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.
What also is difficult is when two major museums have their Members Night on the same night. I had to do a lot of coordinating to go to both museums. What made it work is that both museums closed at different times with The Met closing at 10:00pm. I timed it perfectly.
Members Night at the MoMA ‘Behind the Flowers’ for the Hilma af Klint exhibition
The theme that evening was based on the Hilma af Klint exhibition
Going this evening took a lot of planning as I had to teach in the morning and cut the lawn on the afternoon. I was already exhausted by the time I left for the City at 4:00pm. Even on this gloomy afternoon, the weather held and it was a nice evening.
The area around the museum was in full bloom that early evening
The event opened early at the MoMA with their event from 6:00pm-9:00pm and the Met went from 7:00pm-10:00pm so I was able to enjoy both with a lot of walking in between. It was worth it as I was able to see several exhibitions on my bucket list before they closed. With work and finals, it had been tough to visit both of them.
People were enjoying conversation and cocktails when I arrived at the MoMA that evening.
I decided to start my evening at the Sculpture Garden on the first floor. The weather was cloudy but still it was a warm evening. People were conversing near the fountains and listening to music. The lines for the cash bar never let up and they were about thirty deep the whole time.
The Sculpture Garden at the MoMA
While I walked around the gardens and fountains I noticed a lot of the art that they were featuring was really unique, some of which I had not seen before.
The gardens with the poppies in bloom
This beautiful mosaic of a octopus did not have a name
This metal artwork was towards the back of the sculpture garden
The Met at night is quite dazzling
The entrance to The Met in the evening
Looking down Fifth Avenue at night
The entrance in the Rotunda was filled with fresh flowers and members chatting away. I even saw some of the members I had seen at the MoMA earlier.
The floral arrangements were spectacular
The beauty of the Rotunda in the evening
Maybe because these Members Nights were on a Tuesday evening, they both did not seem as crowded as they had been in the past. The museum was crowded but not as crowded as the past two Member’s Nights. I think that I arrived at 8:00pm most people were starting to leave. What was nice was that the MoMA night went until 9:00pm and The Met Night went until 10:00pm so it gave me the time to run through both museums.
I started my tour of The Met in the Greek Galleries looking at the Cycladic Art. I always loved the looks of these works.
I love the Egyptian Galleries. I have been coming here since 1973 and have loved them ever since.
I love the ancient hieroglyphics
For the last two Members Nights, the Members Bar was in the Temple of Dendur. It is always so well lit and the music was wonderful. It is a nice way to end the evening.
The Temple of Dendur lit for the evening
The Temple of Dendur was the perfect place to relax and have a cocktail
The crowds were rather large at the bar that evening
The Passion fruit cocktail was the specialty drink of the evening
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*
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
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 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.
