Jeffries (1829-1887) is known for his association with the ship Twenty One Friends, which, following an incident at sea, floated without crew across the Atlantic Ocean for two years before being claimed and returned to service.

The monument is made of marble and stands on a square brick base approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) on each side.

The square center section features an inscription, and above that a bas-relief engraving of the ship associated with Jeffries—and the source of his historical fame—the Twenty One Friends.

A member of the K. of P. The Jeffries family can trace its genealogy back to 18th-century European settlers of Rhode Island.

[4] John Jeffries Sr. (1735-1810) from Egg Harbor earned a pension for his service during the American Revolutionary War.

[5][6] The family owned land where Patcong Creek empties into Great Egg Harbor River, and it was here they built a two-storey plantation house.

[7] The settlement that formed inland, north of Jeffries Landing, came to be called Jeffers, also named after the family.

[10] Some evidence of this can be found within the penned family plot in Scullville (Palestine) Bible Church cemetery.

The banks of Great Egg Harbor River, from Mays Landing to Somers Point, were an ideal environment for shipbuilding in the century following the American Revolutionary War due to natural resources in the area.

[11] These resources included lumber from pine, oak, and cedar as well as bog ore.[12][13] The waterways were deep enough for ships up to 2000 tons (1,800 MT).

[10][15] In 1885, returning to Philadelphia with a full load of lumber from Brunswick, Georgia, the Twenty One Friends was rammed by the John D. May off the coast of Cape Hatteras.