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Old Spring Valley Burial Ground Viola Way Paramus, NJ 07652

Old Spring Valley Burial Ground

Viola Way

Paramus, NJ 07652

(201) 265-2100 (Borough of Paramus, NJ)

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=8345

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1608044/spring-valley-cemetery

https://www.interment.net/data/us/nj/bergen/springvalley/index.htm

Open: From Dawn until Dusk

Admission: Free; please do not walk on other people’s property

My review on TripAdvisor:

The historical marker that leads you to had path to the cemetery

History of the Cemetery:

(From the Historic Marker sign)

The historic cemetery directly in the rear of the Behnke farm contains the graves of descendants of early settlers in this area including a least two local farmer-militiamen of the American Revolution, Jacobus Brouwer and Henry Banta, as well as the grave of Cornelius Demarest, who served in the 22nd regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War (From Paramus Rotary sign).

The only way into this tiny cemetery is through z path located on Viola Road

The historic little cemetery is rich in history of the first families of Bergen County including Revolutionary War and Civil War veterans

The cemetery is the resting place of members of the Banta, Bogert, Terhune, Van Saun, Demarest, Kipp and Voorhis families

The Van Saun family graves

The Bogart family graves

The graves of the Van Saun family

The graves of the Kipp family

The graves of the Demarest family and of Cornelius Demarest of Civil War fame

Elizabeth Demarest, wife of Cornelius grave

These graves I could not figure out who they were

The graves of the Banta family

The graves of the Voorhis family

The grave of Sara Huyler, wife of John Van Saun

The graves were so covered in mold that I could not see who these people were

There is a quiet elegance to these historical cemeteries. Their well known family members relics of a past that now forgets them.

Who is buried here:

(From an survey done by George Budke in 1916)

