Ellis family burial plots 1900s new brunsxwick nj

The Mary Ellis grave is a grave located behind an AMC Theatre on U.S. Route 1 in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Middlesex County,

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 United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The granite gravestone is located on a high stonework pyramid in the back parking lot. Seven relatives are also buried and marked on the grave itself. Mary Ellis, a native of

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, was a property owner and fierce feminist in New Brunswick, noted to even vote in city elections before the right for women to vote was passed. Living on Livingston Avenue, Ellis maintained a garden on her property until a local politician,

James Schureman James Schureman (February 12, 1756January 22, 1824) was an American merchant and statesman from New Brunswick, New Jersey. He represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress as well as the United States House of Representatives and United Sta ...

, took the land to build a street on it. In response, she posted a sign on the new Schureman Street calling it "Oppression Street". Historians believed that around 1813, Ellis moved from downtown New Brunswick to a secluded area known as Mount Hemlock, which overlooked the

Raritan River Raritan River is a major river of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean. History Geologists assert that the lower Raritan provided t ...

. She lived there until her death in 1828. A niece of Ellis' respected her request to be buried on the land of which she lived overlooking the Raritan River. The choice of Mount Hemlock for Ellis' residence and later burial site is part of local legend. Mary Ellis is believed to have met a sailor who she fell in love with, some day wanting to marry him. Once the sailor departed, she would return to the Raritan River on a knoll for a long time to keep a look out for his return, which would never occur. She continued to stand watch. However, historians have doubted the truth to this story noting her past as a person who would not waste that kind of time. The band Looking Glass, created of students at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

, wrote their 1972 song " Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" with a story similar to Ellis' in terms of a bartender who finds someone she loves but the sailor preferring the sea as his true love. However, the members of the band denied there was any connection between the Ellis story and the song's lyrics. By June 1956, the gravestone had been knocked over into the grounds below, and remained in that location for several years. John E. Burke, who had purchased the property in 1943 and then ran the Raritan Playland Amusement Park on the site, wanted to relocate the graves and gravestone, but declined once he learned that he would be required to contact and obtain written permission from all the families of those buried there before such a move would be permitted. In 1965, with the construction of the Great Eastern Department Store on the site of her former residence, the company constructed a protective wall along the burial site and the toppled gravestone. This new construction created a pit in the parking lot, which soon attracted debris and littering. However, by 1980, Ray Travis and the son of Burke, operating the site as the Route 1 Flea Market since 1975, felt it was time to replace the concrete pit with dirt and move the granite gravestone to ground level. Several local historians were upset by the decision to do this as they were unaware that the move was meant to help preserve, not destroy, the graves. Travis spent more than $1,000 (1980 USD) for eleven truckloads of dirt in order to fill in the fenced grave pit and that he had also planned to landscape the area. On August 16, 1980, a float was run during the Raritan River Festival, commemorating the impact of Mary Ellis in New Brunswick history. Once the Route 1 Flea Market was razed and replaced with a Loews Theatre, the parking lot was re-graded, resulting in the gravestone towering over the parking lot.

Mary Ellis

Mary Ellis (1750–1828) was a

spinster ''Spinster'' is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term originally den ...

in New Brunswick, New Jersey. According to oral tradition, she was seduced by a sea captain who vowed to return to marry her. He never returned and she would come to the spot where her grave now stands, each day, to look for his ship in the

in New Brunswick.

Additional deceased

* Mildred Moody (1746–1816) who married Thomas M. Evans * Thomas M. Evans (1790–1820) * Mary Ellis (1750–1828) * Margaret Ellis (1767–1850) who married

Anthony Walton White Anthony Walton White (July 7, 1750 – February 10, 1803) was a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War who had previously served as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington. Early life He was born ...

(1750–1803), General of the United States Army * Eliza Mary White (1792–1861) who married Thomas M. Evans * Elizabeth Margaret Evans (1813–1898) * Isabelle Johanna Evans (1815–1901)

References

{{Coord, 40, 29, 21.27, N, 74, 24, 59.53, W, display=title Cemeteries in Middlesex County, New Jersey Loew's Theatres buildings and structures Buildings and structures in New Brunswick, New Jersey 1828 establishments in New Jersey