UNION BETHEL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1831

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S):

• Lower Township Historic Preservation Commission

HISTORY:

By the early 1800's, there was a community of free Blacks, and most likely some escaped enslaved people, located in a rural wooded area. Most members of the community were farmers and some had been formerly enslaved. A group of trustees approached a farm owner to purchase land to build a church to serve this community. In 1831, land was conveyed "that they shall erect and build...a house or place of worship for the use of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church" and later "burying ground for Coloured people." A church was built but is no longer standing.

The earliest burial in the cemetery was in 1834 and the latest in 1947. Over the years, various groups have participated in efforts to restore the cemetery and preserve it. In 2018, the Lower Township Historic Preservation Commission took over the care of the cemetery and are the caretakers today. The cemetery is notable for the 16 veterans of the Civil War, 15 of whom served in the US Colored Troops and one in the Navy as well as one veteran who served in both WWI and WWII.

BCN Contact Information:

Lower Township Historic Preservation Commission

Pary Tell

parytell@gmail.com

TIMBUCTOO CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1854 per deed; 1847 is oldest gravestone

ADDITONAL NAMES: Zion Weleyan Methodist Episcopal African Church Cemetery; Timbuctoo Civil War Memorial Cemetery,

AFFILIATION(S):

• Timbuctoo Historical Society

HISTORY:

The Zion Wesleyan, Methodist Episcopal African Church was incorporated in December of 1854 and the land, including designation of a cemetery, was purchased that same month. However, since incorporation of churches and charitable organizations was a relatively new phenomenon in 1854, we don't assume the church and cemetery were founded at that time. In fact, the oldest remaining gravestone is dated 1847. We believe the church and cemetery occupied the premises long before 1854, perhaps under a rental agreement. It is noteworthy that the 1847 grave is for Eliza Parker. She was the wife of Timbuctoo community leader David Parker, who was a trustee of the church. Timbuctoo is an antebellum free Black settlement settled in 1826. More information about Timbuctoo can be found at www.TimbuctooNJ.com

The name Timbuctoo Civil War Memorial Cemetery is associated with the installation of a name marker in 2006 by the Westampton Historical Society. Since 8 of 11 remaining gravestones are US Colored Troops (USCT) that fought in the Civil War, logical thinking at that time was that it was a cemetery for Civil War soldiers. However, the 1854 deed suggests otherwise, with restrictive language about who can be buried here. It says the premises were to be used "as a place of religious worship according to the form of government and discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in America, and as a place for the burial of the dead of such as are in connection with said church or the descendants thereof, (and such others as the majority of the Trustees for the time being may permit) forever." In addition, ground penetrating radar conducted in 2009, identified as many as 164 unmarked graves. Based on the foregoing, we believe that the USCT were buried in the cemetery because of their affiliation with the church, not because of their military service, and the majority of the interments were civilian church members.

The Timbuctoo website noted above includes additional information, including brief biographies of the US Colored Troops.

Sources:

Burlington County, New Jersey, Deeds, A:77.Trustees of the Zion Wesleyan ME African Church –Timbuctoo,23 December 1854; Burlington County Clerk's Office, Mount Holly.

Guy Weston "Timbuctoo and the First Emancipation of the Nineteenth Century," New Jersey Studies, Vol. 8 No. 1 (2022)

William J Chadwick and Peter Leach, Geophysical Survey of Timbuctoo, Westampton Township, New Jersey, John Milner Associates, September 2009

BCN Contact Information:

Guy Weston

GuyWeston@TimbuctooNJ.com

www.TimbuctooNJ.com

UNION AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1835

ADDITONAL NAMES: Allentown Borough Municipality and Union AME Church

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Allentown African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1835. This cemetery was in active use by the Union AME church from 1862- 1946. There are 65 identified burial plots at the site; however, 2019 research revealed there are 170 people buried in the cemetery. Many buried here were residents of Allentown, active in the Underground Railroad, or served in the Civil War. Among the buried was the last surviving Civil War Veteran in New Jersey, Sergeant George Ashby.

In honor of one of the cemetery' s most historical figures, Sergeant George Ashby, Allentown Borough created a park to add to the beauty and the historical importance of this Civil War Veteran and the people buried alongside him, known and unknown. Also buried within the cemetery is James Woby a hero in the battle of Gettysburg.

Allentown was also home to the Black Church Movement and was home to the second AME church in the county of Monmouth which was established in 1835.

