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Archiver > NJHUNTER > 2001-06 > 0992002031


From: Sharon Colquhoun <>
Subject: [NJHUNTER] Local cemeteries
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 05:07:11 -0700 (PDT)


Yesterday's Star Ledger had an article by their staff
writer, Cathy Bugman, about the cemetery in Bound
Brook. I'll copy part of it:

About 1,000 people are buried in the cemetery beside
the public library in Bound Brook, including many
Revolutionary War soldiers.

The oldest tombstones date to the early 1700s. The
newer ones are from the late 1800s.

But many of the inscriptions are unreadable, and a
citizens group wants to change that.

The problem is that when the town took over the burial
plot in 1976, the headstones were laid flat, said
Karen Fritz, founder of the Community Development
Association. So, when the grass is cut, the
lawnmowers run over the fact of the stones, causing
scratches and dents.

"That was the worse thing they could do," said Dorothy
Stratford, vice president of the Somerset County
Historical Society and a lifelong borough resident.
"I've been upset for years about it, but you can't
fight city hall. I guess we're lucky that what's here
is here."

The tombstones were laid flat because over the years
the site has been the target of vandals, who knocked
tombstones down, shattering them into pieces, Police
Chief Kenneth Henderson said.

Fritz wants to mount a fund-raising campaign to
preserve the stones and incorporate her association as
an official nonprofit group so it will be eligible for
grants.

"Our community group will take that on as our next
project," said Fritz. "I think that with the right
people, and with the right nonprofit status, we can
get funding from various places."

The graveyard initially belonged to the Presbyterian
Church. Philanthropist George LaMonte bought it in
the late 1920s or early 1930s and gave the deed to the
DAR, which gave the deed to the town in 1976 because
it could not afford the upkeep on the cemetery.

The Presbyterian Church established a presence in town
in the late 1600s and established houses of worship at
various sites before it settled into the current
location in 1897 at Union and Mountain Avenues.

Buried at the site are many of the town's earlies
settlers, including the Rev. Read, one of the early
ministers of the church, whose skull was fractured one
day while on a carriage ride from New Brunswick.

Other notables include Creighton McCrea, a lt in the
British army as well as the founder of the Somerset
County chapter of the Masonic Lodge, and a
tavernkeeper who was the first to establish a drinking
establishment in the Bernardsville area.



Please excuse the typos but I don't have time to
proofread and I wanted to get this info out to all of
you. Cathy Burman, the writer, can be reached at


or
908 429 9929

I'm sure she will have mailing addresses or phone
numbers for the other folks mentioned in the article.

I hope this raises awareness for those of you who
might have someone buried in the cemetery.


Sharon

=====
Harry and Sharon Moore Colquhoun
Belle Mead, NJ
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hscc/
"As for me and my house - we will serve the Lord"

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