I tried to send this to the list directly from the newspaper, but that didn't seem to work. With my comments it's a little long, but still very interesting. At least, in my opinion. Bergen Record, Hackensack, NJ by Pat R. Gilbert http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3 dnFlZUVFeXk2NDExNDE5JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg== A Startling Find at Cemetery Halts Reburial The irony is impossible to ignore. The remains of thousands of people placed in a potter's field near the New Jersey Turnpike were supposed to get a proper burial this summer in a nearby cemetery. But no longer. The reason: Hundreds of random pieces of bones and skulls have now been found in the exact spot where the remains were going. "I just can't believe this is happening," said turnpike spokesman Joseph Orlando. "We went out of our way to show care and respect for the graves at the potter's field; we're paying the cemetery to reinter these people, and now we find there are people being dug up there." For now, the remains of about 3,100 people from the potter's field sit in their white cardboard boxes in a makeshift morgue just down the road from the Secaucus Transfer rail station. The plan was to truck the remains out to Hoboken Cemetery in North Bergen, where they would be reburied in about three weeks. "It just boggles the mind," Orlando said. "They [the cemetery] said they had no record of anyone being buried there. I don't know if that's supposed to make us feel better or worse." Turnpike officials want their $150,000 back from the cemetery. They'll meet with the state Cemetery Board and lawyers for the cemetery Friday to sort out the mess - the latest bizarre twist in their efforts to build a looping $235 million interchange between Exits 15E and 16E. It's not clear exactly what else lies beneath the 2,430-square-foot spot reserved for the potter's field bodies. The crowded cemetery is largely a weed-covered affair with several toppled headstones. A shopping cart sat on the lumpy ground near the turnpike's plot Wednesday, and one side of the space sits smack up against the back of a neglected brick kitchen supply store. The cemetery has a history of troubles that prompted a 1987 investigation by the state Attorney General's Office into allegations of embezzlement and gross neglect by the former superintendent and trustees. Since then, a court-appointed receiver has been in charge, with a management company overseeing maintenance. George Dougherty, a lawyer representing receiver Marion Yovan, said no one was trying to pull a fast one with the turnpike. "It's just not possible they would have done this deliberately," he said of the management company. "Everything was done with good intentions," Dougherty said. "The cemetery has no record of there ever being a burial in this section." He said that burials date back to 1858, and that it's "not unusual" to find a "mature" cemetery with records that are not accurate. Meanwhile, state officials are flabbergasted. The saga of Exit 15X began two years ago when the turnpike discovered the four-acre potter's field in Secaucus as they prepared to build the new interchange, which is expected to be open by 2005. Between 1920 and 1962, the bodies of the poor, criminals, and the insane housed in nearby institutions had been buried in narrow grave shafts on top of one another. In February, the Turnpike Authority began a $5.5 million effort to disinter and rebury the bodies in a proper cemetery. It is believed to be the single largest exhumation in the nation's history. About three months ago, the Hoboken Cemetery began to make room for the first of 100 roughly 9-foot-high concrete vaults that would be lowered into the ground. So far, 34 vaults have been installed. Containers with the remains were supposed to go inside them after they were completed. Then the trouble started. Maybe it was the heavy rains. No one's really sure. But when the turnpike's archaeologists visited the site, they found other human remains right where the vaults were. "The management company had already dug the vaults and put them in the ground, and we don't know why, but we started finding bones," said John M. Keller, the turnpike's assistant supervising engineer. "Some of them were a foot long, others were an inch. A few were right on top of the vaults where they had extra dirt." Keller said he saw a piece of a skull about the size of half of a softball. There were 256 pieces of bone in all, "without doing any kind of sifting. This is just what you could pick up off the top of the ground." A former cemetery worker thinks he knows where the bodies came from. The man, who declined to be identified, said he believes the cemetery had its own potter's field at the site where the vaults now sit. Dougherty said he hadn't heard that, but suspects the bones and other artifacts - including an old shoe and a piece of clunky metal - were part of excavated dirt at the cemetery that was moved to that location. "When you consider the amount of excavation done, it's a relatively small representation of actual bone and a few other things came up with it," Dougherty said. "You may not be intruding on regular graves, but maybe redigging an area of discarded material." But turnpike officials say that is not acceptable, and they plan to choose another cemetery. They said they selected Hoboken Cemetery in the first place because it was the only one in Hudson County to pledge that the area was "free of any prior burials," according to the contract, which is signed by Yovan. "It's 256 pieces of remains," Keller said. "We can't say if it's 20 people or two. We just know that one person is a problem." As a postscript to this article, there are several genealogists, including this one, who are well aware that the Hoboken Cemetery's records were bad. In fact, they were also unavailable. I visited the cemetery back in 1985 looking for my 2great-grandfather and two of his grandchildren. Death certificates issued for the three of them from the City of Hoboken cited Hoboken Cemetery as the place of interment. The cemetery super told me I couldn't look at the cemetery's records because they