Grave Marker Dedication Ceremony
Submitted by Denise Wolf, Green Brook Historical Society
A dedication ceremony for the grave marker of Dr. John Vermeule was held recently. The Cultural, Heritage and Historic Preservation Committee and Green Brook Historical Society were very happy to see this day come. Green Brook Township acquired the historic Dr. John Vermeule House and property on nearby Rock Avenue in 2008. Along with the Township, our historic groups help to maintain and preserve this important historic site, which dates back to 1799. Renovations and the pandemic have held us back in making it a proper house museum yet, but we are well on our way.
Dr. Vermeule was born in 1768, the son of Adrian and Elizabeth Vermeule. Adrian was a scout and dispatch rider for the local militia during the Revolutionary War. He was wounded and captured by the British in January 1777 and died in the notorious Sugar House Prison in NYC in March of that year. John was only an 8 yr. old boy when his father died. The family lived on the other side of Rock Avenue from the present-day Vermeule property. When John reached the age of 20, he inherited 116 acres that covered the land from the foot of the Watchung Mountain down into Plainfield. He studied medicine, most probably under Melancthon Freeman from Woodbridge, and married Sarah Freeman in 1793. It is likely that he was the only country doctor in the area. They had three children that survived infancy – John, Margaret and Susan. Tax records show that the doctor and his family moved into the present house on Rock Avenue in 1805. He practiced medicine for the local farming community and was a farmer himself, growing wheat, oats, flax, rye, corn and hay. The farm records showed an inventory of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. In 1813 the doctor got seriously ill and died at the age of 45, on the last day of the year. Since then, there have been quite a few owners and tenants, including Quakers in the mid to late 1800’s. Up until the 1960’s, the Mundy family operated the Grotto Dairy Farm on the property.
Until recently, there was a missing piece of the puzzle. Could we confirm that Dr. John Vermeule was indeed buried in the family cemetery, here in North Plainfield? We don’t see a stone for him here. His Last Will and Testament and other documents didn’t give us that information. Finally, we got that evidence from two sources. One was from a nephew, Richard Vermeule, who visited the cemetery in 1846 and referred to him as the “beloved family physician” and one was from an account in the Courier News in 1950 which mentioned that his stone was still intact at that point in time. Sometime after 1950, the gravestone was either damaged or vandalized and is no longer visible.
Since Dr. Vermeule’s house is on the National and State Historic Registers, we thought it was important to dedicate a new grave marker to restore the record of his place of burial. Research was done to try to find the original layout of the cemetery and find the exact location of his gravestone, but it bore no fruit. Given that he was one of the earliest burials here, it seems logical that he was close to the other early burial sites of his uncles who died in the 1820’s.
The dedication of the grave marker remembering Dr. Vermeule will ensure that this part of local history is restored and not forgotten. We selected an appropriate marker to be consistent with the other replacement markers that have been installed here. Now we can conclude tours of the property by directing visitors to come to see this gravestone in this historic cemetery.
Many thanks to Green Brook Township Mayor VanArsdale and the township committee for their support and North Plainfield Mayor Le Ronde, Administrative Asst. Katherine Miller, former Mayor Jean Allen and Borough Clerk Richard Phoenix from North Plainfield, for giving us permission to install this marker. It couldn’t have been done without their support. Thanks to Frank Stabile of the Lions Club, who has been very helpful and supportive. Many thanks to all for attending.
