A few years ago I found a stone for "Nancy - widow of Kiple Van Camp" that had been missing for several decades. It was buried next to her son in the Marksboro Cem. The middle part of the stone was missing. I propped Nancy's stone up which apparently was a mistake. When I went back several years later it had been cracked into 3 or 4 pieces and was buried again. Her grave was across from a side path to another part of the yard and I guess someone had backed over it. I was told that there was a pile of broken stones in a corner of the yard but didn't have time to search for the missing middle piece. I tried to contact the cemetery association about purchasing a replacement for Nancy's stone but never heard back from them. She is a vital like along with her missing husband Kiple in my quest to determine my ancestry. Steve Van Camp in Calif.

Last year I was IN Sarepta NJ looking into my Titus-Butz family history. I found part of the old Homestead. I inquired into the Old family Cemetery that was supposed to be in the area. It seems that whatever was left was turned into farmland...And supposedly it's the best producing ground in the State of NJ.

Thank you all very much for your help!!! I contacted the church that I thought was associated with the cemetery. They were very helpful. They gave me the names of the caretakers of the cemetery. I called and ironically the person who tends to the cemetery went to school with my aunt (grave stone I thought was missing). He stated that he knew the stone well and gave me the section number and details. He told me that it was there. He was very kind and helpful. It was kind of strange because both myself and my two sisters looked over the cemetery and missed it. Thanks again! With Warm Regards, Wendy

Floreda, I do not know if there is a book out on Centenary College. Sorry, I can't be of more help, but I haven't lived in Hackettstown for over 40 years. Like you I am in the deep south. Louisiana! Hackettstown Historical Society 106 Church St Hackettstown, NJ, 07840 908-852-8797 They are not open everyday and I can't remember which days or times they are open. Keep after the archive librarian and I wish you luck. Pat

To All: Brian Rhodes is the person to contact. He took a forgotten , overgrown, weed infested eyesore and turned it into the pride of Blairstown and Blair Academy. The old gravel hill cemetery looked like an impossible task, but Brian did it with very little help from the rest of us.The "missing" headstones had fallen over and were buried by dirt and leaves.It took probing and careful digging to unearth the 100 or so stones that Brian uprighted and repaired. There are still more under the earth ,but one person cannot do it all . Margaret Thomas -- Brian Rhodes <brianrhodes1956@yahoo.com> wrote: A good contact would be: blairstownhistory@earthlink.net I have been restoring local cemeteries in Blaistown, N.J. since 2001. It's tough work probing, re-pointing, setting-up, re-pinning, gluing, cementing, making new bases, etc. Read Family Connections (google it) has some photographs of the on-going work being done. Big problem = FUNDING. It's not hard to get volunteers (sometimes) but the hard part is always money-money-money! It's also very heavy demanding work. Everyone involved must care - especially the relatives of the deceased! Brian Rhodes jan@raub-and-more.com wrote: Wendy, Cemeteries have been vandalized for years. Headstones also break due to age and weather conditions. A cousin's stone was one of those flat ones on the ground...we knew where it should be, so his cousin stuck a pencil into the ground and found it! Lots and lots of reasons for headstones to disappear. One cousin told me the story of a neighbor kid who found an old family cemetery when his family moved to a farm. With all good intentions, he took the headstones to make a walk to the front door for his mother! Jan > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [NJWARREN] Missing Headstone > From: "Wendy Watkins" > Date: Sun, October 15, 2006 8:14 pm > To: > > Hi All, > I was just wondering if anyone knew of or had experience where they went to > a cemetery and found a headstone missing of a relative and if so what could > be the reason for the removal. How should I go about finding out this > information. Thanks so much! > > With Warm Regards, > Wendy > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Love's the only house big enough for all the pain in this world! --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I remember an incident which happened locally a few years a go. Apparently the family had searched for a missing headstone for years and had never been able to find it. They lived in a very old house not too far from the cemetery and decided to turn the stone step outside the back door because it was wearing in the middle--well, what do you think they found? They had been stepping over the missing headstone for 50 years! JUDY

