A history of Paterson NJ

Long after the people of Europe had settled in this country, the aborigines continued interring their dead in two places set apart for that purpose at no great distance from Paterson. One of these burial grounds was at Passaic, near the foot of the present President Street, but this seems, according to tradition, to have been limited to the interment of warriors, women and children being excluded. It is known that the Indians came from what is now the northern part of Passaic County for the purpose of doing the last honors to their departed warriors. In 1709 the Indians sold to the white settlers the tract now embracing the First Ward of Paterson, what became afterwards the eastern part of the township of Manchester and a part of Saddle River township in Bergen county, but they reserved from this tract the place now known as Sicomac-to the Indians as Schichamack-for here they had buried their dead for generations and they intended to continue doing so.

The rule, so generally observed in most communities, that a place for the interment of the dead shall adjoin the church, has been observed in Paterson in only one instance and that in connection with the oldest of burying grounds. For the first public burying ground in the present city of Paterson was deeded by Henry Brockholst, of Pompton, in 1762. As the wording of the deed is closely interwoven with the history of both cemetery and church, it is here given in full:

Henry Brockholst to Trustees of Dutch Church at Totowa:

To all Christian people to whom these presents shall come, Henry Brockhoist, Esq., sendeth greeting, know ye that I, Henry Brockholst, son and heir-at-law of Anthony Brockholst, deceased, in the county of Bergen and province of New Jersey, out of the good will I owe and the regard I have for the promotion of the Christian religion, and especially the manner of worship of the Low Dutch Reformed Church of Holland, according as the same is established by the National Synod, held at Dordrecht, in the year of our Lord, one thousand six hundred and eighteen and nineteen, for the promotion of the Christian religion, according to the principles and church discipline there established, as for the contribution of Christian government we enjoy this permit, and for and in consideration of four places or seats in the pew of the church now erected and built, hereby granted and known by the distinction of No. 1, upon a certain map or draught made of the several pews, in said church, freely giving and allowing unto me, my heirs and assigns forever, have given, granted, bargained, enfeoffed, released, conveyed and confirmed, and by these presents do give, grant, bargain, sell, alien, convey and confirm unto Cornelius Kip, Robert Van Houten, Cornelius Westervelt, Johannis Van Blarcom and Cornelius Gerretse, Trustees of the Low Dutch Reformed Congregation of Totowa, and to their successors, that shall from time to time forever hereafter by the congregation aforesaid be chosen:

A certain lot of land situate, lying and being in the county of Bergen, in the eastern division of the province of New Jersey, near the bridge erected over the Passaic river at Totowa, where said church is now built on: Beginning eighty links distant upon a north forty degree west course from where a little brook or run of water empties itself into the Passaic river, and running from thence south fifty-four degrees, four chains and forty-five links to a stake; thence south eighty-four degrees and a half west, one chain and twenty-seven links to a whitewood tree; thence north twenty-seven degrees and a half east five chains and fifty links to a whitewood sapling; thence south forty-three degrees east three chains and half to the beginning. Containing one acre.

To have and to hold all the above granted and bargained premises, with all manner of appurtenances and privileges to the same in manner or ways belonging, reserving and excepting all mines and minerals to the aforesaid Trustees, and their successors as aforesaid, to the only sole use and proper behoof of the said Low Dutch Reformed congregation, who profess the principles of religion and church government and discipline established at Dordrecht, as aforesaid, and to the last survivors of the same forever, and I, the said Henry Brockholst, do for myself, my heirs, executors and administrators, covenant, promise, grant and agree to with the said Trustees aforesaid, that before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, I am the sole, true and lawful owner of the above granted and bargained premises and appurtenances, and am lawfully seized and possessed of the same, in my own proper right as a good and perfect and absolute estate of inheritance, and have in myself good right, full power and lawful authority to give, grant, bargain, sell, alien, convey and confirm the same, these granted and bargained premises and appurtenances in manner aforesaid, and that the said Trustees and their successors aforesaid shall and may from time to time and at all times lawfully and peaceably and quietly have, hold, occupy, possess and enjoy the above granted premises and appurtenances free and clear, freely and clearly acquitted, exonerated and discharged of and from all manner of former gifts, grants, bargains, sales, leases, mortgages, wills, dowries, entails, jointures, executions and all manner of encumbrance whatsoever, without let, suit, trouble, eviction, ejection or any manner of molestation whatever of him, the said Henry Brockholst, or any person or persons by or under from him, them or any of them.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this fourteenth day of April, in the second year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, George the III, by the Grace of God, Great Britain, France and Ireland's King, Defender of the Faith, Anno Domini, one thousand and seven hundred and sixty-two.

