Many descendants of NJ founders have ancestors who were interred in the Old Burying Ground at the First Presbyterian Church at Newark. In 1888 this cemetery was deconsecrated and the remains of settlers who had been buried within the period ca1666-1808 were placed in a common grave at the Fairmount Cemetery. A large statue of a Puritan man was erected over the crypt and historical information engraved on the monument. The monument has been in disrepair, but the Newark Preservation & Landmarks Committee recently restored it as described in a local paper, the Newark Star Ledger. <http://www.nj.com/living/ledger/index.ssf?/base/living-2/10705213993593 0.xml> http://www.nj.com/living/ledger/index.ssf?/base/living-2/107052139935930 .xml According to the Ledger article there are intentions of organizing a dedication of the restored monument in the spring of 2004 that would include descendants of the settlers. An accurate list of the Newark founders can be seen on Joann Rabun's Gene Pool website: <http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/newark2.htm> http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/newark2.htm I don't know who would be organizing this- according to the article the monument is owned by the city, but the restoration was done by the NP&LC, so they may be doing the dedication program too. I also have no idea how they are going to identify and locate descendants- probably the organizers will rely upon descendants to identify themselves. There are several organizations that might be particularly interested in this event. Last year a Newark Historical Society was created and the NJ Historical Society has its office in the city. The Newark City Historian mentioned in the article, Charles Cummings, works at the Newark Public Library. Most of the towns in Essex County (and surrounding counties) have historical societies. Although there is no county-wide historical society, there is an alliance of historical societies in the western end of Essex County, the League of Historical Societies of West Essex. One of these societies, Horse Neck Founders History and Genealogy Society supports research and preservation of genealogy and NJ history, particularly in the old Horse Neck Track, which was sometimes known as the Third Newark Purchase. Horse Neck Founders would be willing to start compiling email and correspondence with the names and addresses of descendants of the Newark founders who are interested in this event, make sure that this information is passed along to the Newark Preservation & Landmarks Committee (or whoever is in charge of the dedication) and encourage them to provide information to descendants who are interested in this project. Regards- Bev Crifasi, President, Horse Neck Founders, PO Box 122, Caldwell, NJ 07006