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Posting updates about our projects here on the website is sometimes a bit
technically cumbersome, so we have created a web blog as a quicker, easier
method for posting! As of January 1, 2006, all our updates will be found at this link:
CBH Newsblog.
8/21/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Stephanie and Gordon have completed their
field survey of the 41 folk grave markers contained in the Calvin Magyar Reformed
Church cemetery in Woodbridge.
7/3/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Gordon and Stephanie have completed their
field survey of the 33 folk grave markers in the Ukrainian Church of the Holy
Redeemer cemetery in Woodbridge.
6/19/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Stephanie and Gordon have completed their
survey of the St. James Cemetery in Woodbridge! They recorded 253 markers over
a fourteen day period.
6/4/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Stephanie and Gordon were up in northern New
Jersey today and decided to stop off at some cemeteries in Warren County to see if there
were any folk markers for later surveys. We looked at both Presbyterian and Methodist
cemeteries and found only three. There is not as great of a Catholic community in that
region, but one Catholic cemetery we did find contained three (possibly more) - including a
beautiful folk-style sculpted crucifix bound by concrete to a metal pipe! This does indeed
appear to be a stronger tradition among Catholic communities than other groups.
5/22/05 (Parker) Gordon gave his presentation on the life of James Parker at East Jersey
Olde Town to about 20 people. It was quite well-received despite technical difficulties forcing
him to abandon his Powerpoint show. Thanks to all of you who came out!
4/10/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey)- With the nice weather this weekend, we were able to
do some more survey work at St. James Cemetery in Woodbridge and have reached the 200
markers mark! Further, we have decided to extend our survey to include ALL folk markers
between the years 1900 and 2000.
3/27/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Gordon and Stephanie did some "recon" work by
visiting several cemeteries in New Brunswick, South Brunswick and East Brunswick,
identifying several we will need to return to as they have some very interesting folk grave
markers. Also, Gordon has been in contact with St. James Church in Woodbridge in an effort
to fill in the gaps in our data where markers had no inscriptions or were illegible.
2/23/05 (Parker) - Gordon is exploring the possibility that the Rev. Johnathan Odell may
have tended to the dying James Parker in Burlington, NJ in 1770. Odell was a surgeon in the
British army before becoming the Anglican minister at Burlington's St. Mary's. He started up
with medicine again around the time Parker would have been on the doorstep of Joseph
Hollingshead, so he could have tended to his physical needs as a doctor as well as to his
spiritual ones, perhaps giving the last rights. Odell would go on to act as a go-between for
Benedict Arnold and Major John Andre!
2/23/05 (General) - Added link on the James Parker page to talk about the mystery of where
NJ's first print shop was located.
2/10/05 (General) - Gordon is involved in a restoration project through his amateur
astronomy club, Amateur Astronomers, Inc. in Cranford, NJ. In the last 1960s New Jersey's
Rodger Tuthill built an amazing telescope which sat in a towable trailer. He hauled it all over
the country to various astronomy events. When he passed away in 2000, his family donated
the instrument to the United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey. The UACNJ and AAI are working
together to restore this unique instrument (it had sat outside for a while when he became ill
and needs some work) so that it once again can be used to share the wonders of the night
sky with the public!
12/29/04 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Over the Christmas weekend, Gordon began to
work with the data Stephanie and he collected from St. James Cemetery (see 12/5/04 entry
below). There are huge gaps in the data because the majority of folk markers do not have
inscriptions. Other are illegible or only have partial information. Out of the 187 markers
surveyed thus far, only about 45 have useful data. We hope to fill in these gaps by examining
the cemetery records over the winter when it's too cold to survey. Nevertheless, working with
the data we do have allows us to establish a methodology for the future.
As we suspected, the majority of markers so far are for children between ages >1 and 2
years old. When the number of markers was plotted against the years, two peaks emerged.
One was around 1914-1915 and a shallower one was found in the later 1920s. It is possible
that this will change with more data, but it is possible that this reflects a local event, such as
an outbreak of illness.
12/5/04 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - We've surveyed 187 folk grave markers at the St.