HENRY BROCKEOLST

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of George Ryerse, Joseph Widmour.

The property thus bequeathed surrounded the quaint old stone building (erected in 1755), which stood on what is now called Water Street, near the corner of Matlock. The older part of this church-yard, being on the northeast side of Water street, was sold in building lots after the church was burned down in 1827, and has long been covered with the dwellings of the living, while the graves of the dead are nowhere recognizable, although occasionally a headstone is found utilized as doorstep or in the construction of walks. The other part of the cemetery, lying on the southwest side of Water street, and along the Valley road, was used from about 1790 to 1845. As interments had ceased, because of the crowded condition of the cemetery and the fact that it lay unprotected in the heart of a growing city with cosmopolitan tendencies, and as the relatives of those whose remains lay buried there had either moved away or for other causes had lost interest, the cemetery soon showed a frayed-at-the-edges appearance; the fence was permitted to remain in a dilapidated condition and pedestrians made short cuts over the graves. A grand jury found a presentment, severely blaming the church authorities, to which the latter paid no heed. But, as years rolled by, between public condemnation and a desire to secure the revenue which might ensue from the sale of the graves for real estate improvements, the church authorities were spurred on to action and so in 1888 they began removing the dead in boxes to other cemeteries. There was no objection made to this as long as the remains were those of unidentified persons or of persons who had left none to protest, but when the danger of disturbance threatened the remains of some of the older and still existing families, trouble arose. A vault, still in a fair state of preservation, was made the object of an injunction issued by the Court of Chancery in 1888, the contention being that the property had been deeded for cemetery purposes only and that the church authorities had no right to disturb the remains of the dead, nor make use of the property for any purpose other than the interment of the dead. After some days of arguing had resulted in little but surmises as to what the facts were in connection with the deed, the latter, quoted above, was produced, the result of an extended search. This ended the litigation and the church authorities continued their work of removing the dead, the latter being reinterred in the Reformed cemetery on Sandy Hill, to be again disturbed some years later. In order that there might he no doubt of the obliteration of the cemetery both in law and in fact, proceedings were taken in 1914 by which commissioners formally condemned the property and awarded damages to such as showed that they had been injured by deprivation of the use of the oldest cemetery in Paterson, for the purposes of interment.

The purchase in 1814 by the First Presbyterian Church of Paterson from the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, for a nominal consideration, of a triangular plot of land on Market street, east of \Tine street, containing half an acre, formed the nucleus of that nest of burying grounds known for many years as the Sandy Hill cemeteries. A considerable tract of sandy waste adjoining this cemetery belonged to the State of New Jersey, having been acquired in exchange for the $10,000 of stock subscribed to the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures; the property was not deemed valuable for any other than burial purposes and the State was anxious to get rid of it, offering it for sale at fifty dollars an acre, the State retaining a reversionary interest in the property in the event of its being devoted to purposes other than the interment of the dead. The first to take advantage of this offer were the Presbyterians, who increased their cemetery by the addition of three acres in 1826. In 1854 the Presbyterians needed more room for graves, but the days of cheap real estate on Sandy Hill had passed and so they were required to pay to the society $6,516.56 for 3.74 additional acres.