were in bad shape, but for $50.00 per hour he would look for me. He was dismissive and perhaps hostile. I said no thanks and looked for the gravestones on my own. When I got home I called the NJ State Cemetery Board. They said that was unreasonable and improper. Emboldened, I returned to the cemetery and the super apologized after I mentioned my conversation with the Board. He explained that the records really were terrible and that he used the research bit to dissuade people who wouldn't give up. Not wanting to press the point further I accepted his offer of a brief tour in place of the records. I was trying to get a sense of where to look in the cemetery for the gravestones I wanted. North of the main cemetery road were many gravestones. Lots of the plots were untended. South of the road I noticed a large open area with a lone cross. The ground was dimpled like a very large golfball and there were signs that the whole area had been overturned not all that long ago. I said, "What's that area?" He said, "sweet soil," and then went on to explain that it was a municipal potter's field for Hoboken that was periodically plowed under to allow for more burials. He went on to explain further that if the people that I was looking for were there - that it was a lost cause. The records for that area were missing and headstones, if any, were plowed under. I never did find what I was looking for. Several other people have told of similar stories. Some of us have speculated, considering Hudson County's rich and long tradition of political patronage and graft, that the bad records may have been intentional. I can just imagine a former cemetery superintendent re-selling burial plots and dumping the bodies in the potter's field. In my case, the existing records, like the census, seem to indicate that the family should have been able to afford a proper burial. I guess I'll never know. And it looks like some things haven't changed at Hoboken Cemetery. Oh, we didn't know somebody was down there already! If I had to guess - I think I'd say that there were hundreds of bodies already interred where the Turnpike Authority hoped to rebury the dis-interred remains from their own potter's field. I hope the cemetery didn't truck out of the confines of the cemetery any of the dirt displaced by the new concrete burial vaults. Jim Brady brady.j@att.net

After reading Jim Brady's letter re: the Hoboken Potters Field and Cemetery, I guess I will never know if the twins born to my Greatgrandparents were buried there. My GrGrand parents immigrated in 1878 and settled in Hoboken for a period of about 5 years. During that time my grandmother and granduncle were born as well as the twins who did not live very long, less than one year. This family was poor and probably had no means to pay for a proper burial for the twins. Oh well, another link to the past lost. I have been trying to find the Hoboken city directories for that period too as I understand that the family ran a boarding house and saloon in Hoboken too. Thank you New Jersey. Judy Christopher ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Brady" <brady.j@att.net> To: <NY-HUDSONRV-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2003 5:48 PM Subject: [HudsonRV] Hoboken Cemetery - A startling find at cemetery halts reburial > I tried to send this to the list directly from the newspaper, but that > didn't seem to work. With my comments it's a little long, but still very > interesting. At least, in my opinion. > Bergen Record, Hackensack, NJ > by Pat R. Gilbert > http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3 > dnFlZUVFeXk2NDExNDE5JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg== > A Startling Find at Cemetery Halts Reburial > The irony is impossible to ignore. > The remains of thousands of people placed in a potter's field near the New > Jersey Turnpike were supposed to get a proper burial this summer in a nearby > cemetery. > But no longer. The reason: Hundreds of random pieces of bones and skulls > have now been found in the exact spot where the remains were going. > "I just can't believe this is happening," said turnpike spokesman Joseph > Orlando. "We went out of our way to show care and respect for the graves at > the potter's field; we're paying the cemetery to reinter these people, and > now we find there are people being dug up there." > For now, the remains of about 3,100 people from the potter's field sit in > their white cardboard boxes in a makeshift morgue just down the road from > the Secaucus Transfer rail station. The plan was to truck the remains out to > Hoboken Cemetery in North Bergen, where they would be reburied in about > three weeks. > "It just boggles the mind," Orlando said. "They [the cemetery] said they had > no record of anyone being buried there. I don't know if that's supposed to > make us feel better or worse." > Turnpike officials want their $150,000 back from the cemetery. They'll meet > with the state Cemetery Board and lawyers for the cemetery Friday to sort > out the mess - the latest bizarre twist in their efforts to build a looping > $235 million interchange between Exits 15E and 16E. > It's not clear exactly what else lies beneath the 2,430-square-foot spot > reserved for the potter's field bodies. The crowded cemetery is largely a > weed-covered affair with several toppled headstones. A shopping cart sat on > the lumpy ground near the turnpike's plot Wednesday, and one side of the > space sits smack up against the back of a neglected brick kitchen supply > store. > The cemetery has a history of troubles that prompted a 1987 investigation by > the state Attorney General's Office into allegations of embezzlement and > gross neglect by the former superintendent and trustees. Since then, a > court-appointed receiver has been in charge, with a management company > overseeing maintenance. > George Dougherty, a lawyer representing receiver Marion Yovan, said no one > was trying to pull a fast one with the turnpike. "It's just not possible > they would have done this deliberately," he said of the management company. > "Everything was done with good intentions," Dougherty said. "The cemetery > has no record of there ever being a burial in this section." > He said that burials date back to 1858, and that it's "not unusual" to find > a "mature" cemetery with records that are not accurate. > Meanwhile, state officials are flabbergasted. > The saga of Exit 15X began two years ago when the turnpike discovered the > four-acre potter's field in Secaucus as they prepared to build the new > interchange, which is expected to be open by 2005. Between 1920 and 1962, > the bodies of the poor, criminals, and the insane housed in nearby > institutions had been buried in narrow grave shafts on top of one another. > In February, the Turnpike Authority began a $5.5 million effort to disinter > and rebury the bodies in a proper cemetery. It is believed to be the single > largest exhumation in the nation's history. > About three months ago, the Hoboken Cemetery began to make room for the > first of 100 roughly 9-foot-high concrete vaults that would be lowered into > the ground. So far, 34 vaults have been installed. Containers with the > remains were supposed to go inside them after they were completed. > Then the trouble started. Maybe it was the heavy rains. No one's really > sure. > But when the turnpike's archaeologists visited the site, they found other > human remains right where the vaults were. > "The management company had already dug the vaults and put them in the > ground, and we don't know why, but we started finding bones," said John M. > Keller, the turnpike's assistant supervising engineer. "Some of them were a > foot long, others were an inch. A few were right on top of the vaults where > they had extra dirt." > Keller said he saw a piece of a skull about the size of half of a softball. > There were 256 pieces of bone in all, "without doing any kind of sifting. > This is just what you could pick up off the top of the ground." > A former cemetery worker thinks he knows where the bodies came from. The > man, who declined to be identified, said he believes the cemetery had its > own potter's field at the site where the vaults now sit. > Dougherty said he hadn't heard that, but suspects the bones and other > artifacts - including an old shoe and a piece of clunky metal - were part of > excavated dirt at the cemetery that was moved to that location. > "When you consider the amount of excavation done, it's a relatively small > representation of actual bone and a few other things came up with it," > Dougherty said. "You may not be intruding on regular graves, but maybe > redigging an area of discarded material." > But turnpike officials say that is not acceptable, and they plan to choose > another cemetery. They said they selected Hoboken Cemetery in the first > place because it was the only one in Hudson County to pledge that the area > was "free of any prior burials," according to the contract, which is signed > by Yovan. > "It's 256 pieces of remains," Keller said. "We can't say if it's 20 people > or two. We just know that one person is a problem." > > As a postscript to this article, there are several genealogists, including > this one, who are well aware that the Hoboken Cemetery's records were bad. > In fact, they were also unavailable. > > I visited the cemetery back in 1985 looking for my 2great-grandfather and > two of his grandchildren. Death certificates issued for the three of them > from the City of Hoboken cited Hoboken Cemetery as the place of interment. > The cemetery super told me I couldn't look at the cemetery's records because > they were in bad shape, but for $50.00 per hour he would look for me. He was > dismissive and perhaps hostile. I said no thanks and looked for the > gravestones on my own. > > When I got home I called the NJ State Cemetery Board. They said that was > unreasonable and improper. Emboldened, I returned to the cemetery and the > super apologized after I mentioned my conversation with the Board. He > explained that the records really were terrible and that he used the > research bit to dissuade people who wouldn't give up. Not wanting to press > the point further I accepted his offer of a brief tour in place of the > records. I was trying to get a sense of where to look in the cemetery for > the gravestones I wanted. North of the main cemetery road were many > gravestones. Lots of the plots were untended. South of the road I noticed a > large open area with a lone cross. The ground was dimpled like a very large > golfball and there were signs that the whole area had been overturned not > all that long ago. I said, "What's that area?" He said, "sweet soil," and > then went on to explain that it was a municipal potter's field for Hoboken > that was periodically plowed under to allow for more burials. He went on to > explain further that if the people that I was looking for were there - that > it was a lost cause. The records for that area were missing and headstones, > if any, were plowed under. > > I never did find what I was looking for. Several other people have told of > similar stories. > > Some of us have speculated, considering Hudson County's rich and long > tradition of political patronage and graft, that the bad records may have > been intentional. I can just imagine a former cemetery superintendent > re-selling burial plots and dumping the bodies in the potter's field. > > In my case, the existing records, like the census, seem to indicate that the > family should have been able to afford a proper burial. I guess I'll never > know. And it looks like some things haven't changed at Hoboken Cemetery. Oh, > we didn't know somebody was down there already! If I had to guess - I think > I'd say that there were hundreds of bodies already interred where the > Turnpike Authority hoped to rebury the dis-interred remains from their own > potter's field. > > I hope the cemetery didn't truck out of the confines of the cemetery any of > the dirt displaced by the new concrete burial vaults. > > Jim Brady > brady.j@att.net > > > ==== NY-HUDSONRV Mailing List ==== > The NY-HudsonRV Mailing List Website > http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/HudsonRV/ > Site good for unsubbing, changing subscription, archives, links, etc. > >