OHHANCOC-L Archives

From:
Subject: Cemeteries
Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 12:52:02 EDT

This came from another lister that passed it on. I think it would be a
wonderful idea for our local cemeteries!!!

> This is yet another article from The Star Ledger of
> June 7, 2001.  I'll was only going to give you the
> relevant parts as I don't feel like typing it all out
> but as I began I decided it was ALL relevant!  It was
> written by Ed Johnson.
>
> HISTORICAL GROUP AND SHERIFF'S OFFICE TEAM UP TO
> PRESERVE COUNTIES' PAST
>
> At first glance, petty lawbreakers and amateur
> historians wouldn't seem to have a lot in common.  In
> Sussex and Somerset counties, they're working side by
> side.
>
> In Sussex County, inmates from the county jail help
> the local historical society preserve historic
> graveyards and in some cases make possible the
> cataloging of the genealogical data they contain.  In
> Somerset, juveniles who have committed minor offenses
> are involved.
>
> For Bob Longcore, president of the Sussex County
> Historical Society, it began when he decided to search
> out his own roots.
>
> "I was appalled by the condition of the graves I
> found," he said.  He sought the help of the historical
> society and eventually hit upon the idea of prisoner
> labor.
>
> "It just worked out that our sheriff, Bob Untig, had
> started two programs, the Sheriff's Labor Assistance
> Program, or SLAP, and the Sheriff's Work Assistance
> Program, or SWAP," he explained.  "They said they were
> available to work in our communities, so I put
> together a slide show and went to see him."
>
> As it happened, the sheriff was looking for a way to
> put his prisoners to work without running afoul of
> local labor unions or workers.
>
> "We were looking for the kind of work that had not
> been done before, or would not be done if our program
> wasn't there," Untig said.  "Bob came with his
> proposal and it was an excellent opportunity to give
> the inmates a chance to be part of the solution
> instead of the problem.  A lot of them began to show
> pride in being a part of something that was restoring
> history.  As far as I'm concerned, that's
> rehabilitation."
>
> It's truly the grunt work of history, Longcore said.
> "We're not talking about weed whackers and lawn
> mowers," he added.  "Clearing these cemeteries
> required chainsaws."  In addition to restoring
> cemeteries, both the prisoners and the officers who
> guarded them became interested in learning more.
>
> "
> At least five of the officers have become dedicated
> genealogists and many of the inmates had the chance to
> research names they saw and find a part of their
> personal history.  Some actually made phone calls to
> relatives and came up with information I could never
> have found." Longcore said.
>
> In Somerset County, Allan P. Duncan heads the Station
> House Adjustment Program, which provides a nonjudicial
> avenue for young people who have committed minor
> offenses.
>
> "The program allows the police to send young offenders
> to us for community service," he explained.  "We
> decided to do something creative.  Most of the time
> community service is just picking up trash along the
> roadsides.  We wanted to do something that would be
> worthwhile and interesting."
>
> A suggestion came from some county park rangers who
> mentioned an old cemetery that had been abandoned for
> more than 100 years.
>
> "It was completely overgrown," Duncan said. "There
> were tombstones from the 1700s, they were broken and
> covered in mud.  I was completely blown away.  I just
> fell in love with the place."
>
> Working Saturdays between 9 am and 2 pm, Duncan and his
> team of eight to 10 charges began chopping, clearing
> and recording what they found.  Using video cameras
> and digital photography, they began to record a
> previously unknown history of Somerset County's early
> settlers.
>
> Technical help came from Hank Smith of the Somerset
> County Historical Society.  "He came out to guide us,"
> Duncan explained.  "He taught us to never, never move
> a stone, how to properly transcribe information and
> how to do rubbings."
>
> The work isn't easy. "When I say the area is
> overgrown, I mean in many of these cemeteries you
> can't even see the stones.  In one place we had over
> 200 trees to cut," he said.  "But the history we
> learned.  I never knew that Somerset County was second
> only to Bergen County in the number of slaves we had
> here.  The kids were fascinated by the old stories and
> the old histories.  They asked how come they never
> learned this in school."
>
> They've done eight cemeteries so far, Duncan said, but
> the work may stop there.  In September the federal
> grant that funds the program will run out.  Whether it
> will be renewed is an open question, he said.  Duncan
> wonders what impact that will have on the youth.
>
> "A lot of them learned a new respect for these
> places," he said.  "It's the kind of thing that
> prevents vandalism."
>

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