Tag: The Bergen 250-250th Anniversary of Bergen County NJ

Sturr Family Cemetery                                                                        375 Pulis Avenue                                                                                    Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417

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 19th century vernacular architecture which incorporates several stylistic elements such as gable returns and frieze area of the early 19th 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 1st 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 19th 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-19th 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.

Union Cemetery                                                                   316 Darlington Avenue                                             Ramsey, NJ 07446

Union Cemetery 316 Darlington Avenue Ramsey, NJ 07446

Union Cemetery

316 Darlington Avenue

Ramsey, NJ 07446

(291) 327-3879

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1680177/union-cemetery

https://www.countyoffice.org/ramsey-union-cemetery-ramsey-nj-4cf/

Open: Sunday-Saturday Dusk to Dawn

My review on TripAdvisor:

The Union Cemetery of The First Presbyterian Church of Ramsey, NJ

History of the Cemetery:

(from the church website)

Union Cemetery is a religious cemetery located at 316 Darlington Ave. in Ramsey, NJ. The cemetery is owned and managed by the First Presbyterian Church in Ramsey. As a religious cemetery, the cemetery is restricted under New Jersey state law and is not open to the general public. Only members of a Christian church and their immediate relatives may be interred at the cemetery.

The historic cemetery from the road. To the left is the oldest part of the cemetery

Entering the cemetery from Darlington Avenue

The newer part of the cemetery is to the right of the driveway

I was visiting the Union Cemetery in search of veterans of the Revolutionary War and found an interesting cemetery with a deep history in Bergen County. Many first families of Bergen County are buried here and veterans not just from the Revolutionary War but the Civil War all the way up to today are buried in this active town cemetery.

The older part of the cemetery is to the left of the driveway. These tombstones are from the early 1800’s.

The older part of the cemetery dates back to before the Revolutionary War

Many of the early family plots are located here with well known names like Hopper, Christie, Ackerman and the town’s namesake, the Ramsey family, whose family plot is in the oldest section of the cemetery.

The grave of Hannah Jane Ramsey in the Ramsey family plot

Part of the Ramsey family plot

The Ramsey family plot

The Union Cemetery to find the graves of Revolutionary War veterans and found some but not all of them. The tombstones are so worn after over two hundred years that they either had disappeared or were so worn you could not read them.

The oldest section of the cemetery where many veterans both from the Revolutionary and Civil War are buried. It was hard to read many of the tombstones. Some the veterans were buried in their family plots, others with their spouses separately. The burials were concentrated in the oldest part of the cemetery. Most of the veterans have been honored with American flags.

The first tombstones I found were from Ackerman family members

https://www.njgsbc.org/files/familyfiles/g0/p10.htm

The grave of veteran John Ackerman

The grave of veteran James Ackerman

I could not make out the name of this Ackerman member but I figured it was one of the brothers wife

The grave of veteran John P. Post

The Post family history:

(from the Saddle River Historical Society website)

The Post family was of Dutch descent. The first Post was a soldier, who came here to protect the new settlements along the Hudson. They soon turned to milling; the name Post is attached to several mills in Bergen and Rockland Counties. Joseph Post, born in 1775, built a mill on the west branch of the Saddle River about 1800. He also opened a tavern and store on what is now West Saddle River Road, just north of Parker Place, across from the entrance to the mill.

The graves of members of the community at that time including the grave of John P. Post

The grave of veteran William Vanderbeck

The grave of a member of the Van Brock family, who was married to James Ramsey

I was not too sure who this was but by the veteran’s flower I am assuming the grave of veteran John Van Blarcom

The grave of Hannah (I believe Ackerman)

The Christie family plot

The Hopper family plot

The Hopper Family history:

(from the Saddle River Historical Society website)

The Hopper family is one of the oldest of European descent in Bergen County. Andries Hopper came from the Netherlands to New Amsterdam in the 1640’s. His widow and her son Hendrick were in the Polifly area (Hackensack) by the late 1600s. There was land to be had in the unsettled areas of what became Bergen County. Hendrick’s two oldest sons, Andries and Jan settled in the HoHoKus area (part of Paramus) around 1712. The Hopper name appears on many old homes and mills on early maps of the area. It was two of Andries’ children, Abram and Jan, who settled sometime around 1730 along the Saddle River in what is now Upper Saddle River.

Wyckoff Reformed Church                                                     580 Wyckoff Avenue                                                                    Wyckoff, NJ 07481

Wyckoff Reformed Church 580 Wyckoff Avenue Wyckoff, NJ 07481

Wyckoff Reformed Church

580 Wyckoff Avenue

Wyckoff, NJ 07481

(201) 891-1782

https://www.wyckoffreformed.org/

Open: Sunday 9:00am-11:00am (Sunday Mass)

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/R4960NKjustinw/mediabatch/13777849?m=19905

The Wyckoff Reformed Church and Graveyard

The front of the church in the Summer of 2025

The graveyard at the church dates back to before the Revolutionary War. The graveyard has veterans from all the wars since the Revolutionary War to the current wars.

