HERITAGE DAY

A Service of Remembrance

Everyone is invited to a special 11:00am Heritage Day Communion Worship Service at Old Scots Burying Ground located on Gordons Corner Road between Route 520 and Wyncrest Road in Marlboro.

Heritage Day is a celebration of our ancestry here at Old  Tennent Church. The Old Scots Burying Ground is the site where, in 1692, a group of Scottish exiles built a small log church, on what was then known as "Free  Hill." In December of 1706, the first recorded Presbytery meeting in North America took place on Free Hill, where the Rev. John Boyd was ordained as  pastor, the first American ordination. (The church was moved to its present  location in 1731.) Old Scots burying Ground remains a memorial to our ancestors who sought religious freedom in the new world, and is the final resting place for many of those who braved the wilderness to find that freedom.

In remembrance of our colonial heritage, you are encouraged to "dress up" in colonial outfits or facsimile for all of Sunday’s activities. The  dress in those days would have been white knee socks and kinickers, black  three-cornered hats, shirts with lace trim, and black jackets for the men and  for the ladies, full-length skirts, blouses with lace at the collar and sleeves and a white "cap". Take a look in your closets, you may be amazed at what you  find, or what you can put together.

Carpooling will originate from Old Scots Hall, Tennent after Sunday School. You are requested to park down the street in the development as  parking is not permitted on the street next to the cemetery. Heritage Day service will include Holy Communion, traditional music played on a bagpipe at this beautiful outdoor worship service in the location where our church family began. Please bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on as there are no chairs or  seats to sit. In the event of rain, the pilgrimage will be held in the sanctuary or Old Tennetn Church. Lunch will be served by the Church Life Committee at Neff  Chapel immediately following the service.

Old Scots Burying Ground

For several years we have been concerned about the permanent protection of Old Scots Burying Ground from encroachment by developments and Marlboro Township in respect to the proposed reconfiguration of Gordons Corner Road. The services of Gerald Scharfenberger, a Ph.D. candidate, students from Monmouth University, and the BRAVO group offered help to prepare applications to the State and Federal governments for Historic Register status. The BRAVO group used metal detectors and ground penetrating radar, and Mr.  Scharfenberger, an historian, works for a firm that specializes in architectural preservation.

The first hurdle was cleared successfully on April 4, 2001 in Trenton at the open hearing of the New Jersey Historic Preservation commission. The Old Scots Burying Ground application received a unanimous vote of recommendation to be placed on the New Jersey Historic Register. In addition, we had at the hearing the moral support of Nance Williams, chair, and several members of the Marlboro Historic Preservation commission.

A lot of hard work went into the collection of information supporting the application. We have property deeds in our files covering the original transfer of land from the East Jersey Proprietors in 1692. The site was under private ownership until 1727, when the transfer took place to Walter Ker and his group, then Trustees of what would become Old Tennent Presbyterian church.

The location of the original meeting house has been in question until the present foundation excavations. Pictures of the digs can be viewed in the church office. Artifacts uncovered indicate an Indian presence long before the arrival of Europeans. The materials that are part of the excavation process will come to us after the application procedures have been finished. Interestingly, the New Jersey Historic Preservation Commission members were amazed at the good condition of the grave markers. One design in particular, a double red sandstone stone for husband and wife, was unique to anything they had ever seen. We now know there are in excess of 140 unmarked graves at Old Scots, in addition to 122 marked graves.

We have a unique piece of New Jersey and Presbyterian church history in our custody in which we can take pride. We must sustain the effort to preserve our heritage.