Hillside Cemetery of Samptown will be the first site in So. Plainfield to be awarded a
Historic Marker under an innovative project funded by the Middlesex County Board of
Chosen Freeholders. Local communities in Middlesex County were encouraged to
research and recommend local sites of historic interest. A preliminary request sent last
October by the South Plainfield Historical Society to the project coordinator (Middlesex
County Cultural and Heritage Commission) has met the criteria for historic merit. A
bronze marker will be placed in the Baptist cemetery on New Market Avenue in June.
Hillside Cemetery of Samptown is a link in the chain that forms the Crossroads of the
American Revolution and to the families that founded historic Piscataway Township in
1666. Burials at the cemetery pre-date the building of the local Baptist church by 100
years. There are two sections of the cemetery; the oldest section is distinguished by a
rise in the topography where burials most likely began in the 1680s.
The cemetery was initially used as a public burial ground. It was a last refuge for
paupers and travelers passing through the area when they died. Many of the graves
were set off by simple wooden markers that eventually disintegrated. The oldest legible
gravestone is that of Benjamin Hull, a judge who lived from 1693 to 1745. Among those
at rest are: 39 veterans of the Revolutionary War; 4 from the Pennsylvania Insurrection
of 1794 (Whiskey Rebellion); 4 from the War of 1812; 49 from the Civil War; and 1 from
the Spanish-American War (and all wars thereafter). Notable burials include: Sgt. John
LaTourette whose unit was called to active duty by President George Washington;
Private William Harris, a member of Capt. Carle�s Troop of Light Horses which helped to
locate and secure the boats that were used by George Washington in his famous
crossing of the Delaware River; Dr. Lewis Dunham who served 3 tours of duty as
surgeon to the Third Battalion of the New Jersey Line (Rev. War); Private William Ryno
who helped cover the retreat of the beaten Union Army after the first Battle of Bull Run;
a memorial stone to local resident, Private Hugh Downey of the 11th New Jersey, who
was captured during the Wilderness Campaign and died of the effects of exposure and
starvation at Andersonville; 1 slave and 1 modern-day native-American Indian (James
Revy).
The Quaker Meeting House that once stood in the vicinity of the P.A.L. has also
received approval for inclusion in the Historic Marker Project. A bronze plaque will be
erected in June, 2007. Other sites which have been nominated include the
Randolph-Brooklyn Grist Mill and the Nike Base. It may take a decade, but South
Plainfield will sooner or later have its fair share of historic designations.