James Cemetery in Woodbridge. We've completed the entire southern side and begun on the
middle section.
technically cumbersome, so we have created a web blog as a quicker, easier
method for posting! As of January 1, 2006, all our updates will be found at this link:
CBH Newsblog.
8/21/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Stephanie and Gordon have completed their
field survey of the 41 folk grave markers contained in the Calvin Magyar Reformed
Church cemetery in Woodbridge.
7/3/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Gordon and Stephanie have completed their
field survey of the 33 folk grave markers in the Ukrainian Church of the Holy
Redeemer cemetery in Woodbridge.
6/19/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Stephanie and Gordon have completed their
survey of the St. James Cemetery in Woodbridge! They recorded 253 markers over
a fourteen day period.
6/4/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Stephanie and Gordon were up in northern New
Jersey today and decided to stop off at some cemeteries in Warren County to see if there
were any folk markers for later surveys. We looked at both Presbyterian and Methodist
cemeteries and found only three. There is not as great of a Catholic community in that
region, but one Catholic cemetery we did find contained three (possibly more) - including a
beautiful folk-style sculpted crucifix bound by concrete to a metal pipe! This does indeed
appear to be a stronger tradition among Catholic communities than other groups.
5/22/05 (Parker) Gordon gave his presentation on the life of James Parker at East Jersey
Olde Town to about 20 people. It was quite well-received despite technical difficulties forcing
him to abandon his Powerpoint show. Thanks to all of you who came out!
4/10/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey)- With the nice weather this weekend, we were able to
do some more survey work at St. James Cemetery in Woodbridge and have reached the 200
markers mark! Further, we have decided to extend our survey to include ALL folk markers
between the years 1900 and 2000.
3/27/05 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Gordon and Stephanie did some "recon" work by
visiting several cemeteries in New Brunswick, South Brunswick and East Brunswick,
identifying several we will need to return to as they have some very interesting folk grave
markers. Also, Gordon has been in contact with St. James Church in Woodbridge in an effort
to fill in the gaps in our data where markers had no inscriptions or were illegible.
2/23/05 (Parker) - Gordon is exploring the possibility that the Rev. Johnathan Odell may
have tended to the dying James Parker in Burlington, NJ in 1770. Odell was a surgeon in the
British army before becoming the Anglican minister at Burlington's St. Mary's. He started up
with medicine again around the time Parker would have been on the doorstep of Joseph
Hollingshead, so he could have tended to his physical needs as a doctor as well as to his
spiritual ones, perhaps giving the last rights. Odell would go on to act as a go-between for
Benedict Arnold and Major John Andre!
2/23/05 (General) - Added link on the James Parker page to talk about the mystery of where
NJ's first print shop was located.
2/10/05 (General) - Gordon is involved in a restoration project through his amateur
astronomy club, Amateur Astronomers, Inc. in Cranford, NJ. In the last 1960s New Jersey's
Rodger Tuthill built an amazing telescope which sat in a towable trailer. He hauled it all over
the country to various astronomy events. When he passed away in 2000, his family donated
the instrument to the United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey. The UACNJ and AAI are working
together to restore this unique instrument (it had sat outside for a while when he became ill
and needs some work) so that it once again can be used to share the wonders of the night
sky with the public!
12/29/04 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - Over the Christmas weekend, Gordon began to
work with the data Stephanie and he collected from St. James Cemetery (see 12/5/04 entry
below). There are huge gaps in the data because the majority of folk markers do not have
inscriptions. Other are illegible or only have partial information. Out of the 187 markers
surveyed thus far, only about 45 have useful data. We hope to fill in these gaps by examining
the cemetery records over the winter when it's too cold to survey. Nevertheless, working with
the data we do have allows us to establish a methodology for the future.
As we suspected, the majority of markers so far are for children between ages >1 and 2
years old. When the number of markers was plotted against the years, two peaks emerged.
One was around 1914-1915 and a shallower one was found in the later 1920s. It is possible
that this will change with more data, but it is possible that this reflects a local event, such as
an outbreak of illness.
12/5/04 (Folk Grave Marker Survey) - We've surveyed 187 folk grave markers at the St.
James Cemetery in Woodbridge. We've completed the entire southern side and begun on the
middle section.
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