Read the new Revolutionary War New Jersey coffee table photo book by the creator of this website!
Click Here for Details.

Willingboro, New Jersey Revolutionary War Sites
This website, its text and photographs are © 2009 - 2024 AL Frazza. All rights reserved.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN WILLINGBORO, NEW JERSEY

Revolutionary War New Jersey
GOVERNOR WILLIAM FRANKLIN COUNTRY HOME SITE
Willingboro NJ Revolutionary War Sites
Willingboro, New Jersey

Governor William Franklin Home Site<
Beverly Rancocas Rd. and John F. Kennedy Way
Click here for Map / Directions

William Franklin was the son of Benjamin Franklin. He served as the Royal Governor of New Jersey from 1763-1776. During that time, he had his official governor's residence first in Burlington and then in Perth Amboy.

From 1770-1785, William also owned property at this site. [1] In 1785, ownership was transferred to Temple Franklin, who was William's son and Benjamin's grandson. [2]

The story of William's term as Royal Governor, which ended with his arrest in 1776, is told in detail in the Proprietary House entry on the Perth Amboy page.

Revolutionary War New Jersey

Source Notes:

1. ^ William Franklin's property is usually referred to in contemporary documents as having been at Rancocas.
Using modern-day boundaries, the community of Rancocas within Westampton is about eight tenths of a mile east of this sign.

2. ^ Benjamin Franklin, William Temple Franklin, The Works of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Volume VI (Philadelphia: William Duane, 1809) Page 490
Available to be read at Google Books here

Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin, An American Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003) Pages 434-435