The Past:

The area now called Penns Grove was part of the lands settled by the Swedish and Finnish pioneers of the later 1600s.  They called it  "Boughttown". In  1683, William Penn acquired the land from John Fenwick who had  purchased it from the Indian inhabitants.  Penn's Neck was part of the Salem (Fenwick's)10th in what was then known as West Jersey.  Penn's Neck (now divided into Upper and Lower Penn's Neck) extends along the Delaware River from the north at Oldmann's Creek, in Pedricktown,  southward to Salem Creek, in Salem.  In the early years, the area of Penns Grove that includes the cemetery was called Helm's Cove, or South Penns Grove.  Penns Grove was the first village in the Upper Penns Neck area.  

The Methodist held the first religious worship in Upper Penns Neck.  One of the first churches was the Emmanuel Methodist Episcopal Church, later enlarged and renamed the Emmanuel United Methodist Church.  It still stands across the street from the Emmanuel M.E. Cemetery.  The old Emmanuel M. E. Burial Ground surrounds the church building and contains some of the earliest burials from the South Penns Grove area.  A plaque hangs in the church that includes the names of persons whose graves became incorporated under the foundation of the church when the building was enlarged.

 

In response to a need for additional burial space for their families, a group of prominent townsmen purchased about 2 acres of land for this purpose across the street from the church on 21 June 1887 from John M. Smith (Salem Co. Deeds, Book 65, Page 452+c) and named it for its location.  They established a non-profit corporation called the "Emmanuel Methodist Episcopal Cemetery Company of South Penns Grove" on 16 June 1887 (Salem Co. Certificates of Incorporation, Book A, folio 43+c) separate from the church yard.  From this group of men, twelve trustees were elected to oversee the cemetery operations.  They were Joseph H. Clark, Garnet Summerill, Samuel B. Holton, Daniel V. Summerill, James Cunnigham, Joseph Diver, William A. Sack, William G. Summerill, John Summerill, John M. Smith, Josiah Summerrill, and Joseph C. Summerill.  Over the next 150+ years, new Trustees were elected yearly with overlapping terms.

 

The last elected trustee passed away several decades ago.  The once well maintained cemetery fell into a deplorable, neglected states due to weather and vandalism.  Cemetery funds were also exhauted many years ago.  Continued complaints from families, neighbors, and the Board of Health fell on deaf ears.   Neither the Borough nor the church, which maintained it's own cemetery, had the funds to care for the abandoned cemetery.

 

Current Status:

In the spring of 2004, a small group of volunteers, some with family members or ancestors in the cemetery were organized by Dolly Adams to make a plan to try to clean up the cemetery.  The first summer, the volunteers worked tirelessly to cut grass, remove overgrown shrubs, trees, and stumps, remove trash and floral memorials, and made some needed repairs using donations from family.  The second major effort was to try to restore the lost records of the cemetery which were lost after the last trustee passed away.  This effort continues today. 

 

This is the initial phase of the restoration project which was worked with donations of time and money or gas, mulch, and time to do repairs. Additional repairs will require additional donations.   Today, we are only three volunteers.  The donation of occassional grass mowing by the J-Boys has cut down the grass a couple times over the past summers but there are no funds for routine mowing which would cost several thousand dollars.  Additionally, there are families who continue to place sprays and grave ornaments without their removal later which contributes to the deteriorated appearance of the cemetery.     

 

Although there are many repairs left to do, the conditions found in the cemetery today are improved over the deplorable conditions found in 2004 although repairs are still needed.  Family members of those buried there, once unable to visit their loved ones and ancesters because of the overgrowth, toppled stones (there are still many of these), fallen trees, and dangerous sink holes, are able to do so with caution. 

 

We welcome any volunteers who can occasionally help.  We can also document community service hours for students or youth groups.  Any cemetery cleaning is done at our own risk so please take care if working on cemetery grounds. 

(from EMEC deed and papers of incorporation 1887, Cushing & Sheppard 1883, and Craig, P.S. 1993)