Open: During the hours of the Nursery that surrounds it.
My review on TripAdvisor:
The Demarest Family Cemetery sits on a small embankment surrounded by trees and a cement island. You can only access it from one side and there is no stairs. Totally forgotten burial site.
The fencing and locked door with a rusty lock surrounds the cemetery. There is no way to access it. I was able to walk up the cement embankment and was able to walk around the fence. The trees have taken over the cemetery and have knocked over the tombstones.
My International Marketing class at Bergen Community College recently did a complete study and marketing plan for the “Bergen250” on the Revolutionary War veterans buried at graveyards and cemeteries all over Bergen County, NJ:
For a Mapping of all the historic graveyards and cemeteries, I had the students visit all the sites that the Daughters of the American Revolution had researched and I had the students find all the locations, photo the tombstones and create a bio on each of the veterans. I enclosed a copy of their work above.
My blog on the historic graveyards and cemeteries of Bergen County:
You can see some of the fallen tombstones from neglect at the fence
The growth surrounding the burial site
Some of the historic tombstones are still standing like this one of the burial sites of Lettya Ann Demarest who was born in 1830. She had inherited the house in 1863.
Most of the historic tombstones have fallen down
The fallen and forgotten tombstones have growth surrounding them.
The historic Demarest homestead was around the corner from the nursery. The house had been in the family for 194 years almost five generations.
The family homestead still exists up the road around the corner from the nursery. This is the historical sign outside the sign. The Demarest family home in Oakland:
The Demarest family home
A view from the front of the Demarest family home
This tiny historical and very forgotten and neglected cemetery was once part of this branch of the Demarest family. The small cemetery sits on a small hill not far from the house. Once the farm was sold off and the town grew around it, this small cemetery sits still in its original spot in the middle of nursery.
When I talked with one of the workers there, he said the owner was very careful to built around it and let it intact. He also said that no one seems to own it. It is the final resting place of James S. Demarest, who fought in the Revolutionary War.
With all the growth, I could not find it. It has been lost to time.
The Hopper Farm Family Cemetery is a reminder of what happens when time passes you by and the world changes around you. I went in search for the grave of Andrew Hopper, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. I could not find it.
This historic cemetery is hidden from the road behind two large homes on a tiny hill in the back woods. The only way to access the cemetery is to walk down the utility road off the main road, walk through the woods and walk up through the bush to back of two families back yards.
You can tell by the rotting fallen fence that this cemetery was once enclosed but the fence has since fallen and the cemetery in disarray. Still there is a quiet elegance to it.
The cemetery is in desperate need of clean up and repair as tombstones are broken, fallen and discolored.
Some of the family tombstones have fallen. Still you can see members of the Hopper and Demarest families buried here.
My International Marketing class at Bergen Community College recently did a complete study and marketing plan for the “Bergen250” on the Revolutionary War veterans buried at graveyards and cemeteries all over Bergen County, NJ:
For a Mapping of all the historic graveyards and cemeteries, I had the students visit all the sites that the Daughters of the American Revolution had researched and I had the students find all the locations, photo the tombstones and create a bio on each of the veterans. I enclosed a copy of their work above.
My blog on the historic graveyards and cemeteries of Bergen County:
Members of the Vanderbryck family Maryann and Rachel
The grave of David Hopper
The grave of Susan Storms, wife of one of the family members buried here.
The grave of Peter Bogart, a member of the extended family
One of the broken tombstones that I could not read
Another tombstone in loving memory of a name I could not read
The broken stone of Fredrick Storms grave
The family cemetery sits quiet and neglected in the woods. Most of the tombstones broken and discolored and hard to read.
I took one last look as I walked down the hill and said a prayer to these forgotten people. One what must have once been the family farm sits a development of extremely large and well maintained McMansions. This is the irony of this once prominent family.
The family buried at this cemetery:
(Bergen County Genealogical Society website)
Copied July 4, 1913, By John Neafie New York City.
