Carol Personette Comfort

Old Burying Ground, Cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church: Orange, Essex County, New Jersey Carol Personette Comfort

This is an extensive collection of inscriptions and available records for over 1,000 persons reported to have been interred at the historic Old Burying Ground, the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church of Orange, Essex County, New Jersey. This compilation includes the complete inscriptions found in the unpublished handwritten report of 1847; transcriptions of visitation reports and obscure records from 1723 through 1888 and a brief history of the Old Burying Ground. Over 100 men who served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War are designated. Burials and data of ?free colored? families have been included. The interments are conveniently listed in alphabetical order by last name. Relevant notes have been added: birth dates, parentage, spouses, wills and human interest items. The historic Old Burying Ground was in use at least as early as 1723. Beginning as the ?Mountain Society,? the church served the Oranges and surrounding communities for over three hundred years. The present church edifice replaced an earlier church building destroyed by fire in 1927. Sadly, for economic reasons, the First Presbyterian Church closed its doors in 2010 and its future is unknown at this time.