Copyright, 6 September 2000; Esther Doyle Read
New format, 22 August 2005
READ FAMILY CONNECTIONS
MARKSBORO PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CEMETERY
Best viewed at screen resolution of 800 by 600.
Marksboro Presbyterian Church and its Cemetery are located in the center of the village of Marksboro on the north side of New Jersey Route 94 in Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, New Jersey. It is a large cemetery and is still in use. The church was formed in 1814. Three churches have stood on the site. The first was a brick meeting house, which was replaced in 1859 by a larger frame structure. It unfortunately burned to the ground in 1943. The current structure (pictured below) was built in the 1950s and continued to be used until recently. Unfortunately, the Presbytery of Newton voted on 14 June 2005 "To approve the dissolution of the Marksboro Presbyterian Church, with deep regret and appreciation for their 190 years of faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, effective October 2, 2005."
This is not a complete transcription of the cemetery. It is instead a selection of the stones within the cemetery, which were collected over the past 21 years by Esther Doyle Read. The dates of the various transcriptions were: 26 June 1983 and 14 April 2005. The date of the transcript is included with each entry. Some of the stones have been photographed, click on the thumbnails to view a larger version of the stone and/or of the entire family plot. Please note that the photographs date from 14 April 2005 forward. Many of the stones were in far better shape when I first saw them in 1983, and were much easier to read then, than are the stones in the photographs taken 20 plus years later. I attribute much of this to modern pollution and acid rain. Relationship data is given for some of the individuals within the cemetery. This data is from work I have done with the Read family history since 1983. More information on the Reads and their descendants can be found within the family pages of this website.
The above two photographs are of the main entrance into the cemetery (view is to the north) and a view of the church facing the front of the building (view is facing north and east). The cemetery entrance is on the left or west side of the church. Below is an overview of the older section of the cemetery directly to the rear of the church (view is facing north).
The final photograph is of the new section of the cemetery. This section is down the hill to the west of the old section of the cemetery (view is to the south and west at sunset). It is interesting to note that in this section most of the grave stones are oriented to the east. This is standard Christian burial practice. It is done so that on judgement, when the dead arise from their graves they will be facing toward the east—the direction of the rising son and where Christ is suppose appear. However, in the older section of the cemetery, most of the graves are not oriented to the east. They are instead oriented toward the west and the setting sun.
SURNAME INDEX
A
D - J
K
L - Q
R
S - T
U
V - Z
All four photographs were taken on 14 April 2005 by Esther Doyle Read.
This web site was produced
by Timothy Doyle 5/5/98,
Questions regarding content should be directed to Esther Doyle Read