Speer Cemetery
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1600s |
| Location | Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Country | United States |
Speer Cemetery is located on Vroom Street between Tuers and Bergen Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Slightly over one acre, the burial ground had been used by the De Mott family, early settlers to Bergen, New Netherland from the 1660s. Although it has been called the "oldest cemetery of European settlers in New Jersey," it is contemporary to that of the nearby Old Bergen Church. The earliest surviving gravemarker in the cemetery is dated 1756.
The cemetery is named for Abraham Speer, an undertaker and acting sexton for the church, who bought the land from the De Mott estate in 1857 and made it a public cemetery, selling burial plots for $16 each.
It was used as a potter's field during the nineteenth century. The absence of records makes it impossible to verify who and how many were buried in the cemetery over the years. Headstones indicate the burial of the veterans of the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War, and the Spanish–American War. Its last interments occurred during World War I.
Plans to construct a building on a lot adjacent to the remaining cemetery grounds have been met with opposition, since it is believed that the land being developed was once part of the burial ground and contains human remains, possibly dating back to the 1660s; the developer has been ordered to hire an archeologist to validate that belief.
Coordinates: 40°43′42″N 74°04′04″W / 40.7284°N 74.0678°W
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