naval Commander Richard Somers, see the website of the Somers Point Historical Society.

4. ^ Information drawn from grave markers in the burial ground.

5. ^ For more information about Naval Commander Richard Somers, see the website of the Colonel Richard Somers Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.