In Livingston: Burial Marker Honoring Revolutionary War Veteran To Be Unveiled

LIVINGSTON, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of the Livingston Historical Society. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

The public is invited to join the Livingston Historical Society on Tuesday, Nov. 11 for the unveiling of the patriot burial marker honoring Moses Ely’s service in the Revolutionary War at the Historic Ely Cemetery on Hillside Avenue. The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. In case of inclement weather updates will be posted on the Livingston Historical Society’s website: https://livingstonnjhistoricalsociety.weebly.com/

Located at the corner of Hillside Avenue and Hillside Terrace, the cemetery is preserved and maintained by the Livingston Historical Society. The society opens the grounds twice a year, on Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

The William G. Pomeroy Foundation which under its Patriot Marker Program awards grants through the New Jersey Sons of the American Revolution to mark the burial site of American Patriots who fought in the Revolutionary War.

Following the ceremony, informal tours will be conducted of the grounds and the historic persons interned there, as well as a discussion on the recent restoration of many of its headstones until 4 pm. Light refreshments will be served.

This event is part of the Society's efforts to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the founding of our country.

The cemetery is the burial ground of Captain William Ely, an early Livingston settler, and his descendants. According to Livingston Historical Society records, the Ely family arrived in this country in 1660, when Richard Ely emigrated from Plymouth, England.

Captain William Ely, moved to New Jersey from Lyme, Connecticut. He, his wife, Elizabeth Perkins Ely, and their seven children settled on a farm on Riker Hill. One quarter-acre of that farmland was set aside for a burial ground that is now the southern end of Ely Cemetery.

Captain Ely and his descendants are buried in the cemetery. The earliest of the graves date back to 1777 in the family plot where parents and a son, Elizabeth, Frederick, and Benoni Jones, are buried, having died within days of one another. Elizabeth is the daughter of Captain William Ely and Benoni his grandson. Many were prominent in Livingston's history. Their stories were told by Edwin Augustus Ely, who died in 1927 after serving as unofficial family historian. His papers were given to the New Jersey Historical Society as records of an important family in the greater-Newark area. His book, The Personal Memoirs of Edwin A. Ely, is available at the Livingston Public Library.

It is the private burial ground of generations of Ely’s and other prominent families with whom they intermarried such as the Vanderpoel, Dow, Goddard and Halsey families. Notable internments include the monuments of Smith Ely, Jr. who served as mayor of New York City in 1877-1878, as well as two terms as a US Congressman; Edwin A. Ely, author of Personal Memoirs of Edwin E. Ely and generous benefactor of the Livingston Library and socialite Julia Smylie Dow, widow of Major Charles A. Smylie of New York. Mr. Smylie was a veteran of the Spanish American War and President of the Young and Smylie Company (Y&S) Company manufacturer of Twizzler’s licorice candy.

Moses Ely was born in the Township of Newark, now known as Livingston, in 1756, and served multiple tours in the Revolutionary War beginning in the early summer of 1776 and served for more than 3 years. He first served under the command of Captain Elijah Squier marching from Livingston to Newark. He then joined a regiment commanded by Colonel Philip Van Cortland and marched to the Town of Bergen and the City of New York to Long Island and assisted in erecting forts and fortifications. He performed monthly tours of duty commencing in 1777. In 1778 he enlisted in the wagon service where he served out the time of his enlistment where he was employed in driving teams to and from Trenton, Morristown, Newburgh, Kings Ferry and Dobbs Ferry on the Hudson River and occasionally into the Eastern states transporting flour, meat, train camp equipage, and munitions of war for use of the Army.

He was engaged in the Battle of Springfield and Connecticut Farms, New Jersey in 1780 and assisted in pursuing the enemy to Elizabeth Town Point. At the close of the war he returned to Livingston to reside for about one year, then moved to the City of New York where he resided about eighteen years until he returned to Livingston, NJ until his death in 1838.

The Livingston Historical Society is the court-appointed trustee of the burial grounds. In the early 1980s, when the cemetery had become overgrown, Society volunteers committed themselves to keeping it open and in good repair. In 1983 and 1984, members gathered each week to clear the grounds and to repair the gate and monuments. An Ely Cemetery Fund has been created by the Society to provide income for future upkeep, and donations are welcome. Any donations made when visiting the cemetery will go towards the maintenance and upkeep of the grounds.

Renee Resky, of the Livingston Historical Society stated, “We are grateful for work of the Livingston Department of Public Works which more recently has repaved the sidewalk and replaced the fencing along the sidewalk and maintains the lawn and fallen trees surrounding the cemetery wall.

The Ely Cemetery monuments reflect their age not only in condition, but in style and materials. Older headstones are smaller, and closer to the ground, while a 1940s monument reflects an Art Deco influence. A group of volunteers known as the Graveyard Shift has been restoring the fallen grave markers throughout the historic cemeteries in Livingston, Resky stated, “We are amazed by their outstanding work and what they have accomplished in a short period of time.” The final burial in the Ely Cemetery took place in 1978, when Janet Halsey Olstead, an eighth-generation descendant of Captain Ely, was laid to rest. She left behind a legacy of Livingston history, now open to the public twice each year.

The public is invited to informal tours free of charge. A suggested donation of $5 per person to help with the upkeep of this historical landmark are gratefully accepted.

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