Dear Editor:
I have been reading with interest the series of well written articles by Al Sullivan about the old cemetery located in the path of a proposed exit ramp at the new Allied Junction rail station. It seems that the solution is not easy and has become a matter of debate. Surely respect for those buried there over the course of many years should be given a great deal of consideration, without regard to the fact that not many there can be identified. It seems that identification is a large part of the issue under consideration. Add to that the issue of one individual whom you identify as a Mr. Patrick Andriani. As the article points out Mr. Andriani has been searching for answers for several decades and his efforts should be commended.
To put the issue in the proper perspective, the question is not “Should we respect the dead at that site?” since clearly they have for far too long been completely and utterly disrespected by government on a State level, a County level and perhaps to a small degree on the local level!!! The fact that most people in Secaucus were not even aware that anyone was ever buried there points that out. The correct question to ask in my opinion is “What is the best way to both respect those dead while at the same time doing the right thing for people who might be relatives, and still trying to not stand in the way of progress and the needs of the living?” As the site has for so long been neglected the thought of viewing it as a legitimate cemetery has long since expired. Still it is a fact that it is a place of human burial which needs to be addressed. You cannot simply pave over the dead and place a little memorial at some location!
My own thought is that the agencies and corporations both public and private such as the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and Allied Junction which will benefit financially by the construction of that ramp, along with the State of New Jersey and the County of Hudson should incur the expense of the “total and complete” relocation of that cemetery. It should be relocated to a more reasonable site that does not interfere with the construction of the proposed ramp. At the same time I feel that it should remain in Secaucus as it is a historical part of the town. I would suggest the consideration of a location within the area being developed as Mill Point Park on the Northern tip of the town. The site could become a part of the park with a dignified burial ground with appropriate memorial. Surely this would be a more pleasing site than the center of a rail yard or below the New Jersey Turnpike.
Forensic D.N.A. tests could be conducted which would make it possible for anyone seeking an ancestor to at long last identify that individual. It would seem that such a forensic D.N.A. match could be the answer that Mr. Andriani and others seek. At the same time it might be a unique opportunity for some major university science department to conduct some research which might be otherwise unthinkable, in order to learn some information about who we as a people were from a clinical scientific perspective. That information might even prove valuable in some area of modern healthcare. At the least it would give us a good look at what the people who came to Hudson County were like. It could provide a valuable source of information about the history of the area providing a legacy of those forgotten dead. It could be done on a clinical scientific level while at the same time respecting those dead. In any event, they certainly have not been respected up to this point in time. It is simply a matter of seeking the best and fairest solution for all interested parties. I shall address the issue of the old and forgotten Secaucus “Slave Cemetery” which also might have been destroyed as a result of the New Jersey Turnpike in a future letter.
Michael Seyfried