1. Abraham Verbryck, d. Jan. 8, 1843 ae. 63-11-8. 2. John P. Ackerman, d. Feb. 24-1829 ae. 34-1-4. 3. Rachel, wife of John P. Ackerman, d. Oct. 4,1844 ae. 49-11-22. 4. Martha Ann, d. Apr. 6, 1835 ae. 1 yr. 8 da. 5. Martha Ann, d. Feb. 5, 1837 ae. 2 mos. 7 da. 6. Rachel Ann, d. July 12,1838 ae. 6 mos. Children of Abraham and Susan Hopper. 7. Peter G. Bogert d. 5 Dec. 1859 ae. 76-6-16. 8. Mary his wife d. 5 April 1866 ae. 72-6-21. 9. David Berthoif d. 8 Jan. 1851 ae. 85-2-29. 10. Catharine Storms his wife d. 19 June 1864 ae. 87-2-5. 11. Peter, son of Stephen D. and Eliza Berthoif, d. 19 Nov.1843 ae. 1-7-2. 12. Elizer L. Ramsey (My Mother), wife of Stephen D. Bertholf d. 18 Dec. 1876 ae. 56-7-5. 13. Stephen S. Berthoif (Brother), d. 28 Oct. 1875 ae. 21-11-17.(same stone as above.) 14. Frederick Storms d. 20 Feb. 1826 in 54th yr. 15. Alice, widow of above, d. 6 Jan. 1859, ae. 81-6-25. 16. John, son of Frederick and Alice Storms d. 29 Apr. 1852 ae. 37-7-10. 17. Susan B. Storms, wf. of Stites Miller d. at San Francisco, Cal. 16 Dec. 1863 ae. 60 y. 18. Eliza, wf. of Philip Vantassel d. 10 Sept. 1830 ae. 29 y.21 d. 19. Samuel V. Codington b. 19 Jan. 1824 d. 30 Oct. 1834. 20. Mary Ann Verbryck, wf. of William Codington b. 9 Sept.1802 d. 17 Feb. 1835. 21. Samuel Verbryck b. 15 Nov. 1780 d. 16 June 1847. 22. Rachel his wife b. 5 Aug. 1778 d. 13 Dec. 1864. 23. Conrod Lines d. 20 Dec. 1839 ae. 66-2-8 (footstone C. L.) 24. Garret G., son of Philip and Jane Hopper, d. 17 Apr. 1833 ae. 15 mos. 25. Rachel Bogert d. 22 Oct. 1793 ae. 70 y. 22 d. widow of Lucas Bogert. 26. Rachel dau. of Lucas Bogert d. 21 Feb. 1791 ae. 30-10-4. 27. Lucas Bogert d. 2 Sept. 1777 ae. 57 y. 4 m. 28. Maria Mandevil, wf. of Steven Bartolf, b. 26 May 1736 d.22 Feb. 1813 ae. 76-8-27. 29. Aaron G. son of Patrick and Sarah M. Cronk d. 25 Nov.1861 ae. 6 m. 29 d.
The Voorhis Family Burying Ground was once part of the extensive farm owned by Henry Van Voorhis. This small burial plot houses this branch of the family and sits in what used to be the southeastern section of the farm. Now it sits behind a small house in need of a good lawn cutting.
The historic sign of the Voorhis Burying Ground
The inside of the Voorhis Burial Ground
My International Marketing class at Bergen Community College recently did a complete study and marketing plan for the “Bergen250” on the Revolutionary War veterans buried at graveyards and cemeteries all over Bergen County, NJ:
For a Mapping of all the historic graveyards and cemeteries, I had the students visit all the sites that the Daughters of the American Revolution had researched and I had the students find all the locations, photo the tombstones and create a bio on each of the veterans. I enclosed a copy of their work above.
My blog on the historic graveyards and cemeteries of Bergen County:
What is sad about these small family cemeteries is that I am sure that the families never thought to the future when the land would be sold off and the family would move on. The Voorhis and Demarest names still dot the landscape of Bergen County but these tiny plots are lost to the current generations.
The gravesite of Lucas Van Voorhis
The grave of Mary Demarest, who was the wife of James
The one thing that I like about this particular cemetery is that someone in town had done their research on this cemetery and each grave marker was tastefully recreated in separate historic signs right next to the graves as the tombstones have worn out over the years.
The grave of Hannah Voorhis
The grave of Henry Van Voorhis, the first person buried in the site.
This was the first person buried here and the former owner of the farm, Henry Van Voorhis, whose line of the family had once owned this farm of several hundred acres.
The grave of Ouselche Voorhis
The grave of Cornelius Voorhis. I could not believe how many small children were buried in these cemeteries.
I was impressed by how organized and well researched this cemetery was with all the markers. I just needs a good lawn cutting.
The grave of Albert Voorhis, son of the Revolutionary veteran, Albert Voorhis
The grave of Henry Voorhis Sr,
The full view of the cemetery as I was leaving
This quiet and respectful looking cemetery now sits in the back of someone’s home looking lost and forgotten but when you really look at all the historical signs and read them to yourself, their memories still linger on. The family will never truly be forgotten.
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
My International Marketing class at Bergen Community College recently did a complete study and marketing plan for the “Bergen250” on the Revolutionary War veterans buried at graveyards and cemeteries all over Bergen County, NJ:
For a Mapping of all the historic graveyards and cemeteries, I had the students visit all the sites that the Daughters of the American Revolution had researched and I had the students find all the locations, photo the tombstones and create a bio on each of the veterans. I enclosed a copy of their work above.
My blog on the historic graveyards and cemeteries of Bergen County:
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*
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 