Tag: Historic Cemeteries of Bergen County NJ

Day Three Hundred and Eighty: Three Bergecco-Parc Consulting presents “Bergen 250: Exploring Bergen County’s Revolutionary War Era Cemeteries and Graveyards” April 29th, 2026

Every semester for my Business Marketing, Management and Communications classes, I create one big Team assignment for my students. In a Commuter College, it is a lot tougher for students to get to know one another between their studies and their jobs, so I create these projects to foster learning, creativity and especially Teamwork.

This semester I taught International Marketing. This is a tough course to teach as you always have students of various age groups and various levels of industry experience. The Spring semester was no different. This makes the class more interesting yet more challenging to teach. I still challenge them and test them to see what type of future executives they will become.

I also taught Principles of Management and International Marketing which came with their own challenges. It was the amount of people in each class and what projects would they be working on. I knew the things I wanted to work on, I just had to figure out how to frame them.

In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division.

Each business concept does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.

The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. concept is an acronym for Bergen Community College Paramus campus where I work. It came to me one night around 3:00am in the morning when I was trying to figure out a project for my students to work on.

Professor Justin Watrel, CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

Our Corporate site (created my one of my former President’s:

Additional Resources

This semester I attempted one of the toughest and most extensive Team projects in all the historical projects I have created, taking the listing of the Daughters of the American Revolution created for Bergen County Historical Division for the “Bergen 250”and we took it to another level.

I challenged the students to visit all the cemeteries and graveyards on the listing (using my blog if needed), find the tombstones of the veterans of the Revolutionary War and photograph them. Next they needed to create a biography of each of the veterans.

From there, they needed to create a short video of that gravesite and put it all into a QR code so visitors can find them. It was a big challenge but I knew this class could do it. There was something about the personality of this class that would make it work.

I then planned a series of field trips so that the students could visit particular sites in a more formal tour. I asked a lot of the contacts who I have met over the years to help me out, so the students could see why this project was so important to the 250th Anniversary to both our County and our Country. It took a lot to plan and execute. I gave them six weeks to do the research and create other sections of the project.

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Project Proposal:

BCC-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. 2026 Touring the Revolutionary Gravesites Download

The project came in four different sections:

A. They had to take the listing of all the veterans and their list of grave sites and play ‘detective’ to find the tombstones and then film and create the QR codes.

B. They had to create a special “250th Medallion’ that would be placed at each veteran’s tombstone to honor them on the “Bergen 250”. These pieces of art were very clever.

C. They had to create a “Farm to Table” fundraiser with three courses and an American selection of wines, one being from New Jersey. They also had to create the menu and the invitation to the event. The Teams created the menu, cost and budget to show how much they would raise for the event.

D. As an extra credit assignment, I had the Teams create a special “Halloween Tour”, with a special concession menu, tour script of the cemetery or graveyard of their choice and create the logo and advertising for it. Three of the four Teams created this.

Then I planned a series of field trips to visit the most important sites in Bergen County, some were tiny stand alone family cemeteries, some were historical sites and some were very important church graveyards with family plots.

I think this is where the students had the most fun. This is where the comradery of the class was created. As I took the Team out to many of the sites on their listings, the Teams got to see the concept of “Dark Tourism”, the desire to visit places were either bad things have happened, the site has an evil past or something to do with death. This has become a popular form of Tourism in the Twenty-First Century. (Think the 9/11 Memorial).

It was also a chance to get out of the classroom and get some fresh air and sunshine. These are some of the places our Team visited.

My Graveyard and Cemetery Team “Out in the Field”:

The first site I took my Team to was the Baylor Massacre site in River Vale, NJ, where the British had ambushed a battalion of soldiers and killed them. The site has a rather dark history from the war.

Touring the Baylor Massacre site

https://www.discoverbergencounty.com/baylor-massacre-burial-site

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylor_Massacre

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46777-d12277914-r1054278914-Baylor_Massacre_Burial_Site-River_Vale_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com

Baylor Massacre Burial Site Rivervale Road & Red Oak Drive River Vale, NJ 07675

My Team tour of the Baylor Massacre site

The Team tour of the site

Tour of the Baylor Massacre site

Touring the Baylor Massacre site

The irony about the site is that all my students were from Bergen County and none of them had been here before. I had taken my previous ‘Bergen 250’ class here as well as our next stop, the Haring Farm Cemetery just a few blocks away.