??, B. P., d. 1780
Ackerman, Margaret, b. 10 Feb 1764, d. 6 Sep 1805, birth year may be 1767*
Banta, Abram C., b. 6 Nov 1852, d. 16 Nov 1886
Banta, Agness (Van Saun), d. 21 Dec 1862, age: 78y 4m 15d, w/o Cornelius H. Banta*
Banta, Benjamin Duryea, d. 3 Oct 1856, age: 5y 8m 19d, s/o Henry & Anna Maria Banta
Banta, Catharine (Terhune), b. 6 Aug 1823, d. 27 Jun 1890, w/o Cornelius H. Banta
Banta, Charles Augustus, d. 7 Oct 1861, age: 3m 20d, s/o Henry & Anna Maria Banta
Banta, Cornelius H., b. 13 Mar 1819, d. 18 Nov 1904
Banta, Cornelius H., d. 17 Aug 1854, age: 84y 5m 9d*
Banta, Elizabeth (Lake), d. 4 Sep 1817, age: 67y 8m 18d, w/o Henry Banta
Banta, Garret Hopper, d. 14 Feb 1850, age: 7m, s/o Henry & Anna Maria Banta*
Banta, Henry C., d. 13 Sep 1821, age: 22y 8m*
Banta, Henry H., d. 29 Feb 1864, age: 69y 10m 16d
Banta, Henry, b. 15 Sep 1796, d. 31 May 1798, age: 1y 8m 15d*
Banta, Henry, d. 12 Aug 1817, age: 66y 1m 18d, h/o Elizabeth Lake, Veteran of the Revolutionary War
Banta, Jane, d. 12 Jun 1875, age: 97y 2m 16d, w/o John H. Banta
Banta, John H., d. 29 Jun 1855, age: 83y 6m 7d
Banta, Lavina (Zabriskie), d. 16 Jan 1862, age: 70y 4m 12d, w/o Henry H. Banta*
Banta, Lavinah Sobriskie, d. 7 Feb 1850, age: 3y 11m 10d, d/o Henry & Anna Maria Banta*
Banta, Lidia (Van Saun), d. 22 Feb 1804, age: 32y 5m, w/o Cornelius Banta*
Banta, Sarah, d. 8 Aug 1845, age: 2y 6m 24d, d/o Cornelius H. & Catharine Banta*
Bartholf, Maria, d. 18 Feb 1870, age: 70y 5m 9d*
Begart, Rebecca, d. 12 Dec 1807, age: 1y 11m 6d, d/o Samuel & Ettie Begart
Bertholff, John, d. 8 Apr 1852, age: 86y 9m 15d*
Bogert, Albert I., d. 22 Sep 1861, age: 84y 10m 3d*
Bogert, Jacob A., d. 10 Dec 1866, age: 76y 8m 19d*
Bogert, Jane (Kipp), d. 3 Jun 1853, age: 74y 3m 7d, w/o Albert I. Bogert*
Bogert, John A., b. 26 Mar 1748, d. 25 Oct 1823, age: 74y 6m 30d*
Bogert, Rachel (Van Saun), b. 15 Feb 1798, d. 1 Sep 1846, age: 48y 6m 16d, w/o Jacob A. Bogert*
Bogert, Samuel A., d. 24 Jul 1867, age: 61y 8m 23d
Bogert, Samuel I., b. 31 Mar 1778, d. 13 Apr 1830
Brouwer, Yacob, d. 26 Aug 1784, age: 58y, Veteran of the Revolutionary War*
Cundlah, C. A., b. 14 Apr 1828, d. Jan ?, age: ??
Debaun, Effie (Demarest), d. 13 Dec 1862, age: 75y 8m 7d, w/o Peter C. Debaun, formerly wife of Samuel I. Bogert*
Demarest, Aaron, d. 14 Mar 1838, age: 57y 6m 18d*
Demarest, Christina (Bogert), d. 5 Dec 1868, age: 82y 5m 12d, w/o Aaron Demarest
Demarest, Cornelius A., d. 27 May 1883, age: 66y 8m 5d, Civil War Veteran
Demarest, Eliza (Banta), d. 6 Jan 1883, age: 65y 8m, w/o Cornelius A. Demarest
Demarest, Elizabeth, b. 16 Jul 1792, d. 23 Mar 1869 *
Demarest, Nicholas, b. 3 May 1759, d. 6 Feb 1811, age: 51y 9m 3d
Kipp, Albert, d. 28 Jan 1852, age: 66y 7m 18d*
Kipp, Araminta, d. 30 Dec 1853, age: 15y 4m 25d*
Kipp, James Bogert, d. 25 Sep 1848, age: 21y 10m 1d*
Kipp, John, d. 28 Feb 1862, age: 50y 19d
Kipp, Rachel, d. 21 Jul 1854, age: 63y 10m 23d, w/o Albert Kipp*
Kipp, William B., d. 21 Apr 1856, age: 65y 4m 11d
Van Arsdale, James, d. 21 Apr 1855, age: 51y 5m 5d, Deacon*
Van Saun, David, d. 8 Mar 1825, age: 56y 5m 3d*
Van Saun, Isaac L., b. 1 Nov 1778, d. 24 Apr 1850, age: 71y 1m 23d
Van Saun, Isaac, b. 17 Mar 1749, d. 9 May 1832, age: 83y 1m 22d
Van Saun, Jane (Ackerman), b. 4 Apr 1754, d. 6 Oct 1822, age: 68y 6m 2d, w/o Isaac Van Saun
Van Saun, Jane (Demarest), d. 9 May 1870, age: 57y 5m 9d, w/o Lucas I. Van Saun*
Van Saun, John C., d. 1 Mar 1849, age: 74y 7m 4d*
Van Saun, Kastyne, b. 1 Jul 178?, d. 5 Feb 1791*
Van Saun, Leah (Brower), d. 5 Jun 1859, age: 93y, w/o David Van Saun*
Van Saun, Lucas I., d. 31 Oct 1848, age: 34y 4m 15d
Van Saun, Margaret, d. 5 Sep 1832, age: 23y 11m 15d, w/o Albert Z. Van Saun*
Van Saun, Maria, b. 13 Jul 1829, d. 6 Apr 1836, d/o Albert & Margaret Van Saun*
Van Saun, Rachel, b. 5 Dec 1821, d. 28 Jun 1839, age: 17y 6m 23d
Van Saun, Sarah (Huyler), d. 20 Feb 1854, age: 76y 10m 17d, w/o John C. Van Saun*
Van Voorhis, Jane, d. 19 Aug 1805, age: 1y 8m 2d, d/o Hendrick & Wantea Van Voorhis*
Voorhis, Albert I., d. 20 Nov 1879, age: 73y 10m 20d
Voorhis, John L., b. 26 Apr 1791, d. 22 Feb 1849, age: 57y 9m 26d
Voorhis, Lucas J., d. 4 May 1855, age: 30y 8m 25d
Westervelt, Jane (Ackerman), b. 29 Jul 1769, d. 2 Jul 1851, age: 81y 11m 3d, w/o Henry Westervelt
Wortendyke, Cornelius, d. 12 Feb 1843, age: 3y 10m 12d, s/o Cornelius & Lydia Wortendyke*

