By Lev D. Zilbermints
People in Newark, Elizabeth, Hillside and other communities across New Jersey are upset and furious over how Evergreen Cemetery management has treated vandalism at the cemetery. And not just any vandalism, but the digging up of caskets and apparent disappearance of bodies.
It is something out of a Dr. Frankenstein horror movie, with lawsuits and class-action suits being filed and coffins being stacked up seven deep.
Evergreen Cemetery is located in parts of Elizabeth, Hillside and Newark, New Jersey. The architectural style is mid-19th century revival, late 19th and early 20th century revivals and late Victorian style. Officially located at 1137 North Broad Street, Hillside, Union County, the cemetery has burial plots and crematoria. The cemetery has been listed on both the New Jersey Register and the National Register of Historic Places since 1991.
According to an rlsmetro article posted on April 26, 2021, the following occurred. On Sunday, April 25, visitors to the Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside got a nasty surprise. They saw coffins stacked up high as seven deep with at least one of the coffins opened and rodents inside the casket with the body, states rlsmetro, which is owned by RLS Media.
The article goes on to say that a woman who went to see if her grandmother was buried received the shock of her life. Management reportedly told the woman that there were only five secured graves side by side. RLS Media reported that the woman found out that the cemetery were stacking up eight to ten caskets on top of each other.
News 12 New Jersey reported on April 28-29, that the deceased woman, Paula Smith, died from complications of the coronavirus, aged 60. The family told News12 that there was a funeral, with the family watching as the white casket was lowered into the ground. Relatives said that nothing was out of the ordinary, so everyone left prior to the earth being put on the grave.
The next thing the family knew, something was totally wrong. When the alarmed relatives came to check on the condition of the burial, they found Paula Smith’s casket outside the grave and open, with rodents inside.
At first, cemetery management refused to answer any questions from the family of Paula Smith. News 12 reported that both the family and the media outlet attempted to contact cemetery management and did not get any answers. The family were told to get a lawyer and contact the state. News 12 were told to contact the board of directors.
It took the Evergreen Cemetery management an incredible ten days, April 25 – May 5, 2021, to release a statement. When Evergreen Cemetery finally released its statement on May 5, this is what it said.
“Evergreen Cemetery is aware of allegations that are circulating in regards to the management of its grounds. As a result of the recent publicity the New Jersey Cemetery Board is conducting an investigation of Evergreen Cemetery. The Cemetery is fully cooperating with the investigation. The Cemetery is deeply distressed by these allegations and is releasing this statement to provide information to all of the families who have loved ones buried here and those who have been questioning the procedures that are in place. Simply stated, Evergreen Cemetery has never relocated a casket or body except in response to a legal order. A casket can only be relocated with a permit and court order. In those extremely rare cases when a casket is moved, the funeral director is present and the Cemetery’s involvement is limited to locating the gravesite and occasionally helping with the excavation.
“Evergreen Cemetery is a non-profit cemetery founded in 1853. Because it covers 115 acres, it has deer, foxes, rabbits, squirrels and groundhogs. If a groundhog becomes a nuisance it is relocated by a professional exterminator. There is no rat problem.
“When there are no other options, headstones and flat stones are temporarily moved to the side in order to allow access to new gravesites without damaging the existing stones. The locations of all graves throughout the cemetery are carefully marked and the headstone and flat stones are returned to their exact locations as soon as possible. This is a seldom used but sometimes necessary procedure.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the operations of Evergreen Cemetery. While many members of the public were able to stay at home isolated, Evergreen Cemetery’s employees worked overtime, often seven days a week. They risked exposure to the virus and one foreman was hospitalized with COVID, placed on a ventilator and missed several months of work. This, combined with the inability to find additional employees willing to work in a cemetery during a pandemic, caused some landscape maintenance to be deferred. The situation is being addressed and the cemetery expects to be back to its park-like condition in the near future.
“Evergreen Cemetery strenuously denies the allegations of poor management or mistreatment of any individuals buried on its grounds. Evergreen Cemetery expresses its sincerest condolences to those who have been misinformed and would like to assure the public that it is taking this matter very seriously and will provide further updates once they are available.”
While Evergreen Cemetery was staying mum, Dahlia O. Vertreese, the mayor of Hillside, spoke to the community. In a televised interview released by NJ 12 May 3, Mayor Vertreese said, “It is a travesty what is going on here. The Attorney General’s and prosecutor’s office need to be involved, like yesterday. Like everyone else I can’t understand or I don’t have a reasonable explanation as to how or why this has happened. And I do think people deserve answers.”
News12 NJ reported that the families of the deceased filed class-action lawsuits against Evergreen Cemetery. Also, the families plan on exhuming the remains of their relatives in order to find out if the remains are still there.
State Assemblyman Jamel Holley is reported by News 12 to want these guilty of desecration held criminally responsible. He wants the state to investigate what is going on.
Attempts to reach Assemblyman Holley via phone and email were unsuccessful at press time.
It should be noted that vandalism at Evergreen Cemetery is not limited to New Jersey. “Local Talk” research has found similar incidents in Illinois, Maine, Colorado, Texas, and Virginia. The timeline of these runs from 2010 – 2021. Local talk will report on these in an upcoming article.
