Somerville Cemetery refers to two cemeteries located in

Somerville, New Jersey Somerville is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in and the county seat of Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

Old Cemetery

"Old Cemetery", also sometimes referred to as "Old Raritan Cemetery" or the "Bridge Street Cemetery", is located at the intersection of South Bridge Street and 5th Street. It is distinct from the Old Dutch Parsonage Cemetery, located at Washington Place and South Middaugh Street, founded in 1751.Sarapin, p. 106. Old Cemetery traces its founding to about 1813, when John Whitenack purchased of land on Bridge Street for a burying ground on behalf of the First Dutch Church of Raritan. The earliest burial is allegedly William Hartwick's child.Snell and Ellis, p. 679.
Accessed 2013-04-18. The earliest burials were near the front of the cemetery on Bridge Street, and are quite close to the wall. Many of the earliest names belong to the Dutch settlers of the area: Frelinghuysen, Hardenburgh, and Voorhees. In 1847, John C. Garretson agreed to donate about of land around the cemetery's edges. Gradually, additional land was purchased, until the cemetery had .

New Cemetery

On August 26, 1867, local citizens of Somerville organized the Somerville Cemetery Association and purchased of land directly across Bridge Street for $14,500 from William Ross, Jr. The association later sold for $7,292.50, leaving the New Cemetery with just . The New Cemetery was laid out in the

rural cemetery A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-19th century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries, which tended to be churchyards. Rural cemeter ...

style with walks, drives, and landscaping. About 1,000 lots were created. On August 20, 1879, a stock company, the Cemetery Association of Somerville (CAS), was formed. CAS president Hugh Gaston purchased the New Cemetery for $11,000. Most cemeteries in the 1800s and until the 1960s were segregated by race. Its large size permitted many

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

s to be buried in New Cemetery. Many

United States Colored Troops United States Colored Troops (USCT) were Union Army regiments during the American Civil War that primarily comprised African Americans, with soldiers from other ethnic groups also serving in USCT units. Established in response to a demand fo ...

who served in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

are buried in the African American section.Silverman, Bob. "In Search of Arabella Wharton Griffith Barlow." ''The Camp Olden Gazette.'' Summer 2010, p. 2.
Accessed 2013-04-18. The New Cemetery was still accepting burials in 2010.

Notable burials

New Cemetery

* Clifford P. Case (1904–1982) –

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

;

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

* Alvah A. Clark (1840–1912) – U.S. Representative *

William G. Steele William Gaston Steele (December 17, 1820, Somerville, New Jersey – April 22, 1892, Somerville, New Jersey) was a 19th Century American banker who served as a Democratic Party politician. He served two terms as a U.S. congressman, repres ...

(1820–1892) – U.S. Representative

Old Cemetery

* Francis C. Barlow (1834–1896) – Major General, Union Army; co-founder,

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

* George Houston Brown (1810–1865) – U.S. Representative; Associate Justice,

Supreme Court of New Jersey The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

* John Frelinghuysen (1727–1754) – Minister; co-founder, New Brunswick Theological Seminary and

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

Julia E. McConaughy J. E. McConaughy (, Julia Eliza Loomis; January 1, 1834 – August 29, 1885) was the pen name of Julia Eliza McConaughy, a 19th-century American litterateur and author. She was one of the largest contributors to religious literature of her day, wr ...

(1834–1885), litterateur and author * Isaac Southard (1783–1850) – U.S. Representative * Charles Henry Tompkins Sr. (1834–1895) – Brevet Brigadier General, Union ArmyNote that another Charles Henry Tompkins was also a brevet Brigadier General in the Union Army. This other Tompkins was born in 1830 and died in 1915, and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

See: Hunt and Brown, p. 620.

References

Bibliography

* Barlow, Francis C. and Samito, Christian G. ''Fear Was Not In Him: The Civil War Letters of Major General Francis C. Barlow, U.S.A.'' New York: Fordham University Press, 2004. * Demarest, William H.S. ''Tercentenary Studies, 1928, Reformed Church in America: A Record of Beginnings.'' New York: Reformed Church in America, 1928. * Hunt, Roger D. and Brown, Jack R. ''Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue.'' Gaithersburg, Md.: Olde Soldier Books, 1990. * Sarapin, Janice Kohl. ''Old Burial Grounds of New Jersey: A Guide.'' New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1994. * Snell, James P. and Ellis, Franklin. ''History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey.'' Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881. {{coord, 40, 33, 41, N, 74, 36, 56, W, type:landmark_region:US-NJ, display=title Cemeteries in Somerset County, New Jersey 1867 establishments in New Jersey