Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was born near Burlington in 1752. Raised a farmer, he served in
several companies of the Second New Jersey Regiment between 1777 and 1783. After
seeing action at the battles of Trenton and Princeton in 1776 and 1777, Brandywine
in 1777, Monmouth in 1778 and Yorktown in 1781, he left the military at war's
end. George Washington personally signed Cromwell's discharge papers, and also
designed a medal which was awarded to Cromwell.
Some years after the war, Cromwell applied for a veteran's pension. He was well-liked
in Burlington, and although he was unable to read or write, local lawyers, judges
and politicians came to his aid, and he was granted a pension of $96 a year. He
purchased a 100-acre farm outside Burlington, and fathered 14 children, then spent
his later years at his home at 114 East Union Street in Burlington. He lived to
be 100 years old, outliving 8 of his children, and is buried in the cemetary of
the Broad Street Methodist Church. His descendants live in the city to this day.
In 1983, the Oliver Cromwell Black History Society was organized to research
and preserve Black Heritage, in Burlington and elsewhere. The Society work with
the Afri-Male Institute to encourage young men to represent Cromwell and other
African-American soldiers in Revolutionary War recreations at the Old Barracks
Museum in Trenton, New Jersey.
Oliver Cromwell Black History Society
The Oliver Cromwell Black History Society was formed in 1983 for the preservation
and research of Black Heritage in the City of Burlington and throughout the United
States. The Society is named for Oliver Cromwell, a Black soldier in the Revolution
who was decorated by George Washington and lived in Burlington after the war.
The Society meets each month at the Afri-Male Institute on High Street, and holds
an annual Black Heritage Historical Art and Essay Contest for students in Burlington
City and Burlington Township. The Society's efforts were also instrumental in
the designation of the William Allen School as a historic site on both the National
and State Historic Registers. The Society and the Institute work together to encourage
young men to represent African-American soldiers in Revolutionary War recreations
at the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, some fifteen miles away.