Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church and Mount Zion Cemetery is a historic church and cemetery located at 172 Garwin Road in Woolwich Township,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States. The church was a stop on the Greenwich Line of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

through South Jersey operated by

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, u ...

for 10 years. The church provided supplies and shelter to

runaway slaves In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called free ...

on their way to Canada from the South. The church and cemetery were part of the early 19th-century free negro settlement sponsored by

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

known as Small Gloucester. The church was founded in 1799 as a Methodist Society and became part of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

in 1813. The current structure was built in 1834, remodeled in 1887 and expanded in 1959. The cemetery is a quarter of an acre in size and located just west of the church. It contains more than 200 graves, some of which date back to 1861. The church and cemetery are on the

New Jersey Register of Historic Places The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office with ...

and were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2001.

Church

In the 17th century, Swedish, Dutch and English settlers brought slaves to South Jersey to perform the manual labor needed to establish their colonies. Many of the English settlers that founded the

West Jersey West Jersey and East Jersey were two distinct parts of the Province of New Jersey. The political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey was ofte ...

colony were Quaker and began to debate the morality of owning human beings. In 1738, the Quakers of New Jersey and Pennsylvania united and submitted an agreement to the Society of Friends which recommended to discontinue the use of Africans as slaves. While the Quakers were early proponents of the religious education of slaves, few African-Americans took up Quakerism. However, many Methodists evangelized in South Jersey to slaves and converted many of them. Several African-American preachers, including Richard Allen, traveled throughout the West Jersey colony, including around Woolwich township, and had a great impact on establishing Methodism among the African-Americans living there. After the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, the Quakers and other anti-slavery proponents established small hamlets on their property for freed slaves and African Americans to live. The church and cemetery were part of the early 19th-century free negro settlement known as Small Gloucester supported by local Quakers including the Van Leer family. The church was founded in 1799 as a Methodist Society and became a member of the

in 1813. The land for the church was purchased in 1833 and the one-story frame church was built in 1834. It was remodeled in 1887 and expanded in 1959. The changes made in 1959 include the addition of a social hall, kitchen, pastor's study and bathrooms. The additions gave the building an L-shape. The addition of vinyl siding and minor cosmetic changes were made in the 1990s. The church was part of the

route through South Jersey known as the Greenwich Line. The line began in Springtown, New Jersey through Small Gloucester and north to Mount Holly, Burlington and Jersey City.

helped operate the Greenwich Line for over 10 years. The church provided supplies and shelter for slaves using the Underground Railroad to flee to Canada. A secret three-by-four foot trap door in the vestibule of the church was used to access a crawlspace to hide runaway slaves. The church and cemetery are on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and they were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The congregation is still active and holds worship services on Sundays.

Cemetery

The cemetery is a quarter of an acre in size and is located just west of the church. The plot contains more than two hundred graves, most of which are unmarked. The oldest gravestone has a date of 1861, however it is believed that burials date back to the 1830s. Thirteen black soldiers from the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

are buried in the cemetery. The cemetery was closed to new burials, fell into disrepair, many of the stones sank into the ground and the plot became overgrown with trees. Many of the overgrown trees have been cut back and the cemetery is currently maintained by the Gloucester County Probation Office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church And Mount Zion Cemetery African-American cemeteries in New Jersey African Methodist Episcopal churches in New Jersey Cemeteries in Gloucester County, New Jersey Churches in Gloucester County, New Jersey Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Churches on the Underground Railroad Methodist cemeteries National Register of Historic Places in Gloucester County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Woolwich Township, New Jersey

Church

Cemetery

See also

References