If you head down E. Bay Ave towards the municipal dock and the bay, you'll pass through Barnegat's historic district. On your left is one of the town's oldest buildings, dating to 1767. It belongs to the Religious Society of Friends-The Quakers. A serene and peaceful place, it has it's own cemetery and is still an active house of worship.
This was the oldest headstone that I could actually read. If you can't see the detail, it reads: SAMUEL ARNOLD BORN 11th, mo, 30th, 1768. DIED 4th, mo, 2nd, 1817.
The most recent I found was from 1993. I didn't count but the name Collins seemed to dominate throughout the cemetery. No suprise as the first house built here was by the Collins family and Quakers were the majority of those who permanently settled the area starting in the 1750s.
I did find one gravesite that stood out. It had a memorial marker from The American Legion. A rarity as Quakers are pacifists. The most famous exceptions are such veterans as Pres. Richard M. Nixon, Daniel Boone, Nathanael Greene, and Smedley Butler.
Sometime in the near future, I plan on attending a worship service here. It's part of getting to know my neighbors and learn about aspects of religious faith that I'm unfamiliar with. I'm quite happy in my faith as a Methodist, but am curious about others, especially the Quakers and the Amish.
Barnegat is now my home for good and I plan on sharing my wanderings and discoveries along this area of the Jersey Shore with you, my dear readers.
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