On
January 8, 2005 two knowledgeable friends, Wick and Mary Cloud Hollingshead, aided
me in locating the elusive Lippincott Cemetery in Clarksboro, N.J. Elusive, meaning
I had attempted several times to locate this family plot without success. I must
add here, that my search for this cemetery was spurred by an email sent to me
by one of the descendants of Restore Lippincott. Without Shirley's initial inquiry
about this cemetery plot, I would not have been as compelled to seek it out. She
herself made several trips to the site attempting to locate it.
On a
chilly day, with the Hollingsheads as my guide, I ventured out into the back woods
near Shady Lane Nursing Home (after letting local
staff know we were there), and came upon the plot, with the stone wall in great
disrepair. The small graveyard was greatly overgrown with weeds and brush. It
is in an out-of-the-way place, and not easily located. Where there was once open
land, is now a building and fenced in area, making access to the graveyard more
difficult, but not impossible.
According to the town's history, "On
the crest of a knoll on the northeast line of the farm, lies the Lippincott family
graveyard, enclosed by a neat stone wall. Within its quiet enclosure where the
perfume of wild flowers and the songs of thrush and the rest bird oftimes fill
the air with their sweetness, lies the remains of Restore Lippincott and some
twenty others of the family."
As
the town history indicates, there is still only a single marked grave, even though
there are others believed to be buried here. Besides Restore Lippincott and his
wife Deborah (Cooper), which of his family make up the twenty others mentioned
above, can only be guessed. The tombstone on Restore's grave is not an ancient
one, and it was probably created and placed many years after his death.
It
is documented that "the Lippincott family, however, instituted a small burial
ground across a valley, and on a rising hill in front and at some distance from
the mansion house, soon after it came into their possession, in which the interments
of the family from time to time were made; and the said William Lippincott before
mentioned, in his last will and testament directed the enclosure of the ground
by a good stone wall, which was carried out by the aforesaid Elizabeth Lippincott,
under the immediate supervision of the writer, and when the deed was made to the
county for the farm, this venerable little spot was reserved. The said Elizabeth
Lippincott in her last will (though not interred in said burying ground) bequeathed
a legacy sufficient to keep the same forever in repair."
Read
more about this Lippincott Family.
Click on any thumbnail photograph to see a larger picture
In
addition to the Lippincott graveyard, there is supposed to be
another small graveyard on the Lippincott estate (now owned by
the county as part of the Shady Lane complex). "William Gerrard,
in his deed to Restore Lippincott, dated the 26th of the 12th
month, 1755, as noticed in its place, reserves one-half acre of
land for a family burying ground forever, but where it is located,
or whether it ever was used as a burial place, none can tell,
as no traces thereof appear." [according to the land survey
of 1865]. Whether or not William Gerrard and his family used this
plot for burials is not known.
I am NOT going to link to Find-A-Grave since people there seem
to like stealing my copyrighted photographs.
Sources:
