The Old Burial Ground is one of Orange’s most important landmarks. But it has fallen on hard times. Headstones are leaning, toppled or missing altogether.
The importance of this 18th-century graveyard — and its neglect — was the topic of West Orange town historian Joe Fagan’s presentation last month at the West Orange Public Library.
“When I look at this picture, I’m thinking late in night, they’re probably having a conversation, like, look what they did with us,” said Fagan, showing the audience a photo of two deteriorated headstones.
The oldest burial belongs to Anthony Olif, who died in 1723 and is considered the first European settler to call West Orange home. His stone was replaced with a commemorative marker in the 1960s. The original is in Fagan’s office at Town Hall.
Other notable burials include Jemima Cundict, who is famous for leaving behind a Revolutionary War-era diary, and 78 Revolutionary War soldiers, including Condict’s husband, who comprised the Essex Militia. Between 1726 and the final interment in 1939, 827 people were buried there.
As you might expect in a 300-year-old burial ground, the stones have weathered and degraded over time. Many of them illegible. But other more serious problems are of the man-made sort. A considerable number of stones have been moved over the years and may no longer reflect the location of an actual burial site, Fagan said.
When the First Presbyterian Church was built in 1928 in the center of the graveyard, a number of burials were disinterred and it is a mystery where those stones went to. A number of stones were relocated to the Rosedale Cemetery, but neither Fagan nor the Rosedale Cemetery management know the reason behind the re-interment.
The graveyard has also suffered vandalism. For instance, Cundict’s tombstone was once accompanied by a memorial plaque donated by the Daughters of the American Revolution that was stolen.
“That’s part of the history that is vanishing,” Fagan said.
The church and burial ground has no landmark designation, but in 2009 it was issued a certificate of eligibility from the State Historic Preservation Office, meaning it is worthy of listing on the National Register. Organizations like the New Jersey Historic Trust award substantial grants to the owners of National Register-listed places for preservation efforts.
Because the church and burial ground are located in Orange, the best ally the current owner First Shiloh Baptist Church is the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. Unfortunately, Mayor Dwayne Warren has decided not to appoint enough commissioners to the HPC to make a quorum, rendering the commission defunct for the past few months.
Fagan said he believes it may be too late to save the burial ground. “The time has come where we can no longer help them,” he said.
However, when Orange Councilwoman Quantavia Hilbert asked if he had given up on preserving it, he offered a different take. “I haven’t given up on it in the sense of not having hope,” Fagan said. “All the tombstones can be raised. It could look like what St. Mark’s Cemetery looks like.”
Today, the neighboring graveyard that belong’s to St. Mark’s Church, tells a much different story. Since 2007, Vincent Dahmen, a volunteer for St. Mark’s Church, has been visiting the burial ground, maintaining it and restoring 13 headstones belonging to Civil War veterans.
“I must have pulled away 100 truck loads of trash out of there,” said Dahmen, who was at the library to see Fagan’s presentation.
Despite the church catching fire and then being sold to a new congregation, Dahmen still maintains the burial ground, a testament to the difference one person can make.