Denville Museum Diamond Spring Road Denville, NJ 07834

Denville Museum

Diamond Spring Road

Denville, NJ 07834

(973) 625-1165

https://www.denvillemuseum.org/

https://www.facebook.com/denvillehistoricalsociety/

Open: Sunday 10:00am-2:00pm/Monday-Saturday Closed

Admission: Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46392-d33235821-r1010531601-Denville_Museum-Denville_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The front of the Denville Museum at Diamond Spring Road

The front sign for the Denville Museum

The beautiful stained glass sign outside

The front sign of the museum

The front gallery of the museum

The back part of the front gallery of the museum

The Denville Museum is an interesting and beautifully organized museum in Downtown Denville, NJ that tells the history of Denville and the surrounding communities. The collection starts with a collection of Native American artifacts and Revolutionary era household objects.

The early foundation of the Denville community is displayed in the front case

The Native American artifacts in the collection

The museum has an extensive amount of artifacts from the progression of the area from the Native Americans to the Dutch settlers who then populated the area leading to the progression of modern farming and commercial trade in the area.

The farming display with many items from the Ayres Farm

My blog on the Ayres Farm:

The Ayres/Knuth Farm Foundation 25 Cooper Street Denville, NJ 07834

Artifacts from the Ayres Farm

Children’s items from both the Ayres Farm and from the community including a handmade cradle

Farm equipment and home furnishings and portraits of Ayres family members

Items from the Ayres Farm

As the community entered the post-Revolutionary War era to the Civil War era, the area entered both its agricultural and industrial boom period.

Artifacts from the Civil War and post war commercial era. Many of the artifacts are an early example of companies that still exist today.

Civil War era items of residents of the community

Presidential items from the Civil War period of both President’s Lincoln and Davis

Commercial items and tombstone etchings of the period

The manufactures of commercial products of that era. Many of these items are early examples from the modern Nabisco company. These were some of the original tea biscuit containers.

The exhibition of World War One artifacts on display

School and town events

The town parades and artifacts from the town

The display of town merchant items

The creation of and growth of trade on the Morris Canal that once ran through the town is on display as well with pictures and artifacts.

The Morris Canal display and some school house artifacts as well

More town artifacts

The order of St. Francis once had a building with a school here and as the order died out, they sold the building in town

These are some of the artifacts from that time

Some more of the artifacts from St. Francis

A display on the old Denville Theater

Another Ayres Family display

Historical items from the town

Military items from the community

More Military items

More Military items from the War years

The last display I admired before I left for the afternoon was the Denville Shack display on a popular restaurant that was once in town. These popular restaurants used the dot the sides of local highways from the early 1960’s through the early 1980’s.

The display from the Denville Shack

Some of the items from the old restaurant plus other artifacts

Some other town artifacts with a set of armor that was found in town.

The Denville Museum was a delight to visit. It was loaded with interesting displays and town artifacts that not only talk about the founding of the town but how it has come into its own as a modern town and a bedroom community of New York City.

There’s a lot to experience here.

