Local officials in Carlstadt are showing signs of concern regarding the who and why of the sign placement on the sacred burial ground, and remain baffled as to how they got there. As of last week, officials did not respond to calls or e-mails seeking an answer after being alerted by the South Bergenite two weeks ago. The borough’s historical society took ownership of the cemetery several years ago when the Third Reformed Church of Hackensack handed it over free of charge. Christopher Gale, a spokesman for the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, the zoning authority of the cemetery, said he had no idea where the signs came from either. He said there were no applications filed from neighboring businesses.

The small signs are just yet another saga in the long-lasting history of the mysterious and tucked away spot.

Rutherford resident Timothy Keith is a FedEx deliveryman and makes frequent deliveries to the area. On many occasions, he finds himself atop the sloping hill cleaning brush from the ground and pulling weeds. His first thought when he saw the signs was the sacred ground would be going under.

"When I saw the stakes, I said ‘I hope this isn’t getting plowed under," said Keith. "This is Bergen County history. I hope it stays preserved."

Ghosts of the past

Nestled in the bowels of Carlstadt’s industrial section, just south of the Wonderbread factory near the corner of Washington and Commerce avenues, the resting ground’s sloping hill is dotted with 26 withering gravestones dating back more than 250 years, the earliest from 1752 and the latest representing 1892. Few, however, know it’s there and details of its rich history.

A walk through the historic grounds is eerie. However, the land is a resting ground for the men and women who gained freedom for our nation. Our national values are based on what they accomplished.

Many of the plots belong to the prominent Outwater family, early Dutch settlers to the area. The most famous, however, belongs to John Outwater, a Revolutionary War captain who commanded a local militia against attacks along the Hackensack. Ironically and somewhat unheard of in war memorials, Outwater Cemetery houses some of the enemy, Hessian soldiers who lost their lives in local battle. It’s only one of the few sites in the nation with that distinction.

Outwater, whose grave sits next to his wife Harriet Lozier’s went on after the war to become a prominent assemblyman who fought for women’s suffrage and later became a Bergen County judge. The same militia he guided in protecting Old Hackensack even spurned a present day militia that reenacts the scenes of the past out of admiration.

"I joined Outwater’s Militia because my ancestors were militia and Outwater’s was a good unit," said Commander of Outwater’s Militia reenactment group, Glenn Valis. "[We] recreate the Jersey Dutch who had to deal with the British Army around their homes and whose efforts are not as well known as they should be."

Odd occurrences, history reborn

A walking encyclopedia of historical Carlstadt, the recently deceased borough historian Frederick Patak not only fought to maintain and publicize the history of the cemetery, he also had to fight to get its most notable residents back home, or parts of them at least.

In the 1980s John Outwater’s and his wife’s graves were vandalized, but the vandalism didn’t mean an overturned gravestone or the modern day conveyance of criminal mischief such as graffiti.

"Some vandals dug up Captain Outwater’s grave," said Valis. "A few bones were returned and the handles of the coffin were recovered and reburied in a ceremony attended by Outwater’s Militia."

Patak pleaded and made it a goal of his to recover the only parts of the bodies taken in what some speculate was a dig for valuable Revolutionary War memorabilia. To this day the captain’s and his bride’s skulls remain missing. Mayor Will Roseman who was then just a young councilman held the recovered remains in hopes the skulls would be returned, but later reburied them in a ceremony after it seemed they would never be returned.

Last year, a Boy Scout and volunteers working at the cemetery once again found bones. It was a grim reminder the same desecration may have occurred. Police say lab tests on the remains, however, determined it was simply from a small animal, possibly a groundhog, common to the site.

In April 2005, Patak’s dogged efforts to preserve the graveyard were appropriately rewarded with a good citizenship award from the Sons of the American Revolution during a very well attended ceremony at the site which also honored Outwater as a local hero. It brought members of his present day reenactment militia, county and local officials and even a representative of the French Consulate in New York, Consul Adjoint Michel Beese.

A dedicated facelift

That same Boy Scout looking to complete a final project to finish his course through years of dedication to the Scouts and move to the status of Eagle Scout was somewhat of a protégé to Patak. Brandon Marsella of Rutherford had been a Lyndhurst Boy Scout since kindergarten when his interest in Revolutionary War history and Patak’s efforts led him to Outwater for a complete renovation. The idea alone brought about a 2006 commendation award for youth preservation from the Bergen County Historic Preservation Advisory Board. It was the same year Patak’s memory was honored for preservation leadership.

"He helped me a lot," said Marsella. "We met a couple times at the graveyard and he just wanted to see it cleaned up so people could enjoy it; it seemed to me like it was his passion."

Marsella began writing solicitation letters requesting donations, volunteers, money and supplies. By the end, he had $325 in hand, donations of materials such as paint and hardware from Pisciotta True Value Hardware in Rutherford, concrete and labor for dilapidated posts from Ron Garafolo and his contractors in Lyndhurst and volunteerism from friends, family and his fellow Boy Scouts of Troop 86.

They began by clearing a front path off of Washington Avenue, overgrown with years of neglected weeds. They then began sprucing up the cemetery itself; weeding, pruning, cutting the lawn and painting the rails that encompass the site. By the end, cement pillars were restored that had crumbled away over the years and sonar stakes had been put in the ground to rid the area of groundhogs. Those have since been vandalized. The Department of Public Works (DPW) has recently replaced a rickety stairwell leading up the hill to the graveyard. The biggest accomplishment may have been honoring the six gravesites that had no memorial stones. The troop found an old bronze cross on the site in cleanup which was then used as a mold to re-fabricate six new wooden ones, one for each of the unknowns. The bronze cross was placed at the front entrance but was recently stolen.

In total, from 2001 when Patak began surveying graves that had no stones for burial plot specifications to the time the finishing touches were put on the cleanup last year, approximately 162 man hours were poured into the project.

Marsella is now seeking a donation for a sign he has designed. He hopes to receive it before the re-dedication.

"I want it to be a ceremony where people come out and start to notice how valuable it is to the town," said Marsella. "That was my main goal in doing this."

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