Dear Editor:
There is a phrase that if you dig deep enough in some parts of this world you can strike it rich. This is not true at Laurel Hill in Secaucus, New Jersey. If you dig deep enough on this once thriving location of Hudson County Institutions you may strike the poor.
Since late October of this year I have been on a hunt to find the location of my third great grandfather’s final resting place. It is becoming a reality that I may never know where his remains are. There seems to be little information about his existence and even less information about the cemetery where he is buried. A newer part of the cemetery has plans to be moved for the Secaucus Interchange project by the Turnpike Authority. This section of cemetery holds those interned since the 1920’s thru the 1960’s and is mapped and documented. However, no maps seem to exist for those who were buried from 1880 in plot numbered 1 up to the 1920’s. The total number of those listed in the burial ledgers seems to be well over eight thousand!
The three burial ledgers which have been discovered tell the tale of the counties not so lucky people who were given a burial by the county. It does not tell us in any detail where they were buried. Lack of information and Hudson County support and care taking over the years has made the cemetery vanish into the land as the souls of all those who are buried there. They are forgotten by all except a handful that can look back knowing they had a relative buried at the cemetery and the few that know of its existence.
Soon the only well documented section of cemetery that now exists will be desecrated. The remains that are found will be disturbed and re-interred to another cemetery to be forgotten.
It would seem that over time Secaucus has been quietly trying to bury the cemeteries they once had into the past. Just as much respect has been shown to the Slave Cemetery and The Bale I. Smith Cemetery as these have also been long forgotten and one of them now has a warehouse built on top of it. What does Secaucus have against cemeteries? Is the price of progress more important than the history and respect of our forefathers?
I have been trying to inform the public the best I can with a web page that I had set up at www.graveinfo.com. With over eight thousand burials I am sure that there are more descendants still around who have kin buried here. Only a few have stepped forward to find out any information they can. I have also personally devoted my time in helping with their genealogical research when possible. To some this may just be another obstacle in the way of progress. To me it is progress that will be in the way of many people’s past.
Bill Hastings