The- Methodists-represented by the Market Street Methodist Episcopal Church-established their cemetery on Sandy Hill in 1824, having purchased a tract on Willis street-now Park avenue-of two acres from Matthew Rippey, for $80. In 1851 they enlarged this cemetery by paying the society $500 for i.8i acres. In 1824 the Catholics obtained a hit of real estate, 100x175 feet, on the northeast corner of Willis street and Graham avenue, and in 1839 relieved the State of three acres adjoining the property purchased by St. Paul's Episcopal Church, paying therefor the regular price of fifty dollars an acre.

In 1835 the authorities of the First Reformed Church purchased two acres from the society for $200, the property lying on Willis street next to the cemetery of the Methodists.

In 1835 St. Paul's Episcopal Church invested in five acres of State property on Market street. In 1844 the Baptists took an adjoining tract of three acres from the State.

In the course of years the population of Paterson was swelling in the neighborhood of these burial places and it was only a question of time before the living would drive the dead from their homes. Although many of the individual graves or burial plots were still well taken care of, there was a total absence of any system of coordination; the fences were permitted to fall into decay and a great many lost interest in the cemeteries, such interest for patent reasons having been transferred to other burying grounds. The actions of some enterprising but unsentimental undertakers served to fan the flame of public indignation, for investigations on the part of a grand jury established the fact that these undertakers had purchased lots and parts of lots and had sold graves at bargain prices, frequently burying several bodies in the same grave. There was, however, nothing criminal in this proceeding and it continued for a number of years. A number of persons still interested in the remains resting beneath the surface of Sandy Hill formed what was known for some years as the Sandy Hill Burial Grounds Protective Association, the object of which was the preservation of the cemeteries and their protection against vandalism of all kinds. But the crowding population proved too much and when the local board of health issued orders that no further interments would be permitted in some parts of the cemeteries and when grand juries were finding presentments couched in unpleasant terms, it was made apparent that the days of the Sandy Hill cemeteries had passed. The matter attracted the attention of the Legislature as early as 1876, when a bill was introduced vesting in the city of Paterson the State's reversionary titles; the bill failed to pass, but it was only the forerunner of one which did pass some years later. But before the enactment of this law the Legislature parted with its interest in the cemetery occupied by the Baptists by presenting the Ladies' Hospital Association with that interest, for the Legislature had been informed that the association was anxious to secure a good location for anew hospital building and would like to have plenty of ground about it. The plan met with approval, but never got further than the paper stage.

Finally, when the Legislature had done all that was possible to smooth the way, the work of obliteration was begun. The Catholics took the lead and in 1910 removed all bodies resting in their small plot on the north side of Park avenue; they could produce no deed to the property, and none was ever found, but as they had had undisputed possession since 1824, no difficulty was experienced when the property was placed in the market, although even at the present day only a very small part has been improved. Next the Catholics offered to sell their three-acre cemetery to the city; the cemetery lay some distance from the public thoroughfares and when it was offered to the city for six cents per square foot the title quickly changed hands, the Catholics removing all their dead to the cemetery of Holy Sepulchre. The city then began condemnation proceedings as far as the other Sandy Hill cemeteries were concerned. The proceedings were instituted in 1912 and 1914; the city removed the bodies and interred them in other cemeteries, unless persons more interested preferred to attend to this part of the work, and paid the lot owners twelve cents per square foot for the territory taken, double the price paid to the Catholics, but then the other cemeteries were near to large thoroughfares and a justifiable difference was found between transfers of real estate where both seller and buyer are anxious and where the property was taken without consulting the wishes of the owner. The bodies have all been removed, as have all indications that the ground was ever occupied by such. The property along Market street has been devoted to public park purposes; on the Park avenue side there will also be a public park, but it will surround what is to be Paterson's second high school.

