NEWARK, NEW JERSEY
Mount Pleasant Cemetery is a large Victorian-era cemetery built in 1844 for the wealthy and high society of Newark. It is located on the west bank of the Passaic River, in Newark's Broadway neighborhood. Walking through this garden cemetery is a trip back in time.
Modeled after the popular cemeteries of the time, such as Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, it was initially a 14.5 acre parcel, laid out in winding carriage avenues in a "serpentine" pattern. The snakelike street patterns provided access to the 300 square foot burial plots.
Unlike dark gloomy cemeteries of the past , Mt. Pleasant was laid out with a serene peaceful atmosphere. People would come from near and far to spend the day, walking through the landscaped paths and picnicking in the sea of tombstones. Previously, cemeteries were confined in the premises of church properties, often becoming cramped and overcrowded.
The idea was envisioned by Horace Baldwin, a jeweler in Newark NJ, for his father's firm, BALDWIN & Co.. He envisioned a resting place on the outskirts of the city, away from the bustle of downtown Newark. One could visit the deceased in a less cluttered and more sanitary environment.
Baldwin & Company Source: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
The first person buried at the cemetery was Elizabeth Jacques, a young lady who died when she was just thirty years old. Ever since then, 7,000 burials have taken place. Many noteable Newark residents were laid to there final rest here.
My favorite story was that of Henry William Herbert, a brilliant yet morbid writer from England who went by the pen name Frank N. Forrester. And his story has a lot to do with the boundaries of the cemetery property. His father purchased and erected a home on what is now the northeast side of the cemetery which he called “The Cedars”. Forrester had married a beautiful woman named Susan Barker Herbert and had a son who was sent off for schooling in England but had never returned. His wife passed away in 1848.
Henry William Herbert Source:wikipedia
He became miserable after her passing and more secluded. It is said he had a basket containing items from his wedding day, which he'd take out and touch while he cried. He fell deeper and deeper into a isolated and a dark depression while mourning her loss.
His only companionship were his dogs .He was very vain and arrogant, which did not gain him many friends. He loved to pose and in his younger years wore a walrus mustache and walked down the streets of New York in a checked sport suit, and with jack boots and heavy spurs on his feet. His temper tantrums and torrid love affairs were the gossip of the town.
10 years later, in the winter of 1858, there were ongoing mobs in the street during labor riots. During one of the uprisings, a woman, Adela Budlong, was assaulted in the street and Herbert came to her rescue. She soon married him and came to his home at “The Cedars”. She left him 3 months later on the grounds of cruelty. He became heartbroken and depressed. He invited a group of friends to a grand dinner to “eat, drink, and see him shoot himself dead before a large mirror” on May 6 1858. Only one showed. Around 2am, he excused himself to another room. Staring into a mirror, he shot himself, staggered into the next room and exclaimed, “I told you I'd do it, I loved her”. He collapsed and died. His estate soon became abandoned and superstition arose that the place was haunted. Because of its proximity to the cemetery, the property was hard to sell. It soon fell victim to a fire and the place was destroyed. The land of the estate was incorporated into the cemetery.
He was buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in an unmarked grave. 18 years later friends bought a stone, bearing the word ‘Infelicissimus,’ which means the unlucky or sad in Latin.
His only companionship were his dogs .He was very vain and arrogant, which did not gain him many friends. He loved to pose and in his younger years wore a walrus mustache and walked down the streets of New York in a checked sport suit, and with jack boots and heavy spurs on his feet. His temper tantrums and torrid love affairs were the gossip of the town.
10 years later, in the winter of 1858, there were ongoing mobs in the street during labor riots. During one of the uprisings, a woman, Adela Budlong, was assaulted in the street and Herbert came to her rescue. She soon married him and came to his home at “The Cedars”. She left him 3 months later on the grounds of cruelty. He became heartbroken and depressed. He invited a group of friends to a grand dinner to “eat, drink, and see him shoot himself dead before a large mirror” on May 6 1858. Only one showed. Around 2am, he excused himself to another room. Staring into a mirror, he shot himself, staggered into the next room and exclaimed, “I told you I'd do it, I loved her”. He collapsed and died. His estate soon became abandoned and superstition arose that the place was haunted. Because of its proximity to the cemetery, the property was hard to sell. It soon fell victim to a fire and the place was destroyed. The land of the estate was incorporated into the cemetery.
He was buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in an unmarked grave. 18 years later friends bought a stone, bearing the word ‘Infelicissimus,’ which means the unlucky or sad in Latin.
Source: Historic Newark; a collection of the facts & traditions about the most interesting sites, streets and buildings of the city; illustrated by reproductions of rare prints & old photographs.
One of my other favorite graves was that of a 10 year old Maud H. Munn, who died on New Year's Day in 1892. The daughter of Albert Courtlandt Munn, a banker, and his wife, the former Mary Sanford. She was stricken with Scarlet Fever and died just 8 days before her birthday. The monument was covered with a glass dome to protect it from the weather, but has been long broken and gone. Maud was a student at Professor L. F. Selaglo's Studio in Newark and had performed as a soloist dancer at Miner's Newark Theater just 6 months before she died unexpectedly.
I head to back of the cemetery near the Highway.
Alling Family
Above: In the far back of the cemetery are some very old tombstones. After some research, I found that in 1640, Roger Alling became the first member of the Allen/Alling family to arrive in America. He settled in New Haven, Connecticut, which was then known as Quinnipiac.
Roger Alling married Mary Nash, also of New Haven, and together they had 5 children. One of their sons, Samuel, moved to Newark, New Jersey in 1698. Samuel married Sarah Curry and together they had five children, including Samuel Alling who married Abigail Prudden . The Alling homestead was at the corner of Broad and Market Streets in Newark, New Jersey. The Alling men that lived in Newark were blacksmiths.