The Wyckoff Reformed Church was built with local fieldstone in 1806. The carpentry inside was done by Daniel Baldwin. The style features vernacular Early Republic, Federal architecture and the windows are done in the Gothic Revival style (Wiki).

The historic graveyard in the back of the church

The back of the graveyard that reaches further back into town

The part of the graveyard from the mid to late 1800’s. There are Civil War veterans buried here.

The back of the church from the 1800’s

The graveyard from the 1800’s

The Revolutionary War era section of the graveyard

The graves of the Revolutionary War veterans

The grave of Revolutionary War veteran Albert N. Van Voorheis

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LXQY-KCH/albert-voorhees-1759-1820

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=12407

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stephensz-2

When Albert Voorhees was born on 24 July 1759, in Bergen, New Jersey, British Colonial America, his father, Albert Van Voorhees, was 54 and his mother, Cornelia H. Van Gieson, was 42. He married Rachael Hopper on 26 July 1788, in Acquackanonk Township, Passaic, New Jersey, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 6 daughters. He died on 17 October 1820, at the age of 61 (FamilySearch.com).

The grave of William P. Winter

The grave of Vanithy Van Voorheis, the wife of Albert Van Voorheis.

The historic part of graveyard right behind the church

The graves of Bridget Ackerman and Martin Myers

The graves of Jack Van Saun and his wife, a descendant of the Van Ripper farm family

The graves of the Van Ripper family

The family plots

The grave of David Stagg

The graves of Peggy Willis and Margaret and Abraham Van Voorheis

The graves of the Mickler family

The graves Abraham and Sara Ann Quackenbush

This historic church and graveyard are really interesting to walk around. It is a glimpse into the past of Bergen County, NJ and the entire State of New Jersey

Sautjes Tave’s Begraven Ground Cemetery  Bogart Road & Everett Road                              Demarest, NJ 07627

Sautjes Tave’s Begraven Ground Cemetery Bogart Road & Everett Road Demarest, NJ 07627

Sautjes Tave’s Begraven Ground Cemetery

Bogart Road & Everett Road

Demarest, NJ 07627

(732) 260-7877

https://www.revolutionarywarnewjersey.com/new_jersey_revolutionary_war_sites/towns/demarest_nj_revolutionary_war_sites.htm

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1586040/sautjes-taves-begraven-ground

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=63548

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46390-d33256525-Reviews-Sautjes_Tave_s_Begraven_Ground_Cemetery-Demarest_New_Jersey.html

The Sautjes Tave Begraven Ground Cemetery is an example of an early Dutch Cemetery of some of the first Colonists in Bergen County with some families arriving in the early 1600’s .

The entrance to the Sautjes Tave Begraven Ground Cemetery in Demarest, NJ

The historic sign at the entrance placed by the David Demarest Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution

The inside of the historic cemetery

These early families once owned farms under royal patents of hundreds of acres and these would be passed down from generation to generation. These small family cemeteries were once located on the edge of family land that have since been replaced by modern suburbs. This is now in the middle of a traffic circle surrounded by homes. The cemetery is a wonderful shape and is nicely landscaped.

The cemetery from the south side

Generations of a Bogarts, Blauvelts, Haring, Demarest, Du Bois, Van Scivan and other prominent families all inter married into each family were buried here.

The Bogart-Bauvelt family plot

The Bogart-Blauvelt family plot

The Demarest family plot

The Demarest-Haring family plot

The Ann Marie Demarest grave

The Cornelius Demarest grave site, a Revolutionary War veteran

Patriot Douwe Talema, who was killed by the Tories during the Revolutionary War

The Daniel Van Scivan grave, another Revolutionary War veteran

The Haring Family plot

The Haring family plot

The James Haring grave

The Sophia Haring grave

The Du Bois family plot

The Cemetery view from the southern corner

My video of Touring the Cemetery and its historic roots:

My tour of the cemetery

Leaving the cemetery you can see the landscaping offers these families privacy in both life and death.

After the tour of the cemetery, I explored Downtown Demarest, NJ and discovered a beautiful little town with small local stores and a beautiful set of parks surround the streams and the train station just off the downtown.

The town of Demarest Veteran’s display

The town of Demarest has its own rich beauty and you can see this by visiting its Downtown area and its parks.

The breathtaking Duck Pond Park attracted a lot of painters who set their easels by the banks of the streams.

The Duck Pond is really beautiful

They also have a really nice railroad terminal that is now a senior center

The historic Demarest Railroad Station

This wonderful community has so many wonderful attributes.