The Team picture at the Baylor Massacre site

We next toured the Haring Family Cemetery down the road on Old Haring Farm Road. This was one of the many examples of small family cemeteries that used to be placed at the edge of family farms, who wanted loved ones buried close by or the distance to the family church was too far away at that time.

Touring the Haring Family Cemetery

The Haring family is one of the most important and prominent Colonial families in New Jersey (and are very distantly related to me by marriage), so I felt this site was very important to visit to show the family dynamic of that era.

Our Team at the Haring Farm Cemetery at Old Haring Farm Court

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1974293/haring-family-cemetery

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/river-vale/2020/10/08/river-vale-nj-cemetery-refurbished-teen/5898284002/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z1188xxe1188xxv000026&gca-ft=67&gca-ds=sophi

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46777-d33055554-r1054278214-Haring_Farm_Cemetery-River_Vale_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Haring Farm Cemetery Old Haring Farm Court River Vale, NJ 07675

We then went on our Team lunch at Pompilio’s Pizzeria in Downtown Westwood, NJ. I feel on projects like this to build comradary and for the students to start their projects, we need to ‘break bread’ with one another and get to know each other in a relaxed place. Plus the students seem to love free pizza and Coke. This lunch has started many successful projects.

Our Team Divisional at lunch at Pompilio’s Pizzeria:

Our Team lunch at Pompilio’s Pizzeria

We all had such a nice time at lunch and feel this is the best way to get to know one another. The food at Pompilio’s is also excellent. I always host the lunch with large Cheese Pizza and Coke.

My Executive Team at our lunch

Our next Field Trip was the Old Stone Church in Saddle River at 481 East Saddle River Road in Saddle River, NJ. This is one of the oldest churches in Bergen County and in New Jersey.

The Old Stone Church at 481 East Saddle River Road in Saddle River

https://oldstonechurchonline.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_North_Reformed_Low_Dutch_Church

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46882-d33349708-r1053127966-Saddle_River_Reformed_Church_and_Cemetery-Upper_Saddle_River_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Saddle River Reformed Church 481 East Saddle River Road Saddle River, NJ 07458

Touring the oldest part of the graveyard

This church has the most complete set of tombstones of Revolutionary War veterans and the church website has some of the most complete information on their veterans.

Our group picture at the Old Stone Church

Our next trip was to the First Reformed Church of Hackensack, the second oldest church in New Jersey and one of the most important for the Revolutionary War. Their graveyard has the most amount of Revolutionary War veterans in Bergen County.

My students outside the First Reformed Church of Hackensack at 42 Court Street

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Dutch_Reformed_Church,_Hackensack

https://dspace.njstatelib.org/items/4de999c0-1b3c-442a-867c-c3d5e3ee75e7

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46480-d34352436-r1058240159-First_Reformed_Church_of_Hackensack-Hackensack_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

‘Church on the Green’ (The First Reformed Church of Hackensack), the Church Cemetery and the Hackensack Green 42 Court Street Hackensack, NJ 07601

The historic outside cornerstones of the church with the original family founder names carved in the bricks

The family keystones

John Paulson keystone

Henry Berry keystone

Albert C. Zabrifky keystone

The Historic First Reformed Church pews and stained glass windows.

The first floor of the church and the inside pews

The alter

The view of inside of the church

The Revolutionary War artifacts

My student visit on the second floor of the church. The church’s artifacts are displayed in the cases here.

Tour of the church

The Child’s family windows

Voorhis-Lozier-Moore Windows

The Kraissi family windows

The Van Valen windows

The War years windows

The church is the second oldest church in New Jersey and one of the oldest in the country. We then walked outside to tour the historic graveyard in the back of the church. It had the most amount of Revolutionary War veterans buried in Bergen County, NJ.

Many of the veterans of the American Revolution were buried closest to the church, which was the tradition of the time to be buried as close to the church as possible. Their graves were marked by Revolutionary War medallions and American flags.