Albert Alling, the son of John and Sarah H. Alling, married Sarah Rebecca Camfield in 1832. Together they had two children, Frederick Augustus Alling and Mary Louisa Alling (b. 1840). Mary Louisa Alling married Charles W. Wheeler (b. 1836) in 1869.
Roger Alling married Mary Nash, also of New Haven, and together they had 5 children. One of their sons, Samuel, moved to Newark, New Jersey in 1698. Samuel married Sarah Curry and together they had five children, including Samuel Alling who married Abigail Prudden . The Alling homestead was at the corner of Broad and Market Streets in Newark, New Jersey. The Alling men that lived in Newark were blacksmiths.
Albert Alling, the son of John and Sarah H. Alling, married Sarah Rebecca Camfield in 1832. Together they had two children, Frederick Augustus Alling and Mary Louisa Alling (b. 1840). Mary Louisa Alling married Charles W. Wheeler (b. 1836) in 1869.
Kalisch
Kalisch was one of the leading spirits of the rabbinical conference held at Cleveland in 1855, and one of the editors of the "Minhag America" prayer-book. American rabbi and author; born Nov. 15, 1816, at Krotoschin. He studied theology, philosophy, and philology at the universities of Berlin, Breslau, and Prague. In consequence of giving public expression to his too liberal views, in poems and articles, he was compelled to leave Germany, and after staying for a short time in London he went to the United States.
Below: Some more photos of the eastern portion of the cemetery.
Below: Some more photos of the eastern portion of the cemetery.
Newark-born Mary Stilwell was the daughter of Nicholas Stilwell and Margaret Crane. At 16 she married the 24-year-old inventor after meeting him at the News Reporting Telegraph Company where she worked. But the happiness soon turned to sorrow as Edison chose his career over his new bride. Even on his wedding day, Edison returned to his laboratory after the ceremony to work on the stock ticker. It is rumored she died of a morphine overdose.
Below: First wife of Edison, Mary Stillwell.
Below: First wife of Edison, Mary Stillwell.
Part of me daydreams back to my story of the tormented poet after seeing the doghouse and remembering how he isolated himself with his dogs during his later years. Yet it is listed as the carriage house and stables.
Although, according to a 1926 Robinson's Map of Newark, the structure is listed as the sextons house. A sexton is the outdated term for the caretaker of a cemetery.
Eugene Vanderpool, the son of Mary and Oliver J. Hayes Vanderpool, was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1844. Eugene graduated from Princeton College in 1869 and soon after married Eleanor Banker Tiffany. The couple had three children; Mary Isabella, Loraine Eleanor, and Beach Wynant, who died after only a year. The Vanderpools lived at 22 Washington Street in Newark, New Jersey.
He was the President of the Newark Gas Light Company from 1869 until 1895. At the same time, he was President of the Orange Mountain Cable Company and an adviser to the Philadelphia gas plant. Vanderpool was also a director in the National Newark Banking Company, Howard Savings Institution and Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. He died at his home from appendicitis on July 12, 1903.
He was the President of the Newark Gas Light Company from 1869 until 1895. At the same time, he was President of the Orange Mountain Cable Company and an adviser to the Philadelphia gas plant. Vanderpool was also a director in the National Newark Banking Company, Howard Savings Institution and Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. He died at his home from appendicitis on July 12, 1903.
Vanderpool
Peter Ballantine was the founder of Patterson & Ballantine Brewing Company in 1840 and also played a major role in the history of Newark.
Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen; Source:Find a Grave
Frederick T. Frelinghuysen was an American lawyer and politician from New Jersey who served as a U.S. Senator and later as United States Secretary of State under President Chester A. Arthur. He died on May 20, 1885, aged 67, three months after retiring.
Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen
Edward Randolf Balbach owned a smelting plant in Newark, New Jersey during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was the first commercial electrolytic refinery in the United States. It closed in the 1920s and was the second largest metal processing enterprise in the United States.
Randolf Balbach
More Graves:
Dey
Census; Source: Mocavo
Above and Below: Seen in Mt. Pleasant
Eastwood
Edward Weston was a British-born American electrical engineer and industrialist who founded the Weston Electrical Instrument Company.
Source:Wikipedia
Weston
Odell
Ward
Ward
Governor Marcus L. Ward, Newark born and raised was elected the 21st governor of New Jersey in 1865. After that position, he served in Congress. He was also a very successful industrialist, owning a soap and candle making factory and utilized some of his empty factory and warehouse buildings during the civil war as a 1400 bed hospital.
The site of his mansion is now the Newark Museum and there is a memorial plaque dedicated to him in the Alice Ransom Dreyfuss Memorial Garden behind the museum.
The site of his mansion is now the Newark Museum and there is a memorial plaque dedicated to him in the Alice Ransom Dreyfuss Memorial Garden behind the museum.
Governor Ward Source: wikipedia
The Newark Firefighter’s Memorial is a tall obelisk with a statue of a firefighter on the top and surrounded by firemen's graves which is then surrounded by former Newark fire hydrants which are brightly painted red and green with yellow.
Merz
Hart
Hedges
John Fairfield Dryden, founder of the Prudential
John F. Dryden was known as the "father of industrial insurance". He was an American senator and businessman, the founder of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, the first company to issue industrial life insurance in the United States. He died in 1911 from pneumonia following removal of gall stones two weeks earlier.
John Fairfield Dryden
John F Dryden
P. Sanford Ross
In earlier times, bodies would be stored in the winter since the earth was too frozen to dig. They sometimes would be stored here.Technological advancements in excavation, embalming, and refrigeration have made the receiving vault an abandoned site or storage in most cemeteries.
Laura Gonzalez
