African Burying Ground

African Burying Ground (HM1SRS)

Location: Bedminster Township, NJ 07921 Somerset County
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Country: United States of America
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N 40° 41.003', W 74° 38.901'

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Inscription

1801

On June 22, 1801, three African American Men - one free Negro and two slaves - purchased one tenth on an acre of land from Aaron Melick for the sum of three dollars to establish a burying ground for the "Black people of the Neighborhood." This is the earliest known purchase of land by slaves for burials in New Jersey. The free Negro's name was Robert Aaron, a local bee keeper, and the two slaves were Aaron Melick's Robert and Aaron Van Doren's Yaff.

The burying ground is one square chain (66" x 66") -bounded on the west by Hillside Avenue. In the 1889 book "The Story of an Old Farm," Andrew D. Melick, Jr. refers to the site as "Gods Acre".
Details
HM NumberHM1SRS
Tags
Year Placed2016
Placed ByTownship of Bedminster
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, June 24th, 2016 at 9:02am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18T E 529715 N 4503670
Decimal Degrees40.68338333, -74.64835000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 40° 41.003', W 74° 38.901'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds40° 41' 0.18" N, 74° 38' 54.06" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)908
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling North
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 134-142 Hillside Ave, Bedminster Township NJ 07921, US
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