BCN Contact Information:

Borough Administrator Laurie Roth and Allentown Council

clerk@allentownboronj.com

ENSLAVED CEMETERY, MAHWAH

FOUNDED: unknown, late 1700's/early 1800's

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S):

• Mahwah Museum

HISTORY:

Nestled among the trees along the Ramapo River, this cemetery is a roughly 40 x 100 foot swath of sacred ground, bordered with a low wall of stones, abandoned, yet still "tended." Local tradition states that this land was used as an enslaved cemetery. Bischoff and Kahn's 1979 book "History of Mahwah" (p. 413) lists these among the enslaver families in the area: Bogert, Bartholf, Cough, Terhune, Van Allen, Hopper, Maysinger, Boggs, Lydecker, Ackerman, Vanderbeek, Fell, Garrison, Smith, Westervelt, Haring, and Ryerson.

We seek to honor those whose names and stories have been lost. Buried here are those who were black enslaved, freedmen, and workers of the 1700s-1800s. The back area is assumed to be the burial site of enslaved or freedmen buried without markers. Those buried here were most likely of Afro-Dutch and possibly Ramapough Indian descent.

The marked graves include:

- Joseph Harrison,1850

- 3 children, ages 2, 3, 10 of York & Jane Harrison, a known freed family of the 1800’s

- Samuel Jennings, who worked for the Havemeyer family as a freedman in the 1800s. (Bischoff and Kahn (p.144) states: "The Jennings and some mountain people worked for Mountain Side (Farm)." The Jennings stone has a 20th century appearance and could possibly be a replacement.)

BCN Contact Information:

Mahwah Historic Preservation Commission

historic@mahwahtwp.org

mahwahmuseum.org

FISHER ROAD CEMETERY

FOUNDED: early 1800's

ADDITONAL NAMES: Cynthia Hesdra burial site

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

This small family burial about 40 ft x 80ft is hidden in a wooded lot in a gated townhouse community in Mahwah, NJ. The site includes the final resting place of Cynthia Hesdra (March 6, 1808-Feb. 9, 1879). Ms. Hesdra was enslaved for some period of her life, went on to become a successful entrepreneur who died with a fortune of over $100,000 ($2.4 million in today's money), and has been honored by the Toni Morrison Foundation for her role as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. A large handsome granite gravestone marked the site, but sadly it has been severed from its base and neighbors do not want it reset. It is not known for certain who else is buried here, though likely her parents, John and Jane Moore are there.

BCN Contact Information:

Mahwah Historic Preservation Commission

Historic@MahwahTwp.org

https://www.mahwahtwp.org/225/Historic-Preservation-Commission

CEDAR VIEW CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1850

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

In 1850, John B. Crawford, a local land and enslaver sold the 2.5-acre site to a group of 14 Black men for use as a cemetery. The group was comprised of free black men and former slaves.

The cemetery consists of 24 plots, each measuring 99 by 39 feet. The cemetery served as the burial ground for many African American families. There are former enslaved people as well as for Civil War USCT buried at the site.

The cemetery is not active, but it is an open area, open to the public.

BCN Contact Information:

Friends of Cedar View

friendsofcedarview@gmail.com

www.cedarviewcemetery.org

MOUNT PEACE CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1900

ADDITONAL NAMES: Mount Peace Cemetery Association

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Established in 1900, Mount Peace Cemetery is a historic African American community burial place located in Lawnside, Camden County, NJ. No longer an active burying ground, Mount Peace is the final resting place of 7,000 people, including freedom seekers, 135 United States Colored Troop Civil War veterans, and Reverend Alexander Heritage Newton, whose 1917 autobiography, Out of the Briars describes his assistance to freedom seeker H.E. Bryan on his journey from New Bern, North Carolina.

A non-sectarian cemetery, Mount Peace served the African American population of Camden County, New Jersey from 1900 until 2010. Today it is maintained by the Mount Peace Cemetery Association. Mount Peace Cemetery is located in a historically African American enclave with roots into the early 19th Century and is significant to the Underground Railroad. Nineteenth century references to this unincorporated community called it Free Haven and Snow Hill. This was a place of settlement of freedom seekers in these early years. By the 1830s an AME Church was established there. The area was formally incorporated as Lawnside in 1907. The Mount Peace Cemetery and Funeral Directing Company was established in 1900 to provide the African American population of the City of Camden, New Jersey and surrounding communities appropriate and respectful burial of their dead.

BCN Contact Information:

Dolly Marshall

contact@mtpeacecemeteryassociation.org

https://www.mtpeacecemeteryassociation.org