19/06/2024
Today, I visited Gethsemane Cemetery in Little Ferry, NJ, to pay my respects and honor the incredible history of this hallowed ground for Juneteenth. Established in 1860, Gethsemane is one of the oldest African American cemeteries in New Jersey, with over 500 documented burials.
Among the many notable figures buried here are Silas M. Carpenter and Peter M. Billings, Civil War veterans who served in the Union Army. Both served in the 29th (Colored) Connecticut Volunteer Regiment, an infantry unit that was one of four “colored” regiments in the Tenth Corps.
Elizabeth Dickerson Campbell Sutliff Dulfer was born a slave c1790. According to Gethsemane historian Arnold Brown, her grandfather was an American Indian and her grandmother, mother and father (Dickerson) were African American. The surname on her June 17, 1822 Certificate of Manumission (giving Elizabeth her freedom) was that of her owner William Campbell. Betty, as she was often known, spoke Jersey Dutch, the language spoken by the Campbell household.
She married her first husband Alexander Sutliff, an African American teacher originally from the Isle of Jamaica, in the late 1820s in New York City. By the late 1840s she and her husband (who died by 1855) had returned to the Little Ferry area where she had grown up. Elizabeth began buying - in her own name - farmland and property along the west bank of the Hackensack River containing clay-beds. This area was known for its brick industry which expanded greatly after the Civil War. For 20 years she sold clay which was sent to potteries in NJ. She remarried in 1859 to John Dulfer, a white Dutchman who was thirty-three years her junior. By the time “Aunt Betty” died in 1880 she had become one of the areas wealthiest businesswomen and landholders.
As we commemorate Juneteenth,, we can honor the memory of those interred there by continuing to educate ourselves, working towards inclusivity and equality, and participating in events and discussions that foster understanding and unity.
Information comes from the following document, which I highly recommend reading:
https://i.mtr.cool/jzrebdghcx
You still have a chance to visit on Friday, June 21 from 12PM-4PM. The grounds are only open to the public for special occasions.