The Demarest-Voorhis Revolutionary War graves

General Poor’s grave

Albert Romin grave Revolutionary War veteran

The front part of the church by the Hackensack Green was the resting place of many of these heros

Our Team of Student Consultants picture inside the historic graveyard

It is also the resting place of General Enoch Poor, who died during battle, whose funeral was attended by General George Washington himself. We took this group picture by the General’s grave.

Our Team pictures with General Poor

Our last field trip and one of our most important was to the Old South Presbyterian Church in Bergenfield. This was the place of the Demarest family plot, which is currently under a full renovation.

The Old South Presbyterian Church and Graveyard

https://www.southchurchtoday.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/R4960NKjustinw/mediabatch/13264450?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

South Presbyterian Church 150 West Church Street Bergenfield, NJ 07621

We worked with Melissa Naylis, who is leading the renovation of the church and master carver, Bob Carpenter, who showed us how he is restoring the graveyard. He had led one of my previous classes when we visited the graveyard for my ‘Bergen 250’ project.

Master Carver Bob Carpenter leading our tour

The South Presbyterian Church and the Demarest family plot

The Demarest family plot

Melissa Naylis starting the tour with us

The students got to learn of the important history of the grave sites and why they are an important piece of the United States founding. The were the men who fought for our freedom and the wives and families that supported the effort.

Melissa leading the tour and introducing Bob Carpenter to us

Melissa Naylis explaining the work that is being done in the graveyard

Bob Carpenter explains his work

Some of the earliest tombstones in the graveyard

Bob Carpenter explaining the renovation

Bob Carpenter talking about the Demarest plot renovation

Pastor Glen from the Old South Presbyterian Church introducing himself to the students and joining us on this part of the tour.

Talking about the care of the tombstones

Talking about care of the tombstones

We then moved to tombstone of the founder of Rutgers University for a marble carving demonstration. Bob Carpenter wanted the students to know the effort into carving into stone and brought the tools of that era and a piece of marble for the students to use. The students got a kick out of this and some really enjoyed it.

Bob explaining the work of a marble carver

Describing the process

My students giving it a try

My student Amy, carving marble

My student, Walid, carving on marble

Demonstrating the process

After the demonstration, we talked about the work of the Demarest family and their contributions within Bergen County.

The founder of Rutgers University, John Henry Goetscheus and a member of the extended Demarest family.

Our Team picture after the tour

Taking a quick tour of the graveyard after the formal tour, the Blauvelt-Kipp family burial ground

I found that being ‘out of the field’ really exposed the students to not just to visiting parts of the county they had never seen but showing them how cemeteries and graveyards are part of our culture of respect and memory. They can be looked at less as religious standpoint but as a historical value of who we are and how it part of all of our pasts.

We also looked about how these sites could play a role of building Bergen County tourism by promoting these sites as a part of the history of our country. Not just during the Revolutionary War but as part of our cultural fabric.

On April 29th, 2026, the students made their formal Presentation of the project and showed off their research of the sites and their fundraising tools to support the restoration of these sites.

Here is their work:

The Bergen 250 PowerPoint:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WdalxqzFy9NJE-6D2Y9nRrHBTB9Z14N2WgSzn119EqM/edit?slide=id.p1#slide=id.p1

The Bergen 250 Website:

https://sites.google.com/me.bergen.edu/bergecco-park-consulting-inc/our-journey

The Bergen 250 Presentation Video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ow37gAAbXF22uoae_bwix6mAseVn_TXy/view

The Bergen 250 YouTube Video:

This was an amazing project that will benefit so many people from historians to researchers to people who love the Revolutionary War and its history to family members looking for loved ones.

It is my class’s contribution as well as other future and past projects to benefit the “Bergen 250” and the rich history of Bergen County, NJ. Our County has contributed so much to not just the building of the state but of the United States as well. It was one of the best projects I ran as CEO of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

Our Executive Picture:

The “Cemetery and Graveyards” Team

Our Reception following the Presentation

Our Presentation was followed by a Q & A with many people we had met along the way from our visits “out in the field” who had come to see the final project and this was followed by our Corporate Team picture and then a reception in honor of the Student Consultants who made this important possible and come to life.

Great job Team!

