On the evening of March 23, 1853, a group of civic leaders from Elizabeth and Newark gathered in the Borough of Elizabeth to form a rural cemetery association under New Jersey's Rural Cemetery Act of 1851. Chaired by the attorney Francis Barber Chetwood and recorded by Secretary Josiah Q. Stearns, the meeting brought together William Brown, Richard T. Haines, Joseph Cox, Henry Higgins, Caleb J. Luster, Pulaski Jack, and others who shared a common vision — a park-like resting place that would offer solace to the living as much as dignity to the departed, open to families of every faith and background.
Twelve trustees were elected by ballot that evening to manage the new association: Richard T. Haines, William Brown, John L. Norris, Lewis W. Spaulds, John H. Ralston, Apollos M. Elmer, Isaac M. Ware, Frederick A. Phelps, William A. Loy, Chailey A. Higgins, Josiah Q. Stearns, and Francis B. Chetwood. They named the institution "The Evergreen Cemetery" and chose a site of gently rolling farmland astride what are now Hillside, Elizabeth, and Newark. The articles of incorporation were formally recorded on March 26, 1853, and the grounds were dedicated on December 13, 1853.
The founding came during the era of the rural cemetery movement, a landscape design philosophy inspired by Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Laurel Hill in Philadelphia. The Picturesque landscape — winding, tree-shaded roads and grassy paths across gently rolling terrain — was designed by Ernest L. Meyer (1828–1902), a young surveyor who later became City Engineer of Elizabeth and is remembered for his historical map "Elizabethtown in the Revolution." The first interment, sixteen-year-old William Bloomfield Sayre, took place on March 5, 1854. From its earliest decades, Evergreen served as a non-sectarian burial ground for families of remarkably diverse backgrounds — the immigrant communities who built the towns and industries of northern New Jersey.
Francis Barber Chetwood, the association's first chairman, was a prominent Elizabeth attorney and the son of former mayor William Chetwood. He remained a guiding force in the cemetery's early development until his death in 1875. Chetwood himself was laid to rest at Evergreen — a testament to the faith the founders placed in the institution they created.
Today the cemetery's 115 acres hold nearly 130,000 gravesites and more than 100,000 funerary monuments. Together with two small adjoining cemeteries — Oheb Sholem and B'nai Jeshurun — and Newark's Weequahic Park, Evergreen forms an urban green belt in one of New Jersey's most heavily urbanized areas. In recognition of its landscape architecture, funerary art, and buildings, Evergreen was listed on both the New Jersey Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Evergreen Cemetery is incorporated on March 23 under New Jersey's Rural Cemetery Act of 1851, following a public meeting in Elizabeth. Twelve trustees led by Francis B. Chetwood and Josiah Q. Stearns are elected, and the grounds are dedicated on December 13, 1853. The Picturesque landscape is designed by Ernest L. Meyer, a young surveyor who later became City Engineer of Elizabeth.
The first interment — sixteen-year-old William Bloomfield Sayre — takes place on March 5, 1854. The same year, the Van Buskirk–Jaques vault is built with its Egyptian Revival facade and winged sun-disk emblem, one of the earliest above-ground vaults on the grounds.
A veterans' plot is established on July 7, 1862, early in the Civil War — reputed to be one of the first of its kind in the nation. Two Spanish-American War cannons were later dedicated there on Decoration Day, 1900.
Work begins on the iron picket perimeter fence, with elaborately detailed wrought-iron gateways that still frame the entrances today.
Stephen Crane, author of “The Red Badge of Courage,” is laid to rest in the Crane family plot. His marker at Evergreen is the only known monument to the author anywhere.
The Administration Building is completed — a two-story Colonial Revival structure of rock-faced cement block, redesigned by architect C. A. Oakley.
The Public Mausoleum is built in 1912–13 as a Classical Revival receiving vault. It was converted to a community mausoleum in the early 1970s and remains in use for above-ground entombment.
The chapel is built in 1932–33 in the Tudor Revival style by C. Godfrey Poggi, one of Union County's most prominent architects — also the designer of Battin High School, Westminster Presbyterian Church, and the Elizabeth Daily Journal Building.
The on-site crematory is established, reflecting changing preferences among New Jersey families. Evergreen becomes one of the first cemeteries in the region to offer both burial and cremation services on the same grounds.
Evergreen Cemetery is listed on the New Jersey Register and the National Register of Historic Places on July 9, 1991, recognized for its landscape architecture, funerary art, and architecture.
Evergreen Cemetery continues to operate as a family-serving institution — 115 park-like acres holding nearly 130,000 gravesites and more than 100,000 funerary monuments, with continuous burial records maintained since 1853.
The landscape and arboretum
The grounds of Evergreen Cemetery were designed to evoke a pastoral landscape — a garden of memory rather than a solemn field. The naturally planted grounds constitute an arboretum of distinction: linden, Norway and sugar maples, horse chestnut, American beech, sycamore, white ash, catalpa, English elm, weeping willow, magnolia, dogwood, Norway spruce, yew, and cedar give the landscape its character through every season. Of special note are a white oak standing 110 feet tall with a 225-foot limb span and a huge copper beech — both well over 300 years old — along with surviving cherry and apple trees from the farm orchards that once occupied the property. In a charming touch of the original design, the roads carry the names of trees and the paths the names of flowers.
A community of many cultures
Founded as a non-sectarian, interdenominational cemetery, Evergreen has welcomed a wide variety of religious and ethnic communities from its first years. It became a resting place for Newark's early Jewish congregations — including B'nai Jeshurun, Newark's first temple, and the Mendelssohn Benevolent Society — alongside numerous Protestant congregations. A notable Ukrainian section features distinctive Eastern-rite crosses, and holds Rev. Nestor Dmytrow, organizer of the first Ukrainian Catholic church in Canada and editor of Svoboda, the largest Ukrainian-language daily newspaper in the United States. Chinese parishioners from Newark's First Presbyterian Church, which bordered Newark's Chinatown, rest beneath markers inscribed in Chinese characters.
Since 1926, Roma families have made one of the cemetery's most striking presences — an estimated 3,000 are buried here, many beneath opulent, flamboyant monuments; a scene from the 1978 film "King of the Gypsies" was filmed on the grounds. Charitable plots were donated over the years to the Elizabeth Orphan Asylum, the Home for Aged Women, the Florence Crittenden League, and the Baptist Home for the Aged. And the veterans' plot, established July 7, 1862 — early in the Civil War and reputed to be one of the first of its kind in the nation — continues to honor those who served.
Notable interments
Evergreen Cemetery is the final resting place of many who shaped the civic, literary, commercial, and cultural life of the region — among them Stephen Crane, author of "The Red Badge of Courage"; Mary Mapes Dodge, author of "Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates"; Edward Stratemeyer, creator of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Tom Swift series; U.S. Senator John Kean; New York Governor William Sulzer; and Newark NAACP founder Grace Baxter Fenderson.
Explore our notable burials →Monuments and architecture
The grounds form an outdoor gallery of 19th- and early-20th-century sepulchral art — headstones, obelisks, columns, crosses, statuary, sarcophagi, and mausoleums — set among historic structures including the 1907 Colonial Revival Administration Building, the 1912–13 Public Mausoleum, and the 1932–33 Tudor Revival chapel by C. Godfrey Poggi.
Discover the monuments and architecture →Records preservation
The original interment ledgers from 1853 onward are held on-site. A digitization effort begun in the early 2000s has converted a significant portion of these records to a searchable format. All records are available for research inquiry through our genealogy request process.
Submit a research request →