It is certainly sad for our loved ones remains being treated so callously. That is why we all have to maintain an interest in maintenance of our local cemeteries and the mapping of the old ones. I know of a few in the area where I live, near Hazleton Pa. that fallen into memory. -----Original Message----- From: njwarren-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:njwarren-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of JRflannigan@aol.com Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 9:28 AM To: njwarren@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [NJWARREN] Missing Headstone Wendy (and all those interested), Missing headstones?? In the early 1940's, at the young age of 6, 7, 8 or so, I visited cemeteries in the Scranton, PA area with my grandparents. One such visit was to a very small cemetery, usually overgrown with grass and weeds. The tombstones were visible from our car parked on the road in which my grandmother and I would sit until my grandfather paid his respects to whomever it was buried there. After about 65 years of growing up raising a family, working for a living, and then retiring, I searched and searched for the location of this site that was very vivid in my mind. Without going into the details of genealogy, the computer age, and web sites such as the one you are reading right now, I made a startling discovery. The cemetery was the final resting place of my Grandfather's mother and her brother both who came from Prussia, and a baby sister that died shortly after birth. However, all the stones were gone, the whole area was a grassy hillside, and in the late 1970's, one lone plaque had been laid in the ground with the names of those that had been buried there.........but only the names of the ones that had head stones. If there were no stones, then there were no names. I seems the caretaker did not want to mow around all the stones, so the church that handled the cemetery gave him permission to take up all the stones and dump them out of the area. It wasn't until an interstate was being built through an area not far from the cemetery that the stones were found. It was determined it was just a dump site, the stones were plowed under, and became part of the base of a very busy road way. As for me, I'm sick over the whole thing!!!!!!! Where will it all stop??? Jack Flannigan ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Blairstown Historic Preservation has worked on the Gravel Hill Cemetery since 2001. Most of the work was done between 2002 - 2005. It has been a "GROUP" effort among preservation members and outside volunteers. Men - women - and yes, sometimes children. This hands-on group was never afraid to get dirty, and boy do I mean filthy dirty! Unfortunately my job (and personal life) restrictions has caused me to become very in-active with this fine group of committe-appointed (un-paid) volunteers. But if anyone desires a printed list of burials from Gravel Hill Cemetery (est-1769) and/or Blairstown Union Brick Cemetery, they can email me at the following address: northwarrenphotography@yahoo.com. If you do find you have a distant relative buried at either location, why not send a small donation to the commission to help with the upkeep and/or repairs that are constantly needed? You can contact the chairperson at historicpres@blairstown-nj.org. Helen Parisi. To All: Brian Rhodes is the person to contact. He took a forgotten , overgrown, weed infested eyesore and turned it into the pride of Blairstown and Blair Academy. The old gravel hill cemetery looked like an impossible task, but Brian did it with very little help from the rest of us.The "missing" headstones had fallen over and were buried by dirt and leaves.It took probing and careful digging to unearth the 100 or so stones that Brian uprighted and repaired. There are still more under the earth ,but one person cannot do it all . Margaret Thomas -- Brian Rhodes wrote: A good contact would be: blairstownhistory@earthlink.net I have been restoring local cemeteries in Blaistown, N.J. since 2001. It's tough work probing, re-pointing, setting-up, re-pinning, gluing, cementing, making new bases, etc. Read Family Connections (google it) has some photographs of the on-going work being done. Big problem = FUNDING. It's not hard to get volunteers (sometimes) but the hard part is always money-money-money! It's also very heavy demanding work. Everyone involved must care - especially the relatives of the deceased! Brian Rhodes jan@raub-and-more.com wrote: Wendy, Cemeteries have been vandalized for years. Headstones also break due to age and weather conditions. A cousin's stone was one of those flat ones on the ground...we knew where it should be, so his cousin stuck a pencil into the ground and found it! Lots and lots of reasons for headstones to disappear. One cousin told me the story of a neighbor kid who found an old family cemetery when his family moved to a farm. With all good intentions, he took the headstones to make a walk to the front door for his mother! Jan > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [NJWARREN] Missing Headstone > From: "Wendy Watkins" > Date: Sun, October 15, 2006 8:14 pm > To: > > Hi All, > I was just wondering if anyone knew of or had experience where they went to > a cemetery and found a headstone missing of a relative and if so what could > be the reason for the removal. How should I go about finding out this > information. Thanks so much! > > With Warm Regards, > Wendy > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Love's the only house big enough for all the pain in this world! --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Love's the only house big enough for all the pain in this world! --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail.

