Harleigh Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery[1] located in both Collingswood and Camden, New Jersey. Harleigh Cemetery and Crematorium is one of the oldest cemeteries in New Jersey.[citation needed] It was named Camden County Veterans Cemetery in 2007. The cemetery covers over 130 acres (0.53 km2) of lush mature grounds situated on the Cooper River, a short drive from Philadelphia.[2] The cemetery has been listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places since 1995 (as ID #2829).[3]
| Harleigh Cemetery | |
|---|---|
  Location of Harleigh Cemetery in Camden County, New Jersey | |
| Location | Camden, New Jersey and Collingswood, New Jersey |
| Coordinates | 39°55′26″N 75°5′23″W / 39.92389°N 75.08972°W |
| Area | 130 acres (0.53 km2) |
| Built | 1885 |
Notable burials
edit- David Baird Sr. (1839–1927), United States Senator from New Jersey from 1918–1919.[4]
- David Baird Jr. (1881–1955), United States Senator from New Jersey from 1929–1930.[5]
- Henry Charlton Beck (1902–1965), journalist, folklorist, author of a series of books about New Jersey history and forgotten towns
- Ella Reeve Bloor (1862–1951), radical labor organizer.[6]
- William J. Browning (1850–1920), represented New Jersey's 1st congressional district from 1911–1920.[7]
- Albert E. Burling (1891–1960), Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1947 to 1960.
- George C. Burling (1834–1885), Union Army officer during the American Civil War, serving mostly as Colonel and commander of the 6th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry.
- Ralph W. E. Donges (1875–1974), Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, 1930 t0 1948
- Carl McIntire (1906–2002), founder of and minister in the Bible Presbyterian Church.
- Charlie Rice (1920–2018), jazz drummer[8]
- William Joyce Sewell (1835–1901), United States Senator from New Jersey from 1881–1887 and 1895–1901.[9]
- John F. Starr (1818–1904), United States Senator from New Jersey from 1863–1867.[10]
- Nick Virgilio (1928–1989), haiku poet.[11]
- Joseph F. Wallworth (1876–1933), President of the New Jersey Senate[12]
- Walt Whitman (1819–1892), Essayist and Poet.[13][14][15]
- Charles A. Wolverton (1880–1969), represented New Jersey's 1st congressional district from 1927–1959.[16]
References
edit- ^ Linden, Blanche M.G. (2007). Silent City on a Hill: Picturesque Landscapes of Memory and Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 295. ISBN 978-1-55849-571-5. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "Exploring the Architecture and Rituals of Nineteenth-Century Mourning". Historic Camden County. October 28, 2002. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
The Society's headquarters in Parkside is located just a stone's throw from the heavily wooded grounds of the 117-year-old Harleigh Cemetery and the two facilities cooperated in the day's activities. "Death records and the social rituals surrounding death are among history's most important touchstones," said Society president Richard Pillatt. "And here at Harleigh, in Camden County, we have an extraordinary example of a Victorian-era garden cemetery that was actually designed as a park – a place of public entertainment."
- ^ New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places: Camden County Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Historic Preservation Office, last updated August 6, 2007. Accessed August 26, 2007.
- ^ David Baird, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 16, 2007.
- ^ David Baird, Jr., Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 16, 2007.
- ^ "Rites For Mother Bloor; Funeral of Communist Leader Held in St. Nicholas Arena", The New York Times, August 15, 1951, p. 24. "Her body will be taken today to the Harleigh Cemetery, Camden, NJ ..."
- ^ William John Browning, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 16, 2007.
- ^ Charles R. Rice
- ^ William Joyce Sewell, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 16, 2007.
- ^ John Farson Starr, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 16, 2007.
- ^ Campbell, Douglas A. "Memorial Dedicated To Camden Poet Friends Of Nick Virgilio Raised Money For The Monument. Yesterday They Read Haiku At His Grave.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 24, 1991, p. B01. Accessed September 24, 2007. "Haiku, the poetry Nick Virgilio wrote, is filled with imagery. Yesterday at Camden's Harleigh Cemetery where, under heavy skies, a Virgilio memorial was dedicated by 100 friends, the images abounded."
- ^ "Leaders in Tribute to J. F. Wallworth". The Morning Post. Vol. 58, no. 176. Camden, N.J. 23 August 1933. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Walt Whitman House Archived 2007-07-03 at the Wayback Machine, Visit South Jersey. Accessed August 16, 2007. "Not far from the poet's house is the historic Harleigh Cemetery, his final resting place."
- ^ "Sometimes the Grave Is a Fine and Public Place". New York Times. March 28, 2004.
New Jersey is, indeed, a home of poets. Walt Whitman's tomb is nestled in a wooded grove in the Harleigh Cemetery in Camden. Joyce Kilmer is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in New Brunswick, not far from the New Jersey Turnpike rest stop named in his honor. Allen Ginsberg may not yet have a rest stop, but the Beat Generation author of Howl is resting at B'Nai Israel Cemetery in Newark.
- ^ "I Hear America Raking. My Strange Visit to Spiff Up Walt Whitman's Camden, N.J., Tomb". The Washington Post. September 7, 1997. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
The cost of the crypt was $4,000 – not an insubstantial amount, considering Whitman's house in Camden was worth $1,750. On the day of the poet's funeral in March 1892, his body was taken by carriage two miles (3 km) from his home at 328 Mickle Blvd. to Harleigh Cemetery, where 4,000 people gathered for a jubilant celebration of his life. The abandoned building across from Harleigh Cemetery seems to represent most of Camden: cement, quiet and somewhat desolate. However, the cemetery – by Camden standards – is tempting. At first glance, Harleigh – oddly enough, seeing that it's a cemetery – is surprisingly alive. The grass, although uneven, is green, and many of the trees are full and robust. Two birch trees near Whitman's crypt provide ample shade from the sun as Neil and I begin our work under a summer-blue sky.
- ^ Charles Anderson Wolverton, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 16, 2007.
