Historic Ely Cemetery Open In Livingston For Memorial Day 2021

LIVINGSTON, NJ — The Livingston Historical Society will open the historic Ely Cemetery, located on Hillside Avenue for Memorial Day 2021 tours on Monday, May 31 from 2 to 4 p.m., weather permitting.

The public is invited to informal tours free of charge. A suggested donation of $5 per person to help with the upkeep of the historical landmark will be accepted. In case of inclement weather, updates will be posted on the Livingston Historical Society’s website.

Coronavirus safety protocols will be observed, organizers said.

According to the historical society:

“The cemetery was established by Captain William Ely, a veteran of the French and Indian War, on a rood (quarter acre) of his land in 1777 when his daughter Elizabeth Ely Jones and her second husband, Frederick Jones, and their infant son, Benonni, all died within two weeks of each other. The plot was enlarged to its present size in 1864 by Ambrose Ely. The stone wall that surrounds the cemetery is made of rocks quarried from Riker Hill, which was part of the Ely Family’s property.”

The society continued:

“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 a 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.”

The cemetery also contains several examples of antique sandstone slabs, granite headstones and marble tablets, some with typical New England cherub carvings while others are almost illegible due to age. The last person interred in the cemetery was Janet Halsey Olstead, an eighth generation descendent of Captain Ely, who died in 1978, the society said.

The cemetery was abandoned for many years until 1983, when trusteeship was granted to the Livingston Historical Society by order of the New Jersey Superior Court. Over the years, volunteers have cleaned up the overgrowth of brush and repaired many plots. More recently, the Livingston Department of Public Works has helped to maintain the lawn and fallen trees surrounding the cemetery wall.

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