Thanks Pat. ----- Original Message ----- From: Tacy413408@aol.com<mailto:Tacy413408@aol.com> To: njwarren@rootsweb.com<mailto:njwarren@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 1:16 AM Subject: Re: [NJWARREN] "tje" Judy, My sister-in-law has a Dutch name ending in tje. Years ago she told us it meant two. I took that to mean the second, but as others mentioned it would be like little Mary. Pat ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com<mailto:NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Wendy (and all those interested), Missing headstones?? In the early 1940's, at the young age of 6, 7, 8 or so, I visited cemeteries in the Scranton, PA area with my grandparents. One such visit was to a very small cemetery, usually overgrown with grass and weeds. The tombstones were visible from our car parked on the road in which my grandmother and I would sit until my grandfather paid his respects to whomever it was buried there. After about 65 years of growing up raising a family, working for a living, and then retiring, I searched and searched for the location of this site that was very vivid in my mind. Without going into the details of genealogy, the computer age, and web sites such as the one you are reading right now, I made a startling discovery. The cemetery was the final resting place of my Grandfather's mother and her brother both who came from Prussia, and a baby sister that died shortly after birth. However, all the stones were gone, the whole area was a grassy hillside, and in the late 1970's, one lone plaque had been laid in the ground with the names of those that had been buried there.........but only the names of the ones that had head stones. If there were no stones, then there were no names. I seems the caretaker did not want to mow around all the stones, so the church that handled the cemetery gave him permission to take up all the stones and dump them out of the area. It wasn't until an interstate was being built through an area not far from the cemetery that the stones were found. It was determined it was just a dump site, the stones were plowed under, and became part of the base of a very busy road way. As for me, I'm sick over the whole thing!!!!!!! Where will it all stop??? Jack Flannigan

Not all - what about the abandoned weed-covered cemeteries from the 1700's ??? Most relatives are dead or don't know they even exist. Ann Brown <cookiebrown11@gmail.com> wrote: I'd say contact the cemetery caretakers. Someone takes care of it if the grass is mowed. Ann On 10/15/06, Wendy Watkins wrote: > > > > Hi All, > I was just wondering if anyone knew of or had experience where they went > to > a cemetery and found a headstone missing of a relative and if so what > could > be the reason for the removal. How should I go about finding out this > information. Thanks so much! > > With Warm Regards, > Wendy > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Ann Brown " Cookie" ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Love's the only house big enough for all the pain in this world! --------------------------------- Get your own web address for just $1.99/1st yr. We'll help. Yahoo! Small Business.

A good contact would be: blairstownhistory@earthlink.net I have been restoring local cemerteries in Blaistown, N.J. since 2001. It's tough work probing, re-pointing, setting-up, re-pinning, gluing, cementing, making new bases, etc. Read Family Connections (google it) has some photographs of the on-going work being done. Big problem = FUNDING. It's not hard to get volunteers (sometimes) but the hard part is always money-money-money! It's also very heavy demanding work. Everyone involved must care - especially the relatives of the deceased! Brian Rhodes jan@raub-and-more.com wrote: Wendy, Cemeteries have been vandalized for years. Headstones also break due to age and weather conditions. A cousin's stone was one of those flat ones on the ground...we knew where it should be, so his cousin stuck a pencil into the ground and found it! Lots and lots of reasons for headstones to disappear. One cousin told me the story of a neighbor kid who found an old family cemetery when his family moved to a farm. With all good intentions, he took the headstones to make a walk to the front door for his mother! Jan > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [NJWARREN] Missing Headstone > From: "Wendy Watkins" > Date: Sun, October 15, 2006 8:14 pm > To: > > Hi All, > I was just wondering if anyone knew of or had experience where they went to > a cemetery and found a headstone missing of a relative and if so what could > be the reason for the removal. How should I go about finding out this > information. Thanks so much! > > With Warm Regards, > Wendy > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Love's the only house big enough for all the pain in this world! --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.

