NOTE:
A quick reminder: Warren was part of Bernards Township until the 19th century, while Far Hills and Bernardsville were still part of Bernards Township up until the early 20th century. Cemeteries remain one of the best sources for historical research and MLH leverages many burials in cemeteries to validate early settlers.
The Evergreen Cemetery in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, was established in 1853 on the northern side of Oak Street, a few hundred yards from the owner, the Bishop Janes Methodist Church. It was New Jersey’s first non-profit, non-sectarian cemetery. This Evergreen Cemetery is one of the earliest and most intact examples of the Rural Cemetery movement, which began in the 1830s and reflected a shift in how people viewed death.
Instead of dark, dreary burial grounds, cemeteries were to be places to celebrate life and beauty. The idea of building burial grounds on the outskirts of residential areas would provide an environment for peaceful reflection. The movement began in 1831 with the establishment of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by a man named John Lowell. Meyer designed the cemetery to reflect the Victorian view of death established by Queen Victoria. The Victorians viewed death as a natural part of life and a manifestation of God’s will. They believed that the moment of death was a moment of divine judgment and that the dying had to choose between heaven and hell.
The Mr. Local History Project met with Charles Walker, a resident and volunteer caretaker of the Evergreen Cemetery, which the Basking Ridge United Methodist Church owns. Charles has been the caretaker since 2007.
Although the Methodist Church was established in 1853, Evergreen Cemetery did not come under the Methodist Church’s control until 1859. Early records indicate that the Evergreen Cemetery in Basking Ridge originated from 3.3 acres donated by Charles and Agnes Hill, and an additional 4.13 acres purchased by Reverend George F. Dickinson in 1858, both of which were subsequently passed to the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Ferdinand Van Dorn, Esq., drew the original plans, and Bishop Edward Jane finally approved them. In 1904, a total of 15 3/4 acres made up the cemetery along the railroad tracks.
As you can see, there’s a color-coding signifying the status of each plot in the yard. When plots are sold, there is an option to provide ongoing care for the site, and those are marked “green.” The Red” plots are those actually with owner “self-care.” The “blue” plots” are currently available for purchase. Plots colored “brown” are currently undeveloped but may be available in the future. Finally, “white” areas refer to those sold by the church in 1985 and 2013 that were subsequently developed.
The initial cemetery began at today’s Oak Street main entrance to the yard, near the only gravel street, appropriately named Central Avenue. Grassy streets cross the yard parallel to Oak Street and are named after trees, including Pine, Cedar, and Oak, throughout the property. Streets parallel to Washington Street include the names Lawn, Fairview, Terrace, and Vale. The original cemetery section consisted of graves that are now numbered 28-87, but they were numbered 1-60 in the original cemetery.
There were a few graves on the property before the cemetery site was formally recognized. Early notes indicated that Phebe Conkling was buried in plot 54 on September 1, 1785. The Conklings were a local family with a house near the train depot who owned and operated the Bernardsville lumber yard, located at 65 Morristown Road, which later became the Conkling Miller Fuel Company. There is also a nearby street, Conkling Street, named in their honor, as they were among the earliest settlers in Bernards Township. The Conklings have 14 additional burials in the yard. It was also noted that some of the first burial plots, including #302, 303, and 304, were donated to the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church.
The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from 1784 until 1939 and was organized in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1784. Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury were the superintendents, later referred to as bishops. Bishop Janes represented the Basking Ridge MEC church. The United Methodist Church is one of the largest Protestant denominations in the country. Methodists represent the second-largest Protestant family, accounting for more than one in ten of all Protestants. While the yard was initially reserved for members of the church, it has developed a multi-denominational flavor today, with Presbyterians, Muslims, and others buried in the churchyard.
A few readers wrote in to report that the cemetery had been sold. From 2000 to 2007, the church hired two different trial managers to determine if they might be candidates to purchase the cemetery. Neither of them worked out. The Trustees decided at that time to have the church continue to manage the cemetery operations. So the church has always maintained ownership of the property.
