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About us

The Hillside Cemetery of Samptown is owned and operated by the First Baptist Church of South Plainfield. Cemetery hours are 9 AM to 5 PM daily.

Located on New Market Ave in South Plainfield, the cemetery offers a serene setting ideally suited for cemetery purposes. The cemetery was established in the 1690's along the Bound Brook and was home of the original building of the Samptown Baptist Church founded in 1792. The cemetery is managed through volunteers of the First Baptist Church of South Plainfield's Board of Trustees. Whether for future use, immediate need or for assistance locating loved ones, the considerate volunteers of the cemetery will assist you.

Interment Information

NOVICE: HILLSIDE CEMETERY OF SAMPTOWN PUBLIC USE: COVID-19 VIRUS RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS:

Maintain 6 foot social distancing
Must wear face mask
Follow New Jersey limits gathering limits for funeral services

Click the following links for more information: Hillside Cemetery of Samptown Rules and Regulations Hillside Cemetery of Samptown Interment Requirements and Charges Rules and Regulations subject to change. Current Requirements, Charges, Rules and Regulations on file with the New Jersey Cemetery Board. Contact us for the most recent copy.

History

Initial Burials

No one can say for certain when the first burial was made in what is now the Hillside Cemetery of Samptown. Europeans began to settle along the Bound Brook near its junction with the Cedar Brook in the year 1682. The village of Samptown, located at the point where the Old Raritan Road crossed the Bound Brook was established sometime after that. The cemetery, which was situated on the south side of the road from Samptown to Quibbletown on the western edge of Samptown, probably began as a family plot or a public burying ground for the residents of Samptown.

Historic Section

In 1693, the East Jersey Board of Proprietors gave John Mollison, a member of the Board, one hundred acres of land in historic Piscataway Township. This appears to have included the land that now comprises the cemetery. Mollison family lore claimed that the land for the cemetery was set aside in 1700 by Benjamin Mollison. Likely, this action was probably taken by John Mollison; Benjamin's father.

First Baptist Church

Local Baptists founded a church on the site in 1792, constructing their meeting house on a plot of land next to the cemetery that they appear to have purchased from Benjamin Mollison. The Samptown Baptist Church operated the cemetery as both a public burying ground and a private cemetery for the church members until about 1850 when it seems to have begun limiting burials to only church members. Although the meeting house was enlarged in 1812, the congregation out grew it and a new meeting house was constructed on the north side of the road opposite the old meeting house. This building burned down in 1879. Efforts to cover the ruins resulted in the large graded area in the northwest corner of the present cemetery.

Up to the Present

In 1875, township authorities abandoned the road through the cemetery and, starting in 1880, the church began to acquire additional land to expand the cemetery. In 1895, a final pun;:hase was made from the Mollison family. Sales of land to the Jewish community in Plainfield in the 1890s and the early twentieth century brought the cemetery to its present dimensions. The church incorporated the Hillside Cemetery of Samptown as a public cemetery in 1882 and, as such, it has continued to serve the residents of the area to this very day.

Hillside Cemetery of Samptown