French Burying Ground Patrolman Ray Woods Drive New Milford, NJ 07646

French Burying Ground

Patrolman Ray Woods Drive

New Milford, NJ 07646

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1652365/french-burying-ground

https://www.nj.gov/dca/njht/funded/sitedetails/FrenchHuguenotCemeteryandHuguenotChurch.shtml

https://patch.com/new-jersey/newmilford-nj/the-french-burying-ground

Open: Dawn to Dusk

Admission: Free, the gates are open across from the baseball field.

My review on TripAdvisor:

The sign for the French Burying Ground

The historic marker in the front of the cemetery

The French Burying Ground

The French Ground is a small historic cemetery once sat next to the French Church and the David Demarest House, that has since been moved to the Bergen County Historical Society site.

The Demarest House at the Bergen County Historical Society

The graves of members of the Bogert, Demarest and Christi families

The History of the French Burying Ground:

(from the New Jersey Historic Trust)

Thought to be oldest cemetery in Bergen County, the French Huguenot-Demarest Cemetery was established in 1677 as the final resting place for prominent French Huguenot and Dutch settlers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. David Demarest purchased approximately 2,000 acres of land along the east bank of the Hackensack River from Native Americans in 1677 to establish a colony of French-Huguenots.

The cemetery is all that remains of the original French-Huguenot colony and has more than four dozen descendants of Demarest family buried on site. The Borough of New Milford acquired the property in 2018 and has been working closely with the New Milford Historic Preservation Commission to plan for its restoration and future interpretation. 

The French Burying site sign

The cemetery (technically a graveyard since there was a church once here) is the final resting place of many of Bergen Counties Revolutionary War veterans as well as many prominent families including the Demarest, the Bogert and the Christie families. These were some of the founding families of Bergen County.

The graves of the prominent Bogert and Van Saun families

The cemetery has a quiet elegance about it with the many different styles of tombstones and the sheer history of these families and their contributions to the creation of our country.

The historical marker notes the cemetery was first used in 1677 after an agreement with the Native Americans

The back part of the cemetery

Members of the Bogert family

Members of the prominent Bogert family

Members of the prominent Demarest family with Revolutionary War veteran Reverend John Demarest

Members of the prominent Demarest family

The historic marker of the original church site

There are many of the veterans of the Revolutionary War buried at the site some of which survived the battles and went on to have productive lives in their communities.

Veteran John Van Norden

Veteran Uzal Meeker

Veteran John Demarest

Veteran Cornelius Bogert

Veteran Willimpie Bogart Demarest

The grave of Patriot Abraham Demarest

This cemetery, like the rest of the small cemeteries and graveyards that dot Bergen County show the history and significance of these families contributions of the residents of early Bergen County and how they shaped the founding of this country.

Video tour of the Cemetery:

Delaware Botanic Garden 30220 Piney Neck Road Dagsboro, DE 19939

Delaware Botanic Gardens

30220 Piney Neck Road

Dagsboro, DE 19939

(302) 321-9061

https://www.delawaregardens.org/

Open: Sunday 9:00am-4:00pm/Monday-Wednesday Closed/Thursday-Saturday 9:00am-4:00pm

Admission: Adults: $15.00/Children 16 and under free/Members free-Guided tours $10.00 for both Members and adults/Children under 16 free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34005-d19122750-r1008014202-Delaware_Botanic_Gardens-Dagsboro_Delaware.html?m=19905

The entrance of the Gardens at 30220 Piney Neck Road

Starting the tour at the new visitors center

The water catch bastion which helps stop flooding and erosion

The Botanic Garden’s Meadow area with grasses and flowers the Piet Oudolf Meadow

The Meadows area right behind the Visitors Center

The West Woodland Edge sign on the edge of the Meadows

The colorful plantings along the paths

The colorful flowers along the paths

View of the Meadows

The Cactus Garden in the Meadows

The Inland Dunes sign in the Inland Dunes Garden

The Inland Dunes in full color

Once you leave the Meadows area with its grasses and flowers to the pathways into the woods that line the inlet.

