Peggy Clevenger of Pasadena

[yonaguni]

I am searching for a possible grave-site for Peggy Clevenger of Pasadena,the alleged witch of the pines,First off where is Pasadena?

I Feel that if I can find a gravestone or site it would verify the legend .If anyone can provide clues no matter how small would help. I was able to find the grave-site of Samuel buck Giberson if anyone is interested...

 

[Teegate]

Well, to be perfectly honest, I doubt there is anyone who knows where she is at. To be more specific, I doubt anyone here knows that. Hopefully, I am wrong. As for where Pasadena is that is also somewhat of a mystery. If you are refering to the chapter in Henry Beck's book you will find that he was misled as he often was.

With that said, the general area around Bullock on Pasadena Road it where Pasadena was.

Guy

 

[Ben Ruset]

Pasadena is the name of a real estate development that never got built. It was planned long after Peggy's death. Guy is right, it was supposed to be located somewhere near Bullock along Pasadena Road.

Map Link: http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.90624678696849&lng=-74.40937042236328&z=14&type=m&gpx=

 

[yonaguni]

Jerseyman found this information "The remains of the old lady, which consisted of the chest and skull, and what bones they could gather from the ruins, were taken charge of by the undertaker from Juliustown, Joel Mount, who accompanied me, and were properly interred at Wrightstown"

Where in wrightstown might this cemetery be....shes is likely buried with her husband william any clues?

 

[Teegate]

See if Wrightstown has a Historical Society and contact them for all of the cemeteries. I could not find one by searching so I suspect an adjacent town name might have to be used.

 

[Ben Ruset]

It looks like, according to the historic topo, that there was one church in Wrightstown at that time.

http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=40.036716538215266&lng=-74.61141586303711&z=15&type=hist&gpx=

Today it's still a church called "New Life Assembly," but looking at the satellite photos there doesn't appear to be a graveyard. Maybe there was one and it was moved when the original church left?

Looks like you've got some research to do.

 

[Teegate]

You gave them a nice place to start Ben. Good idea! This could be an interesting project for yonaguni.

I wonder if they had a certain place where partial remains were interred at?

Guy

 

[oji]

It may have been in a town that Joseph Cox called Wrightstown but technically it is is an adjoining town. There is also the possibility that the land was taken over by the expansion of Ft.Dix.

 

[bobpbx]

I was able to find the grave-site of Samuel buck Giberson if anyone is interested...

I am interested in that Yona......

 

[yonaguni]

Samuel buck giberson..is buried in whiting, (its said he is in egg harbor but i searched everywhere and nothing.)..He is next to his wife ann ,it says shes the wife of Samuel...but Samuel's gravestone is missing..trophy hunter stole it i'm guessing ...his son(Samuel jr) and daughter are both there.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~batsto/Cemeteries/Whiting.html
there is also an odd section of bricks that represent graves for who i don't know

 

[Teegate]

Again, thieves making life and the after life miserable.

 

[Ben Ruset]

It boggles my mind that someone would steal a gravestone. It may have been that the gravestone fell over, broke, or otherwise deteriorated and was never replaced.

 

[Jerseyman]

Yonaguni:

If we can literally interpret the article I placed in the previous thread on Peggy Clevenger* and that she was actually buried in Wrightstown, the only cemetery then in existence belonged to the Wrightstown Methodist Episcopal Church, founded in 1756.

(Detail from the 1859 Map of Burlington County)

While the congregants eventually found their frame edifice too small for their worship service and moved to a brick building, the cemetery remains on the south side of Main Street and the frame church is still there, evidently converted into an apartment building, which now appears to be boarded up.

All of this being said, however, it is highly doubtful that Peggy Clevenger’s grave EVER featured a grave marker. Remember, the letter from Joseph W. Cox indicates she only had “two or three cents” to her name, probably due to her opiate addiction.

Hence, she had no surplus money for her heirs to erect a gravestone at her burial site. So, while it might be interesting and even educational to visit the old Methodist Episcopal burying ground, I doubt you will find a stone identifying where Peggy lies in repose.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

P.S. While Beck identified Clevenger as associated with “Pasadena,” that toponym did not exist contemporaneous with Peggy.

*http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/thr...r-murder-or-just-an-accident.8303/#post-98721

 

[Teegate]

I have a map that shows the location of her home; however, I am not going to post it because of where it is located. I searched the area to see if I could find any evidence of it and found nothing. The property is partially private and that is the reason why it is best not to have everyone know. I also have survey info that mentions her home because of surveys that passed by it. I will look for that later tonight and post it.


Guy

 

[yonaguni]

All this information looks promising.... As for Samuel giberson,his wife's and other family members(from that time) all had the same style grave, tall stones...where his should be is an empty space...there's is one a few feet away that is 90% sunk..but I did not pull it up to see the name...his children's graves are very poor homemade concrete ,they are all lined up with the mothers grave (the half sunk one is a few feet away)and there is remains of a stone border that encased their graves..so they had their own tiny area...As for why it was stolen,Samuel giberson was a legend and to have his grave stone is to have something rare, its likely in someones basement or shed or tossed out in the woods...it could have gone missing 100yrs ago

 

[Ben Ruset]

It's a pretty ghoulish "collector" that would steal someone's headstone.

 

[bobpbx]

Samuel buck giberson..is buried in whiting, (its said he is in egg harbor but i searched everywhere and nothing.)..He is next to his wife ann ,it says shes the wife of Samuel...but Samuel's gravestone is missing..trophy hunter stole it i'm guessing ...his son(Samuel jr) and daughter are both there.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~batsto/Cemeteries/Whiting.html
there is also an odd section of bricks that represent graves for who i don't know

Thanks for that Yona....I was a very good friend of Robert Giberson. I have a special place in my heart for Whiting, though I've never lived there. Just look at the roll call of piney names there. Very good stock of people. I like how Whiting is "out there"...kind of high and central to the northern pine barrens. I'd love to see some old photos of Whiting. I never hear of a main street or general store or anything usually discussed like other old South Jersey towns.

 

[yonaguni]

Here is the only church in wrightstown ,about 2 dozen stones remain about half unreadable ,most likely 500+ buried here.the church is now abandoned ... no clevenger's

more research needs to be done..

 

[Ben Ruset]

Nice hunting. That church building looks interesting. Did you take any other pics?

 

[Jerseyman]

Here is the only church in wrightstown ,about 2 dozen stones remain about half unreadable ,most likely 500+ buried here.the church is now abandoned ... no clevenger's

more research needs to be done..

Yonaguni:

While I think your visit to the cemetery is commendable and you probably enjoyed yourself there, I am not at all surprised that you failed to find a gravestone for Peggy Clevenger. As I indicated in my posting above, her reported wealth amounted to “two or three cents,” not nearly enough to purchase a marker!

Although I have never checked first-hand, it is my understanding that the Wrightstown United Methodist Church, located at 1 Saylor Pond Road, does not have any records for the congregation’s old cemetery. You can double-check that for yourself and I hope you are successful in finding more information.

Best regards,
Jerseyman