Grave sites I want to visit

[BarryC]

Recently I found that one of my USGS Survey maps shows a graveyard on the right side of 536, Chew Road, over the county line in Camden County. I went to go see it today and found that it's on some private property. The map shows it on a dirt road in an open field. Well the dirt road appears to be the driveway of a business. On the left of the road, if you were to drive down it, there is a very strongly worded "no-trespassing" sign! From the highway you can see the tombstones in a grove of red cedars. There appeared to be a big firewood business going on there and there was also a bunch of heavy equipment there, just before the cemetery site.
I also went to see if I could locate the Yoos Sooy grave, which is known to be on the property of the Cavileer Boatworks in Lower Bank. This is from the early 1700s. Well it turns out it can be seen from the road. If you cross the Lower Bank Bridge, coming from Atlantic County and turn right, the dirt driveway going into the boatworks is right there, with a nice sign telling about the boatworks. The grave is in the middle of the driveway, back aways form the road, maybe 80 feet back. I was going to walk back to it, but I wasn't sure if that would be considered trespassing, so I didn't.

 

[BobM]

Barry,

In Green Bank, right before one enters the Wading River Bridge heading south (coming from the road that goes back to Lake Absegami), there is a cemetary behind the house on the right, right before the bridge.

Ever been there? Who's buried there?

 

[BarryC]

That's in Wading River (used to be called Bridgeport). The cemetery is called the Adams-Leek-McKeen Cemetery. It's from the late 1700s and early 1800s. Just outside the fence from it, under the trees, is the old Friends Cemetery. There was a Friends Meeting house there at one time. In that little Friends cemetery is buried Lucy Ann Evans, the wife of Jesse Evans, the ironmaster of Martha. She attended weekly first-day meetings at that little meeting house. It was built in 1825 and lasted till sometime in the early 1900s when it fell apart. (This last bit of info comes from Heart of the Pines.) I've got a picture of her grave, but I haven't scanned it.
These 2 cemeteries are the only ones in Wading River aside from a family burial plot on a side road down Turtle Creek Road. But it's on private property and I haven't seen it in person.
I'll e-mail you my pictures from the Adams-Leek-McKeen Cemetery. They used to be online, in my PhotoPoint galleries, but PhotoPoint is no more.

 

[Teegate]

Barry,

I am encouraging you to do your best to visit those sites. Most owners or caretakers of property will let you visit a cemetery, so don't be afraid to ask permission. What do you have to loose. I was always afraid to ask permission when I was younger, but now I don't think even twice about it. I have been told no and I just thank them and walk away. No harm, and no hard feelings.

This past fall they were destroying one of the last barns and farm house in Marlton for a new apartment type complex. I asked permission from the construction crew to photograph inside the barn and houses and was told "Absolutely not" because ground moving was in progress. He then pulled me aside and told me they did not work Sunday's. I took the hint, and the below is one of the results. It was destroyed the next day.

Again, try to visit them.

Guy

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/teegate/Holtz.jpg

 

[German]

Another good one to visit is at Eagle, just off the road from Speedwell to Friendship Bogs. There is only one grave still marked, that of Charels Wills, if I remember correctly. The other graves supposedly had wooden markers which have long since vanished. If you are travelling towards Feindship, make a right turn at the sand road with utility poles going down it. Look for the fenced in cemetary on your left, about a few hundred yards down the road.

 

[Teegate]

I have been to the Charles Wills grave many times. A very interesting place. I had not visited there in 20 years and recently went back with my daughters. They had replaced the poles around it and added a bucket to collect money for upkeep. I gave them all of the change I had. If everyone who visited did, they should do well. Below is a link to a picture of me that was developed in 8/78. It was taken the previous winter. The second link shows my daughters this past January when we visited it. Notice the flag. Stuck in the ground next to it is a war plaque that was not there in 1978. It has been added since then. At least it is not in any of the numerous photo's I have.



http://mywebpages.comcast.net/teegate/8-78Wills.jpg

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/teegate/JenJes.jpg



Guy

 

[BarryC]

I too have been to that gravesite. One day I'll get up there again and walk back behind it and look for the clearing where there were houses way back when. One time I tried to look for any evidence of the old wooden markers that were there at one time but couldn't find any. When Father Beck was there the wooden markers were badly charred from a forest fire. The tavern site is just up there road.