Van Bushkirk Burial Ground 45 East Saddle River Road Saddle River, NJ 07458

Van Bushkirk Burial Ground

45 East Saddle River Road

Saddle River, NJ 07458

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2160733/edit

Click to access Re-exam_Master_Plan(1).pdf

The Van Bushkirk Burial Ground behind the residence at 45 East Saddle River Road

The Van Bushkirk Burial Ground is part of the history of Saddle River, NJ’s early settlement period. The burial ground has about 40 tombstones that are arched and shaped. These are some of the first residents both of Saddle River and Bergen County, NJ.

The burial ground lies next to a creek off East Saddle River Road and can only be accessed by going through private property of the residents living at 45 East Saddle River Road. Please do not enter without permission of the owner of the home. These pictures were taken with a long distance camera from the street.

The Van Bushkirk Burial Ground at 45 East Saddle River Road

The History of Saddle River:

(from the Saddle River Town website):

In 1675, Lenni Lenape tribal leaders sold a large amount of land on the Eastern side of the Saddle River (known as Werimus) to Albert Zabriskie. In 1708, Zabriskie sold this tract of land to Thomas Van Buskirk. The first house in Saddle River was built by the Van Buskirk family in 1709. The original Van Buskirk homestead still stands at 164 East Saddle River Road across from Borough Hall.

In 1709, the Lenni Lenape sold the land on the west side of the Saddle River to the English as part of the Ramapo Tract. Property on the west side of the Saddle River was acquired from this Tract throughout the 1700’s. The Ackerman Family was the most prolific buyer of these early Saddle River parcels and first settled on the West side of the Saddle River in 1745 when Johannes Ackerman acquired 245 acres.

The graves of George and Margaret Achenbach

Saddle River continued to grow and populate during the 18th century. Families such as the Van Buskirk’s, the Ackerman’s, the Achenbach’s, the Hopper’s, the Zabriskie’s, the Stilwell’s and the Baldwin’s farmed and developed the area.

The grave of George Achenbach

The first of many Saddle River mills was built in 1714 and the first school was constructed in 1720. Another early 18th century business was the blacksmith shop operated by the Ackerman family. Over the years, these 1st families built the quintessential “Old Dutch Homesteads” from actual sandstone that was found in town.

The Revolutionary War era tombstones

The Revolutionary War was a horrendous time for the residents of Saddle River. The townsfolk had spent the entire 18th century developing the area into a well established community and all growth essentially stopped during the war. Since the Jersey Dutch initially considered the revolution to be an English issue, it was particularly shocking when the fighting came to their backyards. From December 1776 until the end of the war, both American and British forces traveled through Saddle River and many times set up camp in the center of town.

Residents were in constant fear of the British employed Hessian soldiers who would terrorize families by raiding the houses for food and then burning the fields before leaving. Although no major battles took place in Saddle River, there were small skirmishes to fend off raids and the Blue Mill on East Saddle River Road was destroyed. Even George Washington, the future father of our country, passed through Saddle River on multiple occasions and tradition has him staying overnight at the Ackerman Homestead on the East road.

When the Revolutionary War ended, Saddle River residents picked up right where they left off in terms of community and industry development. The Ackerman’s built a Foundry on what is now Waterford Gardens. Tice and Berdan both opened stores in town and the Bulls Head Tavern opened its doors to weary travelers in 1802. Old mills were re-opened and new ones such as Van Riper’s Saw Mill and Basket Factory were established. The post war growth continued for decades and culminated in the 1820s with the construction of the Zion Lutheran Church in 1821 and a new schoolhouse behind the church in 1825.

The worn tombstones in the cemetery

History of the Van Bushkirk family in Bergen County during the Revolutionary War:

(From the Bergen County Historical Society website):

Loyalists in Bergen County | Bergen County Historical Society

Loyalists in Bergen County came from all backgrounds, religions and economic classes. At the beginning of the war, a number were officers in the militia, the military force composed of all able-bodied males maintained by each province, and later the states. The lieutenant colonel of the militia was John Zabriskie of New Bridge. Zabriskie understood the sentiments of many of his neighbors, particularly those of Abraham Van Buskirk, whose property was directly across the bridge in Teaneck. Van Buskirk was a surgeon in the militia under Zabriskie, and with whom he served on Bergen County’s Committee of Correspondence, an entity established to keep in touch with other New Jersey counties and the events occurring there.