Among the cemeteries at present used by the people of Paterson the oldest is Cedar Lawn and it is the only cemetery within the limits of the city, lying at its southeasterly extremity. It was in 1865 that Thomas D. Hoxsey and David B. Beam obtained a charter from the Legislature of New Jersey creating the Cedar Cliff Cemetery Association, the object of the incorporators being to make use of the slope of Preakness mountain, where it faces Paterson, for a place for interment of the dead. In the following year they sold this property and acquired a tract better adapted for the purpose, and they associated with them Franklin C. Beckwith, Thomas Barbour, Adam Carr, H. B. Crosby, William S. Kinch and James Crooks. In 1867 the name was changed to the Cedar Lawn Cemetery Association. The present acreage is one hundred and thirty-five and the interments exceed twenty-eight thousand.

The Catholic cemetery at Sandy Hill being filled, and all the lots sold, the authorities of St. John's Catholic Church bought on January 30, 1866, what was known as the "Lynch Farm," sixty-nine acres, at the southeast corner of Market street and Madison avenue, for a cemetery. One or two interments were made, when, March 27, 1866, an act of the Legislature was approved, prohibiting the location or establishment of cemeteries or burial grounds "within the distance of six thousand feet from the street monument, as established at the corner of Market and Willis streets," in the city of Paterson, and the proposed cemetery was abandoned and the property sold. On September 7 of the same year William G. Watson bought at auction sale of the estate of Cornelius P. Hopper, deceased, 24.92 acres of land, on the east side of Haledon avenue and north of Fast Main Street, and on the next day conveyed it to St. John's Church, the object being to locate a cemetery there. A few interments were made in the new grounds, but an act of the legislature, approved February 26, 1867, prohibited the location or establishment of any cemetery or burial ground within the limits and boundaries of the city of Paterson," and further prohibited the use "for the purposes of burial," of any cemetery or burial grounds established within one year within said city." May I, 1867, the church bought from Bartlett Smith, for $15,500, three adjoining tracts of land, embracing 73.19 acres in all, at T6towa, just west of the city line, and near the Lincoln bridge, extending from the river back to Preakness mountain. Here was located the cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre, in which there have been made since the date of its purchase upwards of forty thousand interments.
The Laurel Grove Cemetery Company was organized under a special charter in 1888 by Francis C. Van Dyk, William T. Ryle, John R. Beam, James O'Shea George C. Mason, James A. Morrisse, James W. Ensign, John Norwood, Hiram Gould and Michael Dunn. The company purchased several tracts of land lying along the Passaic river just above Lincoln Bridge, taking full advantage of the powers conferred in its charter to acquire two hundred acres of land for cemetery purposes. On May 31, 1919, 21,437 interments had been made in this cemetery. Finding that there was a great deal of repugnance on the part of a number of people towards placing into the grounds of the remains of loved persons, the company in 1913 erected a mausoleum containing 420 crypts; of these 195 have been sold and 40 are occupied.

The only other cemetery almost exclusively used by the people of Paterson is that of Mount Nebo, adjoining Laurel Grove. This is the property of the Congregation of B'nai Jeshurun of the Barnert Memorial Temple. This congregation had purchased, on December 23, 1847, from Dr. Joseph W. Ashmun, of New York, a tract of land at Centreville, south of Paterson; this tract measures 50 x 110 feet and it was used for many years as place of interment by the Jews. But it was found that a great many of the wealthier Jews preferred interment in Cedar Lawn or some of the Jewish cemeteries of New York, and so, in 1911, the Centreville cemetery was put in good order and fenced in to prohibit any desecration or other forms of vandalism. In 1887 the congregation had purchased the Bensen farm of twenty-two acres and here was established Mount Nebo, and in it lie buried the remains of many Jews once prominent in Paterson. On June 15, 1919, there had been 238 interments in this cemetery.

In addition to the preceding there are a number of small cemeteries about Paterson, owned either by organizations or individuals, the most prominent of these being one of two acres on the Goffle road used by the Hollanders and a portion thereof by Reformed Jews.

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