Traveling along Park Avenue in 1846, one would have found five or six dwellings and an African Methodist Episcopal Church for the residents of the area. The community grew slowly, but by 1885, the village consisted of a large grouping of homes, Bethel African Methodist Church, and a school house. Today, the village extends along Park Avenue as well as along Haddonfield-Sorrel Horse Road.

Tucked behind the former Grossman Lumber Co. store (now Christ’s Bible Church) is a cemetery known variously as Jordan (or Jordon) Lawn, Jordantown or St. Martin’s Cemetery. It is unclear when this cemetery was first established, but it probably dates to the 1840s, the earliest period of settlement for Jordantown. Among its graves are 38 veterans from the Civil War. Veterans from other wars are also buried here. All of these men survived their battles and died of natural causes in later years.

Most of the Civil War veterans were Privates in various infantry companies and regiments of the United States Colored Troops. Joining the ranks of the Colored Troops was not a simple matter, since New Jersey failed to raise any regiments for the U.S.C.T. The men traveled to Pennsylvania and joined the 22nd, 24th, and 25th Regiments; they received training at Camp William Penn in Cheltenham Township, outside of Philadelphia. Only one of the veterans buried at Jordantown served with New Jersey troops. He was Private Charles Amos, assigned to Company C, 3rd Regiment, of the New Jersey Calvary. Another veteran interred here, John W. Gaines, served with Company F of the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. This company was part of the first black regiment recruited in the North. This regiment, whose story moviemakers told in a made-for-television movie several years ago, participated in battles at James Island, Fort Wagner, Honey Hill, and Boykins Mill, all in South Carolina.

The highest rank achieved among the men buried in Jordantown belonged to Benjamin J. Collins, who served as a First Sergeant in Company I, 22nd Regiment of the U.S.C.T. Sgt. Collins served from January 1864 until October 1865. Battles fought by the 22nd Regiment all took place in Virginia and included Chapin Farms, Dutch Gap, Fair Oaks, New Market Heights and the siege of Petersburg.

Other veterans buried in this hallowed ground served in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War aboard the monitor U.S.S. Montauk and the schooner gunboat U.S.S. Unadilla. Thomas Nicholas and Augustus Wescott served as Landsmen on the screw steamer U.S.S. Princeton, a supply vessel. A Landsman held a rank below an Ordinary Seaman.

Most of the veterans have U.S. Government-supplied grave markers. The Grand Army of the Republic placed one of its stones on the grave of Henry Amos. Henry had served as a Private in Company C of the 42nd Regiment of the U.S.C.T. Some of the non-veteran tombstones are “homemade” markers William Collins manufactured. Fabricated for friends and loved-ones from marble dust and cement, these stones cost a fraction of commercially available gravemakrers, making them much less expensive for area residents to purchase.

For many years Pennsauken Township Public Works cared for the Jordantown Cemetery. However, in 1971, the township deeded the burial ground to Bethel A.M.E. Church for $1.00. Bethel’s elders had a difficult time maintaining the grounds and turned again to the township for assistance. In the late 1980s, Robert Ferguson of Philadelphia became an advocate for properly maintaining the 1.85-acre burial ground. He recognized that the cemetery contained the remains of patriots and they deserved all the respect the community could provide.

It is currently unknown by this writer whether Mr. Ferguson remains active at the site. But his message continues to be of utmost importance. If we do not respect the hallowed ground in which our veterans are interred, the very men who offered their lives to defend and protect America, will we be able to maintain the liberty they purchased for us with their blood? This sacred and historic site must be preserved to educate future generations on the course traveled by the United States and its people.