History and Makeup of the Gardens:

(From the Garden website):

Three topographical attributes of the 37-acre site guide the gardens and buildings: a 25-acre flat uplands plateau highlighted by an innovative meadow created by world famous plantsman Piet Oudolf, a 12.5-acre sloped woodlands with freshwater wetlands, and 1,000 feet of waterfront with tidal wetlands on Pepper Creek.

The garden adds to the former farmland thousands of new trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous perennials, primarily native, that thrive in the coastal plain. All of the garden galleries, especially the Woodland Gardens and the Meadow, are hospitable environments for native and migratory birds.

The pathway into the Woodlands Gardens, a 26 acre natural garden

The fireplace in the woods

The Woods Gardens:

(From the Garden website):

The garden’s most striking natural feature is a relatively undisturbed, heavily canopied, stratified forest, whose 12.5 acres stretch along the site’s southern boundary and slope gently down to the 1,000-foot frontage on Pepper Creek. The forested wetlands offer natural venues for ferns and moss and showcase the unique plants and wildlife that thrive in this moist habitat.

The landscaped fountain at the beginning of the pathways

As you walk down and around the pathways, there are a series of sculptures in the shape of animals and reptiles that give a whimsical look at Mother Nature.

The Snail

The Turtle

The Blue Crab

The Fairy Ring where students will meet while touring the Gardens

The pathways leading to the Inlet and the Observation decks

The Sea Serpent sculpture in the Inlet at Pepper Creek, a mixture of Salt and Fresh water

The Pepper Creek Inlet and the Living Shoreline trying prevent erosion around the Inlet

The Pepper Creek Inlet Garden area:

(From the Garden website):

At the Woodlands’ 1,000 feet of shoreline, Pepper Creek is a briny mix of salt water and fresh water. The eight-mile-long creek originates near the Cypress Swamp in southern Delaware, 3 miles north of the Delaware-Maryland state line. It flows from the DBG shoreline into the Indian River Bay.

The sign for the Living Shoreline and a natural way of preventing erosion around the Inlet.

While I was on the Observation Deck, a Heron flew in and started feeding. Even when he was feeding, he looked so graceful.

The Heron looking for his prey

The Pepper Creek Inlet and the shores

As I walked back down the paths, there was another Fairy Ring meeting spot for people to meet.

The Fairy Ring for Children’s meetings

As I walked through the woods admiring nature, I came across a camel who was taking a break at the bridge. These sculptures are very creative and fun.

The Camel at the Bridge

The Octopus

I passed more of the Marsh while walking around the paths that have been kept natural.

The Marshes

The Wizard

Unusual tall trees

Medusa standing guard

The Lizard

The Spider’s web

The Pines with the Spiders web in the middle

Then I exited the path nearest to the Visitor’s Center

After I left the main part of the woods, I walked around the gift shop and then exited to the Parking lot.

The Colorful painting on the path to the parking lot

The Rhyne Garden sits between the main garden and the parking lot that serves as a catch basin for rain water.

The colorful flowers and grasses that now line the catch basin

Exiting the Gardens after a wonderful visit

After I finished at the Gardens, I headed back down Route 26 East back to the beach. I came across Bonkey’s Ice Cream & Snoballs at 44 Atlantic Avenue in Ocean View. The colorful sign drew me in and the excellent homemade ice cream kept me there for almost an hour.

Bonkey’s Ice Cream & Snoballs at 44 Atlantic Avenue in Ocean View, DE

https://www.bonkeys.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/R4960NKjustinw/mediabatch/13544566?m=19905

The front of the colorful ice cream shop

The colorful fence

The whimsical giant chair

The extensive menu of ice cream treats

The ice cream is amazing here. I had the Double Double which is four large scoops of ice cream for $7.00.

The flavors I chose were Banana Wafer, Lemon Blueberry, Blue Moon and Cotton Candy. The taste of these homemade ice creams were wonderful, creamy and flavorful.

It was nice to sit outside on the shaded seating on the lawn on a nice day and enjoy my sundae. It was a nice day and I wanted to enjoy it.

It was a nice afternoon out.

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