Trinity Church Cemetery, Swedesboro

It has been suggested that this article be merged into Trinity Church (Swedesboro, New Jersey). (Discuss) Proposed since March 2011.

Trinity Church Cemetery (also known as Trinity Episcopal "Old Swedes" Church Cemetery) is located behind Trinity Church (Swedesboro, New Jersey) on the corner of Church Street and Kings Highway, in the town of Swedesboro, in Gloucester County, New Jersey.

Background

In 1641, Peter Hollander Ridder, the second governor of New Sweden purchased from local Indians the entire eastern side of the Delaware River extending from Raccoon Creek to Cape May. The first settlement by the Swedes was on the banks of the Raccoon Creek, originally named Raccoon and later Swedesboro.

To attend church, the Swedish settlers in Raccoon had to cross the river to Wilmington or Philadelphia. The difficulty of this crossing led to the decision to build a new church on the banks of Raccoon Creek. The site selected was near the new bridge for Kings Highway, which led from Burlington to Salem. In 1703, they purchased 100 acres (0.40 km²) along the Raccoon Creek and on part of it established their own church, the first Swedish language church in New Jersey.^[1]

Trinity Church was originally a Swedish Lutheran Parish. From 1703 to 1786, it was served by clergy sent from Sweden. With the completion of a new church building in 1786, the Swedish Mission was drawing to a close. The Swedish language was almost extinct and the people no longer felt the same bond of sympathy with the land of their forbears. The congregations in New Jersey did not desire new pastors from Sweden and could not afford to offer them decent support. In October 1789 a semblance of affiliation by Trinity Church with the Episcopal Church in America began. The church is now known as Trinity Episcopal "Old Swedes" Church and is a member parish of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey.^[2]

Notable interments

• Louis H. Carpenter (February 11, 1839 - January 21, 1916) - Indian Wars Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and Spanish-American War General.
• Charles Garrison Harker (December 2, 1835 - June 27, 1864) - American Civil War Brigadier General in the Union Army.
• Benjamin Franklin Howey (March 17, 1828 - February 6, 1895) - Republican Congressman to the Forty-eighth United States Congress (1883–1885).^[3]
• Charles Creighton Stratton (March 6, 1796 - March 30, 1859) - Served in the United States House of Representatives and was later the 15th Governor of New Jersey.

See also

• Trinity Church (Swedesboro, New Jersey)

References

Other sources

• Johnson, Amandus The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware Volume I: Their History and Relation to the Indians, Dutch and English, 1638-1664 (1911)
• Johnson, Amandus The Swedes in America 1638-1900: Vol. I, The Swedes on the Delaware 1638-1664. (1914)
• Johnson, Amandus The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware 1638-1664, Volume II (1927)

External links

• Trinity Episcopal Church- Swedesboro, NJ.
• Trinity Episcopal Church New Cemetery

Coordinates: 39°45′09″N 75°18′31″W / 39.7524°N 75.3086°W / 39.7524; -75.3086