SKENE, JOHN [SSNE 6625]

Surname

SKENE

First name

JOHN

Title/rank

DEPUTY GOVERNOR

Nationality

SCOT

Region

ABERDEEN

Religion

QUAKER

Text source

John Skene was a Freemason Burgess from Aberdeen. After being admitted a burgess in 1659, he studied at Marischal College between 1662-3. He later emmigrated to West Jersey with his family in 1682 and is hailed as the first freemason to become a citizen of the Western Hemisphere. Skene went on to become Deputy Governor for West Jersey from 1685 until his death in 1690

F.L. Pick and G. Norman Knight, The Pocket History of Freemasonry' (London, 1992 edition), p.279; D. Stevenson, The First Freemasons: Scotland's Early Lodges and their Members (Aberdeen, 1988), pp.128, 116.

Service record

AMERICAN COLONIES, NEW JERSEY

Arrived 1682-01-01

Capacity MASON, ARTISAN, purpose TRADE