Hi, Pat, Thank you so very much for replying. May I impose on you a bit further? Do you have the phone number of the historical society? Also, do you know if a book has been written about Centenary? We were in Hackettstown in September (we live in Tallahassee, FL). Actually we spent twe nights in one of the 'cottages' at Panther Creek Inn (we had been to Cape Cod for a family reunion of my husband's family. My husband suffers from C.O.P.D (with Emphysema). I called the library at the college - it seems the librarian who 'know the archives' is on leave until January (the archives has been closed to the general public). Of course, I will call her when she gets back but I thought I would try to find out as much as I can until then. And thank you again for your reply. Floreda -----Original Message----- From: njwarren-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:njwarren-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Tacy413408@aol.com Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 1:20 AM To: njwarren@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [NJWARREN] Centenary College - 1880s Floreda, I grew up a block from Centenary. It has changed names several times over the years and is still in existence. When I was young it was a junior college for women, but is now co-ed. There is a Hackettstown Historical Society located on Church St in Hackettstown. Pat ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Floreda, I grew up a block from Centenary. It has changed names several times over the years and is still in existence. When I was young it was a junior college for women, but is now co-ed. There is a Hackettstown Historical Society located on Church St in Hackettstown. Pat

Judy, My sister-in-law has a Dutch name ending in tje. Years ago she told us it meant two. I took that to mean the second, but as others mentioned it would be like little Mary. Pat

Get a shovel. It is probably fallen and covered with earth. FHS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wendy Watkins" <catwoman@enter.net> To: <njwarren@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2006 8:14 PM Subject: [NJWARREN] Missing Headstone > > > Hi All, > I was just wondering if anyone knew of or had experience where they went > to > a cemetery and found a headstone missing of a relative and if so what > could > be the reason for the removal. How should I go about finding out this > information. Thanks so much! > > With Warm Regards, > Wendy > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

I'd say contact the cemetery caretakers. Someone takes care of it if the grass is mowed. Ann On 10/15/06, Wendy Watkins <catwoman@enter.net> wrote: > > > > Hi All, > I was just wondering if anyone knew of or had experience where they went > to > a cemetery and found a headstone missing of a relative and if so what > could > be the reason for the removal. How should I go about finding out this > information. Thanks so much! > > With Warm Regards, > Wendy > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Ann Brown " Cookie"

Hi All, I was just wondering if anyone knew of or had experience where they went to a cemetery and found a headstone missing of a relative and if so what could be the reason for the removal. How should I go about finding out this information. Thanks so much! With Warm Regards, Wendy

Wendy, In the late 1980s we got a real shock when we visited the old Bly Cemetery [1820-1929] in Chautauqua Co., NY and found most of the stones missing including that of my 5th great grandmother, the first to buried there. The cemetery had been in poor condition for many years and we assumed vandalism. Whatever the cause, we got another shock in summer 2005 when we went to the same cemetery and most of the stones were back, not my 5th great grandmother's, but most of the others. They were just standing around against trees or propped against each other in no relation to the graves they had originally marked, but they are back. Presumably, they were found somewhere and returned. Enter "cemetery vandalism" in Google and you'll receive 525,000 hits. It's said the poorer the condition of the cemetery, the greater the danger of vandalism. Old tombstones have also become very popular for garden ornaments today, and there is a market for them, sad to say. I would check with the caretaker if there is one, or the city/town officials to see if there has been an incident in that cemetery. Betty Malesky Member APG, NGS, NEHGS, ISFHWE, GVGS Green Valley, AZ "He alone deserves to be remembered by his children who treasures up and preserves the memory of his fathers." Edmund Burke, 1729-1797 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wendy Watkins" <catwoman@enter.net> To: <njwarren@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2006 5:14 PM Subject: [NJWARREN] Missing Headstone > > > Hi All, > I was just wondering if anyone knew of or had experience where they went > to > a cemetery and found a headstone missing of a relative and if so what > could > be the reason for the removal. How should I go about finding out this > information. Thanks so much! > > With Warm Regards, > Wendy > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Wendy, Cemeteries have been vandalized for years. Headstones also break due to age and weather conditions. A cousin's stone was one of those flat ones on the ground...we knew where it should be, so his cousin stuck a pencil into the ground and found it! Lots and lots of reasons for headstones to disappear. One cousin told me the story of a neighbor kid who found an old family cemetery when his family moved to a farm. With all good intentions, he took the headstones to make a walk to the front door for his mother! Jan > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [NJWARREN] Missing Headstone > From: "Wendy Watkins" <catwoman@enter.net> > Date: Sun, October 15, 2006 8:14 pm > To: <njwarren@rootsweb.com> > > Hi All, > I was just wondering if anyone knew of or had experience where they went to > a cemetery and found a headstone missing of a relative and if so what could > be the reason for the removal. How should I go about finding out this > information. Thanks so much! > > With Warm Regards, > Wendy > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message