Sturr Family Cemetery 375 Pulis Avenue Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417

Sturr Family Cemetery

375 Pulis Avenue

Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2227047/sturr-family-cemetery

https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/STURR

My review on TripAdvisor:

The Sturr Family Cemetery sits on a bend of the driveway of the Chabad Jewish Center of Northwest Bergen County and is a small cemetery that once sat on the edge of the J.H, Sturr farm.

The Sturr Family Cemetery

The farmhouse of the Sturr Family sits on the lot across the street from the cemetery property. This is located on a small buff on what was the edge of the farm.

The Sturr Family cemetery tombstones

The tombstones of the Courter and Carlouch family members

The grave of William Courter

The only visible tombstones that are left in the cemetery are an Ackerman family member, Anny Ackerman and members of the Courter and the Carlouch family’s (who must have married into the family).

The Ackerman family tombstones (the one to the right was unreadable)

The other tombstones are broken and no one is sure who is buried where in the cemetery.

The History of the Cemetery:

(From Find a Grave website)

The cemetery is located in Franklin Township, Bergen County, New Jersey, on what was once the family farm of J.H. Sturr. As of October 1991 only 6 markers were still remaining.

The Sturr Family Cemetery in full view

History of the House:

(From the Franklin Lakes Municipal Website)

H. Sturr House or Blue Meadow Farm
Built 1860
378 Pulis Avenue, Block 1510, Lot 8
Franklin Lakes, New Jersey 07417

The Sturr House – also known as Blue Meadow Farm -is a handsome and little altered example of mid 19^th century vernacular architecture which incorporates several stylistic elements such as gable returns and frieze area of the early 19^th century Greek Revival style. The Borough of Franklin Lakes lists the erection year of the house as 1860.

The façade of this 2 ½ story house consists of clapboard. The front porch has five bays with square posts and a rectangular entrance door with rectangular sidelights. Two tall 1^st story windows are on one side of the porch. A single hitching post with iron rings sits in front of the porch stairs. The building has a frieze area with linear design. Semi-circular headed louvered vents are in all gable ends. The rear of the house has a one story wing. There is a detached garage to the west side of the house as well as a round frame well. Further west of the house is a stable which has been extensively remodeled and converted into a residence in recent times. The house combined with associated structures is a significant remnant of the large farmsteads which ones dotted the Borough’s landscape prior to the recent suburban housing boom.

History of the Family:

(From the Franklin Lakes Municipal website)

This Sturr house and the nearby more altered house at 402 Pulis Avenue were duplicate structures and were probably built around the same time by members of the Sturr family. The 19^th century Sturr family was descended from Conraedt Sturr who purchased 190 acres of land in this area with John Coeter from Robert Livingston in 1793.

The non-extant homestead and mill was located at present-day 930 Old Mill Road. It is known that Henry Sturr, the son of Conraedt, had a fanning mill at this location in 1850. In a will dated 1852 he bequeathed his property and mill to his grandsons John, Henry, and Daniel (Maria Braun – 1976 page 26 & 27).

The property along Pulis Avenue upon which these houses are situated was probably included in this will since the homes were built around the mid-19^th century. Future deed research is recommended to identify the original builder and the construction date of the house (1861: H. Sturr, 1876 Estate of H.M. Sturr). Presently the house is privately owned and occupied.

Ramapo Reformed Church 100 Island Road Mahwah, NJ 07430

Ramapo Reformed Church

100 Island Road

Mahwah, NJ 07430

(201) 529-3075

https://ramaporeformedchurch.org/home

Open: Sunday 10:00am-12:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/R4960NKjustinw/photo/819672582?m=19905

The Ramapo Reformed Church at 100 Island Road

The historic sign of the history of the church

The church in the summer

The history of the Ramsey Reformed Church:

(from the Ramapo Reformed Church website)

Formerly The Ramapo Meeting House was organized in 1785 and built in 1798

In 1713, a small group of eleven German Lutheran families settled at the “Island,” so named because of extensive marshlands surrounding high, dry land. They formed a congregation in 1715, and c. 1720 built a log church. Prior to 1739, they built a larger, frame church.

