Mount Peace Cemetery -- Lawnside Historical Society, Inc.

Mount Peace Cemetery, Lawnside
The struggle for one of N.J.'s largest African-American cemeteries

Hear a broadcast on New York City's 1010 WINS radio. See WINS photos here.

The Mount Peace Cemetery located on the White Horse Pike in Lawnside was established in 1890 by African Americans to provide a burial place for their dead. The numerous purchasers of burial lots on the 18-acre site had no legal right to perpetural care but did have the right to have their lots opened for burials when necessary.

In 1952, the company that owned and maintained Mount Peace went bankrupt, and the grounds fell into disrepair. Additionally, a fire in the cemetery office destroyed all of the records and maps of the plots.

In 1960, a portion of the cemetery was sold to Texaco. Judge Theodore Davis, one of the trustees, who oversaw and kept records of the interred but provided no maintenance of the grounds, administered the proceeds from the sale.

In 1978, Mount Peace was overgrown with shurbbery and had become a virtual dumping ground. Cleaning it became a neighborhood volunteer project. Residents came out every Saturday during the spring and summer bringing their own tools and equipment to clean up and cut back the undergrowth. After two years, the damage to their tools caused the enthusiasm to fizzle. Bryson Armstead suggested that the Lawnside Men's Association take over the project under the leadership of Lloyd Romero who had initiated the original cleanup.

With the trust fund finally wrested from Judge Davis, the new trustees took over the administration of the cemetery. They solicited help from Camden County's probation department using cemetery clean up as an approved community service activity for probationers. Since then, every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from April to November, the trustees took turns volunteering their time supervising the probationers. The money from the trust was put into CDs with the interest used over the years for the following expenses:

Buidling two cement tool sheds

Purchasing heavy duty equipment

Filling many of the sunken areas with top soil donated by a local builder

Reconstructing the damaged wall around the cemetery

Building access roads into the cemetery

Removing dead trees, shrubbery and debris such as a refrigerator and a boat

Constructing a gate to the cemetery

Righting all tombstones on cleared graves

Erecting Mount Peace Cemetery signs

Renting dumpsters for period large projects

Replacing steel doors on tool sheds

Hiring a lawn service to mow the grounds

The Historical Society has helped the cemetery association by obtaining grants from the New Jersey Historic Trust, the National Trust for Historic Preservation William Short Fund for New Jersey and the Camden County Preservation Fund to study and restore the cemetery. The N.J. Historic Trust grant is funding a nomination for the National Register of Historic Places.

Before his death in June 2000, Mr. Romero with assistance from Mr. Armstead, catalogued all of the Civil War veterans' graves. Yolanda Romero has been able to confirm most of their service records through military archives.

One of the 77 African-American Civil War veterans buried at Mount Peace is John Lawson of Philadelphia, Pa., who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on board the U.S.S. Hartford during successful attacks against Fort Morgan on August 5, 1864. A new headstone was dedicated at the cemetry in his honor in April 2004. His 97-year-old granddaughter, several great-grandchildren and other descendants attended the ceremony. Lawnside Public School students read the names of the veterans buried there.

Civil War Veterans at Mount Peace

Landsman John H. Lawson*

Private Charles A. Still	Private Edward Sawyer	First Sergeant Thomas P. Vatters
Private James Clark	Private George Matthews	Private Francis S. Haley
Private Thomas B. Jones	Unknown Soldier	Musician Joseph Marshall
Private Michael Perry	Corporal Pierce Brown	Seaman William W. Hegamin
Private Issac Dingle	Private George Franks	Private Hubert Tillman
Private George Walter	Landsman David S. Mitson	Landsman Samuel E Brown
Private Joseph Cobbs	Private Charles A. Good	Private Robert Custer
Private Randy West	Private George Nelson	Private Samuel Brister
Private Osceola Butler	Private James M. Raymond	Coal Heaver Isiah Jordan
Corporal Horace Price	Private Calvin Webb	Private Garrett Masey
Private Isiah Dorsey	Private Robert Washington	Private Joseph Smith
Private William H.H. Davis	Private Joshua Richards	Private John Smith
Landsman Peter Heath	Landsman Norman S. Simmons	Private Arthur Webb
Corporal Peter Jackson	Landsman George Harding	Private Jonathan Singleton
Private Thomas B. Scott	Seaman Henry Robinson	Private James Burk
Landsman James H. Duckery	Private Robert Hargest	Seaman John Frank
Private Thomas H. Hines	Landsman Isiah Swan	Private Thomas H. Sampson
Private William Jordan	Private Jonathan Lodine	Private Monroe Smith
Corporal Henry Monroe	Private George Brown	Private Theodore Gibbs
Private George Smith	Sergeant Jerry Brown	Private Edward Foster
Issac Parker George	Corporal Thomas H. Pinkell	Private Moses Joiner
Private Johnson Carter	Private John Davis	Corporal John W. Smith
Unknown Soldier	Private Saul Alston	Private Charles Waters
	Private Jefferson Spriggs	Private Franklin Carper

_{*Congressional Medal of Honor Winner}
To volunteer call Yolanda Romero, secretary of the cemetery association, 856-546-9069.

Tax-deductible contributions can be sent to the Lawnside Historical Society, Inc., earmarked for the Mount Peace Cemetery Restoration Project at P.O. Box 608, Lawnside, NJ 08045.

Those interested can also e-mail the Society at lhs@petermotthouse.org