Ten Mile Hollow

Ben Ruset

Ben Ruset

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Back in the woods near the old Dover Forge, the Cook Atlas (number 13) places Ten Mile Hollow. Reading over an old post by Bob on the PBE site, and encouraged by descriptions of a "Pet Cemetary" in Bamber that matched Bob's description in Weird NJ (issue 19) we decided to seek it out today.

Renee, her children, her dog, myself, Laura, and our dog all met up near where the trail meets Dover Rd. We scouted around for hours looking at old topo maps, Terraserver images, and the like without much success. We tried following Bob's clues, but they led us nowhere. We followed the directions in a WNJ letter but they brought us just farther back in the woods.

Weird NJ also mentions a deserted town called "Carusoville" back there. I haven't been able to find any mention of that on any old topo map, as well as Gordons or Beck. Beck himself found the cemetary, but didn't leave any clues as to where.

We did manage to find a fairly decent sized clearing with what appeared to be cellar holes. There also appeared to be a man made "lake" with ditches and drainage that ran into the woods.

Anyone have any Ten Mile Hollow information?
 
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BorderWalker

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Jun 26, 2003
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Middlesex, NJ
Historic information is pretty scant, but from what I've been able to dig up:

The earliest reference to Ten Mile Hollow is in Pierce's work, quoting the letter from Dr. John Torrey to Zaccheus Collins in 1818. Now the earliest industrial development in that area would have been the building of Dover Forge which coincided with that of Ferrago Forge. (Something of a family venture, I believe. Ferrago was built by John Lacey and Dover by William L. Smith, Lacey's son-in-law.) That was around 1810-1811.

Sometime between those two dates, a small settlement was established by the workers at Dover Forge. According to Millers "Ocean County," they were too poor to afford to bury their dead at the town cemetery, so they cleared a section of the forest and called it Hollow Field Cemetery. This cemetery along with the nearby homes probably made up what was known as Ten Mile Hollow. The last person buried at the cemetery was Harvey Croft, who died in 1887. (Side note: this would be the postmaster at Bamber who testified during the murder trials.) I would assume by this time, the cemetery was about all that was left of the settlement, as Dover Forge had shut down around 1868.

I haven't had any luck finding Hollow Field, either. As for the cellar holes you mentioned, are you referring to the three a short distance beyond that deer stand? That was about all I could find, also.

--Tom
 
Ben Ruset

Ben Ruset

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An interesting tidbit. Apparently Zeb Collins is buried in Hollow Field Cemetary. Zeb Collins wife, Tilly, was one of the owners of what would become the Eureka Gun Club, at least according to Beck and Dolf Arens. (Jersey Genesis, the chapter on Aserdaten)

Zeb's Bridge - marked on the Cook Topo Map (Sheet 13) might have also been named after Zeb Collins.

WeirdNJ (issue 19) gives pretty clear directions on how to get to the cemetary (they think it's a pet cemetary) but either we were looking in the wrong spot or they obsfucated their directions before they printed them because we weren't able to find it.
 
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BorderWalker

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Jun 26, 2003
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Concerning Tilly, I believe Dolf was incorrect. I did a bit of genealogical research on some of the families buried there. Concerning the Collins, we have Zebulon Collins II married to Rebecca Ireland. He's the one buried at Hollow Field. He had a father named Zebulon, also, who emigrated from England before 1784. Now Zeb and Beccy had six children: Rachel, Joseph, Nancy, Rebecca, Zebulon, and Matilda (otherwise known as Tilly.)

The entire family was born at Bamber, according to the records. Matilda was born in December of 1826 and died March 8, 1911 at Red Bank, to be buried in Barnegat Masonic.

As for who built Zeb's Bridge over the Irish Branch, one of the three of them, I don't know which. There was a property dispute concerning that bridge with a man named Peppler, but I wasn't able to get my hands on that account, so I couldn't gage when it was in existence.

But as for WeirdNJ purposefully obfuscating directions, Ben, you give them more credit that I would. :) I'm still looking for "Bamber Lakes."

But if anyone plans to make a second trip to Ten Mile Hollow, would they mind if I tagged along? That cemetery has been bugging me since March. I planned to wait for colder weather to go looking again.

--Tom
 
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alfonso

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Oct 9, 2003
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bayville
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i would like to go there also, its 5 min . from my house . is it near crossley ? i thought i know my area preety well . and i heard of the place but never found it . but i can show you some cool spots around that area . please please please please take me
 
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alfonso

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Oct 9, 2003
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i hnow where that cemetery is . where the poeple of dover forge are buried . been the 100 times .theres no grave markers just 2 or 3 blocks of small stones. theres also a ladder on that same spot . deer stand or something . i never saw any celler hole . but i guess there there. i'll be happy to show anyone on this site the spot.
 
Ben Ruset

Ben Ruset

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alfonso said:
i hnow where that cemetery is . where the poeple of dover forge are buried . been the 100 times .theres no grave markers just 2 or 3 blocks of small stones. theres also a ladder on that same spot . deer stand or something . i never saw any celler hole . but i guess there there. i'll be happy to show anyone on this site the spot.
Click to expand...

I'm sure we'll be heading out to 10 Mile Hollow again sometime in the next few weeks. I wouldn't mind stopping over at Dover Forge to see where this other graveyard is.

I'll plan something to happen in the next few weeks.
 
JerseyDevil

JerseyDevil

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Dec 22, 2003
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Jackson, NJ
The cemetary I was at had markers an iron fence etc. Not sure what one it is but it's been 20 years or so. I'm going out to find it again and i'll report back. It was from my memory 30x30 or so.
 
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BorderWalker

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Jun 26, 2003
46
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Middlesex, NJ
A number of us visited it already. At this point there's just some wooden posts and a few errant stones here and there. Sadly, at this point I don't think there anyone's alive who could map out who was buried where. All I have is a partial list of names.
 
JerseyDevil

JerseyDevil

Scout
Dec 22, 2003
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Jackson, NJ
BorderWalker said:
A number of us visited it already. At this point there's just some wooden posts and a few errant stones here and there. Sadly, at this point I don't think there anyone's alive who could map out who was buried where. All I have is a partial list of names.
Click to expand...

After reading the other posts I believe that you are correct -that we are discussing the same place. gee what 20 years can do :shock: The "cross" made out of sign post steel was out there way back when, but it looked like a cematary then....
 
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bach2yoga

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JerseyDevil said:
BorderWalker said:
A number of us visited it already. At this point there's just some wooden posts and a few errant stones here and there. Sadly, at this point I don't think there anyone's alive who could map out who was buried where. All I have is a partial list of names.
Click to expand...

After reading the other posts I believe that you are correct -that we are discussing the same place. gee what 20 years can do :shock: The "cross" made out of sign post steel was out there way back when, but it looked like a cematary then....
Click to expand...

That's sad. :cry:
 
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