Dutch, French, English and Scottish settlers of the Reformed faith came to the Island about mid-century and attended church in Paramus, 10 miles distant. In 1785, they organized The Ramapo Dutch Reformed Congregation at Ramapough in Bergen County.

After the Revolutionary War (1776-1783), the first task of the new nation was to repair the damages of war and neglect. Neither the Lutheran nor the Reformed congregation at the Island had sufficient means to build a new church. In spite of having fought on opposing sides during the War, they agreed to jointly repair and use the old Lutheran church. The arrangement was so successful that in 1798, they agreed to build the present church together.

Construction began on June 4th, and was finished in November. The last items purchased were “one lock and two keys” on December 12, 1798. The two congregations shared the church for fifty years until 1848, when the Lutherans sold their interest and moved to Airmont, NY and established the present Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church.

As soon as its doors opened to the public in 1798, the new Ramapough Meeting House became the heart of the daily activities. Social gatherings and civic meetings were held here all week long, and personal and official notices were posted on the doors. But on the Sabbath (from sundown Saturday to sundown Sunday) the building became a sacred place.

Ramapough – or Bellgrove, as it was called at this time – had four mills, several blacksmith shops, a general store, a stagecoach stop, and U.S. Post Office, one of the earliest in New Jersey (1797). The old Kings Highway of 1703 or Ramapough Road (Island Road) was part of the ancient 150-mile Albany Post Road from Paulus Hook (Jersey City) to Albany, NY. Dobbin & Tustin, est. 1797, ran a passenger and mail stage line on this road, right past the door of the Ramapough Meeting House.

In 1798, when pews and people were smaller, the Meeting House held 385 people. (Today, it holds 250). Though the old box-type pews are gone from the sanctuary, the gallery seats above still exist. The Island Church held an important place in the railroad hamlet of Mahwah throughout the 1800s. It was known simply as the Community Church until the 1950s, when suburbanization brought many other faiths to Mahwah.

One of the earliest public schools in the area, c. 1815, was operated on the church property until 1906, when the church sold land to the Township for the Commodore Perry School. In the cemetery is a roadbed of the old Kings Highway.

The Ramapo Reformed Church is the oldest public building in Mahwah, and a repository of more than 200 years of local and regional history. It is the older of only two remaining frame Federal-period churches in Bergen County, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The modern church sign

I walked through this quiet and reserved graveyard in search of ghosts from the past. The graveyard at the Ramapo Reformed Church, like many of these former Dutch churches, are steeped in memories of the past.

The historic graveyard in the back of the church

In the unique graveyard are the places of rest of many of the first families of Bergen County, NJ who not just shaped the county, but the State of New Jersey and the United States as well.

The oldest part of the graveyard surrounds the church

While the names Haring, Christie, Blauvelt, Demarest, Ramsey, Sutherland, Fox, Hopper, Van Ripper, DeBaun, Terhune and Tice may not similar to most people, to a generation of us were the names of farming families in Bergen County.

The Hopper Family plot

https://www.usrhistoricalsociety.org/families

https://www.hhkborough.com/home/hopper-zabriskie-family-cemetery

Getting to Know the Hoppers!

Family Files Catalog

Another branch of the Hopper family

Their farms supplied us with fresh fruits and vegetables when in season and places for us to go during Halloween and Thanksgiving for our baked goods and much needed apple cider.

The Suffern family plot

https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/SUFFERN

https://www.ancestry.com.au/last-name-meaning/suffern?srsltid=AfmBOorrfCGqRBXcEw4poUsVKndOmhzuu2NoaQ6dYjeuEz1I7Ph2UHeI

The 1980’s real estate boom put an end to many of these traditions but those names still live in the memories of an older generation. We see some of these traditions still hold tight at Demarest Farms in Hillsdale where hayrides and apple cider and fritters are still part of that experience.

The Goetschius family plot

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~njhudson/bio_goetschius_family.html

https://bergencountyhistory.catalogaccess.com/people/17462

https://dutchgenie.net/GSBC-familyfiles/familyfiles/g0/p463.htm

For this trip though, I was in search of graves of our brave veterans of the American Revolution and in the faded tombstones surrounding the church, I found most of them.

