There is a tiny burying ground located on a plot of land across from the Delaware Township Municipal Building that is used during the summer by the Sergeantsville Farmers’ Market. It is hidden in a clump of trees, and very few people know of its existence.
Benjamin H. Ellicott’s Diary for May 1863 is full of very dramatic War News: Confederate incursions into western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the assault on Fredericksburg and the failures of General Hooker and the Army of the Potomac, the battles of Chancellorsville and Spotsylvania, the death of Stonewall Jackson, capture of British vessels by Federal gunboats enforcing the blockade of Charleston, and Grant’s continued assault on Vicksburg.
The following is the keynote speech I delivered on September 19, 2015 for the 2nd Annual Cemetery Seminar, sponsored by the Hunterdon Co. Historical Society and others. It is somewhat modified to make it more readable, less like a speech.
When writing about Pine Hill Cemetery recently, the name of John Lewis came up. This reminded me of a wonderful article written by Jonathan M. Hoppock back in 1905 about a mysterious character named Ticnor Lewis who lived not far from Pine Hill. It is one of Mr. Hoppock’s most colorful yarns, and one of his many stories of the early settlers in Amwell Township. This one is based entirely on folklore or family tradition. A bowl-full of salt is highly recommended.
April 1863 was another very difficult month for the country. The biggest news was “affairs at or around Vicksburg.”
Benjamin H. Ellicott’s diary, continued.1 See Ellicott’s Diary, January 1863 and Ellicott’s Diary, February 1863. The diary ends in August 1863. For the next five weeks, I will publish a month from the diary.
Pine Hill Cemetery is one of the most interesting of the old family burial grounds in Hunterdon County. I have written about it before, in an article that listed the known graves with some biographical information. But I had just scratched the surface; there is so much more to be said.
A difficult month in a difficult year. Benjamin H. Ellicott’s diary, continued, brings us close to the trials and tribulations of Americans in the middle of their Civil War.1 Previously, I omitted Ellicott’s comments on the weather, but this time I’ve decided to keep them; they seem to enhance the immediacy of time. It’s February, after all, not August.