Typically, when someone wants a burial site, they purchase a plot in the yard. The plot sizes vary throughout the cemetery. Back in the early days of the cemetery, you could buy an entire plot for about $50. We learned that the typical plot size is 30′ x 39′ and would contain up to 32 graves for spouses, children, and relatives. The plot owners design Headstones throughout the yard. Today, plot sizes vary and can provide roughly twelve burials.
In the early 1980s, the Methodist Church decided to sell several plot areas at the northwestern end of the cemetery. After discussions and variances were approved by the township, the church sold six plot areas that were later developed, where six homes now stand. It was noted that proceeds from the sale were put into a fund to support the cemetery’s maintenance.
“Interesting fact….Whenever we have the cemetery grass cut, it costs us about $675. That’s just part of the management of this cemetery that I’ve been overseeing for the last 17 years.”
Charles Walker, volunteer cemetery superintendent
While there are no known Revolutionary War soldiers in the yard, the cemetery is home to several veterans from the Civil War, WWI, WWII, and the Korean War. Each year, the local Boy Scouts troop places flags to mark their service to America. We will work with various organizations to create a list of veterans that we can share at a later time.
Our favorite goes out to Ferdinand Van Dorn, who helped found the cemetery and still has a presence in town with the former Van Dorn mill across the street from the Old Mill Inn in the Franklin Corners section of Bernards Township.
There are a few others that we thought it would be worth recognizing. William Pennington, a historian in town in the early 20th century, documented that Betsy Ross was buried in the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church. There was also William Scheuerman, one of the earliest Postmasters in Basking Ridge, who orchestrated the first airmail to come to town. Nettie Allen, a devoted Presbyterian, historian, school teacher, and member of the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church, was buried at Evergreen after the BRPC yard was declared “full.” William Childs, owner of the Child’s Restaurant chain, the Old Mill Inn, and the Franklin Corners area of Bernards Township, is also in the yard. The Brushes from Basking Ridge’s Brush’s Deli is also resting at Evergreen Cemetery. And finally, we honor Reverend George F. Dickinson, the person who purchased the original grounds of the Evergreen Cemetery. May they all rest in peace on these beautiful grounds.
Dayton, Allen, Dayton, Conkling, Brockhoven, MaCallum, are just a few of the families buried in the Evergreen Cemetery. Based on our analysis, the Allen family takes top honors for the number of family members buried in the Evergreen yard. One caveat is that we didn’t have maiden names to adjust the totals. so we had to use surnames only.
Always fun to search out families that have street names in the area. We identified 43 street names, with 40 originating from Bernards Township and three from Bernardsville.
NOTE: We compared our street name table to surnames buried in the cemetery. We are not entirely sure if that person is associated with the actual street name, but there is a correlation.
ACKEN, ALLEN, BALDWIN, BROWNLEE, CARSWELL, CHILDS, CLARK, COLLYER, COMPTON, CONKLING, COOPER, COURTER, CROSS DAYTON DECKER DICKINSON ELLIS GOLTRA HALE HAMILTON HUDSON IRVING LANDAU LEE LEWIS LONG LYONS MEEKER OWENS PENNINGTON RICKEY RUNYON SCHINDLER THOMPSON TURNER VOORHEES WHITENACK WOLF WOODMAN WOODWARD
Ballentine (BV), Bunn (BV),Quimby (BV)
The name Evergreen was created during the Victorian rural cemetery movement. The name was given to cemeteries that were large, beautifully landscaped properties. Here is some information on other Evergreen cemeteries we found during our research gathering:
Does anyone remember when the Basking Ridge Fire Company No. 1 used to run a Halloween fright night fundraiser in the Evergreen Cemetery? Children were invited to don their Halloween costumes and join the firefighters and rescue workers for an evening of fun at the firehouse on Washington Avenue, including a haunted hayride through a cemetery, complete with ghosts and goblins. I had the pleasure of living up the street and bringing my young children on the hayride through the yard. If you participated in or took the tour, share your thoughts below.
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I heard from a historian that in the wooded area on the east side of the cemetery lie many unmarked graves of civil war soldiers. I would like to find out more about this. Have you ever heard about this?