The oldest part of the graveyard wraps itself around the church or faces the road, which at one time must have been a country lane.

Some of the oldest families from the community are buried closest to the church building

The graveyard is filled with family plots of most of the first families of the area once surrounded by old fences.

The graveyard is full of families and their memories. In some parts of the graveyard, family plots are organized by generations. To so the progression of mother and father to their children and grandchildren. The history of these families is in the rows of names and the intermarriages of all these families to one another.

The Fox family plot, where one of the members of the family was a veteran of the Civil War

https://www.familysearch.org/ms/search/catalog/2366042

Early Bergen County Families, by Pat A. Wardell

The Ramsey family plot

https://bestofnj.com/features/entertainment/jersey-through-history-ramsaysburg-james-ramsay-farmstead/

The Ramsey family plot

The grave site of Peter Ramsey, who the town of Ramsey was named after

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/K4FS-R7L/peter-j.-ramsey-1804-1852

Peter J. Ramsey was born on 23 November 1804, in Bergen, New Jersey, United States. He married Margaret Hopper in 1828, in Hohokus Township, Bergen, New Jersey, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 5 daughters. He died on 10 May 1852, in Ramapo, Bergen, New Jersey, United States, at the age of 47, and was buried in Mahwah Township, Bergen, New Jersey, United States (Family Search.org).

Closer to the church, I discovered the graves of our brave soldiers from the Revolutionary War whom I had been searching for.

The grave of John Suffern, who fought in the Revolutionary War and whose family the County of Suffern was named after

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/MT85-8B1/john-suffern-1741-1836

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Suffern-60

When John Suffern was born on 23 November 1741, in County Antrim, Ireland, his father, William Suffern, was 27 and his mother, Margaret Templeton, was 19. He married Mary Myers on 1 January 1766, in Burlington, New Jersey, British Colonial America. They were the parents of at least 7 sons and 4 daughters. He lived in Rockland, New York, United States in 1820 and Ramapo, Rockland, New York, United States in 1830. He died on 11 November 1836, in Suffern, Ramapo, Rockland, New York, United States, at the age of 94, and was buried in Ramapo Reformed Church Cemetery, Mahwah Township, Bergen, New Jersey, United States (Familysearch.org).

The graves of John Suffern and his wife

The Christie family plot, where John and James Christie who fought in the war were buried

The graves of John Christie and his wife

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L2SY-CNW/john-w-christie-1754-1815

When John W Christie was born on 7 May 1754, in Schraalenburgh, Bergen, New Jersey, British Colonial America, his father, William James Christie, was 33 and his mother, Catalijntje Demarest, was 32. He married Annatie Hannah Brinkerhoff about 1773, in New Barbadoes Township, Bergen, New Jersey, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 8 daughters. He died on 11 September 1815, in Bergen, New Jersey, United States, at the age of 61, and was buried in Bergenfield, Bergen, New Jersey, United States (Familysearch.org).

The graves of James Christie and his wife

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LKRF-61W/james-willem-christie-1744-1817

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/M56X-DYC/james-christie-1746

When James Willem Christie was born on 20 August 1744, in Bergen, New Jersey, British Colonial America, his father, William James Christie, was 24 and his mother, Catalijntje Demarest, was 22. He married Maria Banta about 1772, in Schraalenburgh, Bergen, New Jersey, British Colonial America. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 5 daughters. He died on 23 July 1817, in Bergenfield, Bergen, New Jersey, United States, at the age of 72 (Familysearch.org).

The grave of Lawrence Sutherland another Revolutionary War Veteran

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LHNH-3RV/lawrence-sutherland-1763-1846

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sutherland-2841

When Lawrence Sutherland was born on 12 June 1763, in Harrington Township, Bergen, New Jersey, United States, his father, James Sutherland, was 21 and his mother, Marietje, was 19. He married Elizabeth Sutherland in 1786, in New Hampstead, Rockland, New York, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 3 daughters. He died on 9 October 1846, in New Hampstead, Rockland, New York, United States, at the age of 83, and was buried in Mahwah Township, Bergen, New Jersey, United States (Familysearch.org).