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Historical society restoring Van Kirk Cemetery; Revolutionary War veterans among those buried there

5 min read
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Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Amwell Township Historical Society member Jack Reynolds, standing left, helps fellow members Katie Krocsko and Tom Miller unearth a headstone at VanKirk Cemetery. The cemetery is now partly owned by two members of the historical society, and the organization is restoring the site.

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Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

The headstone of Capt. John Hughes, who served during the Revolutionary War. He is buried at VanKirk Cemetery in Amwell Township.

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Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Katie Krocsko and Tom Miller examine a headstone found at VanKirk Cemetery.

The Amwell Township Historical Society has taken on a monumental mission: to restore VanKirk Cemetery.

Members of the organization have spent the past two months at the old family burial ground piecing together broken headstones, wiping dirt from faded markers, shoveling in search of plots, and clearing brush and dead trees.

“Some years ago, the Boy Scouts came in and cleared some of it, but it grew up again. It’s a worthwhile project,” said Katie Krocsko, a member of the historical society.

Tucked amid a swath of trees behind a compressor station off Johnson Road, VanKirk Cemetery is the final resting place for as many 74 men, women and children, including possibly six Revolutionary War veterans with ties to the township.

One of those veterans, William VanKirk, who died in February 1826 , was the great-grandfather of President Warren G. Harding.

Krocsko, who is piecing together the history of the ownership of the cemetery, said the property originally was owned by a member of the VanKirk family.

Over the years, the cemetery fell into disrepair. Tombstones were damaged by vandals and cows that once grazed on the property. Trees and brush overtook the site.

VanKirk Cemetery is not unusual. There are privately owned cemeteries across the United States that have become neglected and untended as families move away or property changes hands.  

VanKirk Cemetery lies on property now owned by Ray and Jon Day and Mark Tupta. The Days are members of the historical society, and when the group was considering a new project, the idea of restoring the cemetery was mentioned.

Saving and recreating the cemetery and the tombstones “is the right thing to do,” said Ray Day. “The people buried here deserve that.”

So far, the historical society has located 40 of the burial plots.

Krocsko used records from Citizens Library, a hand-drawn map from Beallsville Cemetery, and a list found in an old Amwell Township magazine to compile a map estimating how the cemetery plots were laid out and who is buried there.

Krocsko’s research also reveled that in addition to two confirmed Revolutionary War veterans – William Curry Sr., a lieutenant, and Capt. John Hughes – there likely are four others buried at the cemetery who served during the war.

The Sons of the American Revolution placed markers at the gravestones for Curry and Hughes, and the historical society is working to locate and place plaques at the sites of the other veterans.

It is believed the first burial there – Revolutionary War veteran Henry VanKirk – was in 1797, the last in 1877. Most of the tombstones date to the mid-1800s.

The society has enlisted the help of historic cemetery conservationist Robert Myers to guide them through the restoration.

Myers said restoring an old burial site like VanKirk Cemetery presents challenges, including the likelihood that “you will never really know the exact position” of the burial sites.

But, the stories of those buried there are a connection to the past, which makes finding the headstones significant.

“Lots of information on the headstone isn’t recorded anywhere else, and once those headstones are lost, you’ve lost that piece of history,” said Myers.

While some markers are unrecognizable, others are in good shape.

“A few are in doggone good shape, and some of the inscriptions are readable,” said historical society member Jack Reynolds. “Others are pretty well-worn.”

The digging at VanKirk cemetery unearthed a box tomb, a massive memorial structure that resembles a rectangle. John VanKirk is buried below the box tomb.

“It was all hand-carved and elaborate, and the stone carver engraved his own name on it,” pointed out Reynolds. “He was proud of his work.”

On a recent sunny day, fellow society member Tom Miller was shoveling carefully when he came across a headstone.

He got down on his hands and knees, and with assistance from Krocsko and Reynolds, pulled it from the ground.

“It’s always exciting when you find another stone,” said Krocsko. “Earlier today we found a stone, it was Samuel Llewellyn. Nothing was showing, it was completely buried. But we had found a footstone, and we thought there’s probably a headstone, too. Every time we find something, it’s like, ‘Woo hoo!'”

Two children are among those buried at VanKirk Cemetery, including a 1-year-old.

“It makes you kind of stop for a minute. You wonder how those babies died,” said Krocsko. “I’ve kind of been thinking about the stories of the people buried there, the lives they lived, how they ended up in Amwell Township.”

Day knows it will take several years to restore the cemetery.

“This is not something we’re going to get done any time soon,” said Day. “It’s going to be a process and it’s going to take time. But it needs to be done. This is the final resting place for the people here, and they deserve better than the condition it’s in.”

If anyone has information about the cemetery that can help the historical society account for those buried there, please contact Katie Krocsko at krocskok@gmail.com.

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