1800s Slave Cemetery, Hidden In Mahwah Woods, Is Restored By Boy Scout And Volunteers

MAHWAH, NJ — Local Boy Scout Peter Kaya Gretchikha has teamed up with the Mahwah Historic Preservation Commission to restore an abandoned slave cemetery that may date to the late 1700s, the Commission said.

“We are so grateful when Scouts work with us on preservation projects which are so valuable for the community," said Anne Powley, the chair of the Commission.

Hidden among the trees just off of Ramapo Valley Road, perched above the Ramapo River, is a low rock wall bordering at least 25 unmarked slabs of stone. There are several other graves marked in a separate area, believed to be for people of mixed race.

"Local tradition states this land was used as a cemetery for slaves, most likely those of the Hopper Family, which owned the adjacent house and property in the late 1700 [to] early 1800s," the Commssion said. "The wealthy Hopper Family had its own cemetery marked with elaborately engraved stones and large obelisks, closer to the main house."

The slabs of stone on the 40 x 100 foot plot of land are sinking into the earth, the Commission said.

Traditionally, the burial sites for free and enslaved Africans were kept separate from the families who owned the land.

“I knew it would not be easy to find volunteers to do the grueling work of hiking through a literal jungle to clear decades of overgrown brush, reset sections of crumbling rock wall, and document the site," said Powley. "Thankfully Peter was genuinely interested in the history, and when he agreed to take this on as his Eagle Project, we were just thrilled!”

Gretchikha said, “I think that recognizing Mahwah’s history is very important. Most Mahwah residents probably don’t know that slaves existed in Mahwah, and I hope my project can spread awareness."

The Scout, who's also an aspiring engineer, said he used his engineering principles to repair sections of the rock wall.

Gretchikha recruited 14 volunteers, and they spent more than 70 hours restoring the site in the heat of summer.

He's a member of Mahwah Boy Scout Troop 50, which recently celebrated its 100th Anniversary. Many other Eagle Scouts have graduated from the troop, the Historic Commission noted.

Gretchikha recruited Michael Kolenut of Lincoln Landscaping, who donated his time to help clear a path to the site and advise on how to safely remove the overgrown brush without damaging the graves, the Commission said.

Kolenut said, “This hallowed ground is where men and women have toiled their whole life, only to be buried behind the white cemetery with a simple boulder to mark their lives."

He added, "I am proud of the Scout for cleaning up the area, right in Mahwah’s backyard. If visiting, pay your respects.”

Gretchikha documented the surviving stones and made a map of the area so it can be located more easily.

but the Commission is not ready to share the map with the public yet.

“We have been hesitant to publicize this project at all because it is a sensitive site and we don’t want to risk it being damaged,” said Powley.

It is also not easy to access, she noted. Someone would have to cross private Ramapo College property to access it.

“I think one reason it has survived all these years is its remote location," she said, "and our sincere hope is for it to remain undisturbed.”

Ramapo College allowed the volunteers and contractors to access the site, she said.

“I am ashamed to admit I knew very little about the history of slavery in New Jersey until we started this and another cemetery project just recently,” Powley said.

The 1979 book "From Pioneer Settlement to Suburb” lists some of the slave holding families in
the area, the Commission noted.

The commission noted that because there are more than a dozen of these families, "It is likely that other slave cemeteries exist in town, but the Commission is only aware of this one."

Marked Graves For Those Of Mixed Heritage

The cemetery contains 25 to 30 small, unmarked, rough-cut stones that indicate burial sites, the Commission said. But besides these, there are three mid-to-late 1800 marked stones.

"Two are engraved granite slabs with pointed tops that belong to the Harrison family, who were likely related to Samuel Jennings, whose grave is marked by a marble crucifix," the Commission noted. "Jennings has been identified as being from a 'Mountain family,' referring to a mixed-race community that lived in the Stag Hill area of Mahwah."

Jennings worked on Henry O. Havemeyer’s Mountainside Farm, which is now Ramapo College land, the Commission said.

"So it can be inferred that this cemetery was used for the burials of slaves, and later for the burial of local workers of black or of mixed heritage," they noted.

According to the U.S Census data from 1880, the Commission said, Samuel Jennings was born in New Jersey in 1816, more than a decade after NJ’s Gradual Abolition Act of 1804. The Act said that any child born of slave parents would have to remain a servant of his or her mother's owner until the child reached the age of 25 if male, or 21 if female.

"With average life expectancy only 40 years at the time, they were condemned to spending more than half of it in slavery," noted the commission, saying that the act protected the property owners more than it protected slaves.

"Mr. Jennings’ obligation as a servant would not have expired until around 1840. And though he was the son of one of Andrew Hopper's slaves, he was forced to work as a 'free' servant of the Henry B. Hagerman family, which purchased Hopper's property in 1814," the Commission said.

Ramapo Students Created Plaque

The Commission said that other people helped preserve the site over the years. Former Ramapo College Adjunct Professor Jeff Williamson led students in some restoration work a decade ago, they said.

The professor helped create and install a plaque "so that anyone who finds
themselves in this sacred space will know its history," the Commission said.

The plaque reads:

We hereby honor those whose names and stories have been lost. Buried here are those who were black slaves, freedmen and workers of the 1700s-1800s.

The back area is assumed to be the burial site of slaves or freedmen buried without markers, the Commission said. Those buried there were most likely of Afro-Dutch and possibly Ramapough Indian descent, the said.

Marked Graves Include:

• Joseph Harrison, 1850, 3 children, ages 2, 3, 10 of York & Jane Harrison (a known freed family of the 1800s)
• Samuel Jennings (worked for the Havemeyer family as a freed man in the 1800s)

Bergen Had Most Slaves In The State

New Jersey was the last northern state to abolish slavery, the Commission said.

By 1800, 20 percent of Bergen County’s population were slaves, the highest of any of the counties in NJ. More information can be found here.

"It was not until the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865—which New Jersey reluctantly ratified in January of 1866—that the remaining slaves in the state were finally freed," the Commission said.

“This is why the Historic Preservation Commission exists – to preserve these physical remnants
of our history and to share their story with the community," Powley noted. “I hope it gives readers
a chance to reflect and learn.”

The Mahwah Township Historic Preservation Commission is part of municipal government. It
consists of an 11-member volunteer board, appointed by the mayor, "to protect the community's architectural, archaeological and cultural heritage by preserving historic cemeteries, objects, sites, and structures."

To volunteer, contact Historic@MahwahTwp.org. For more information, visit www.MahwahTwp.org and follow them on Facebook @MahwahHistoricPreservation Commission.