(RED BANK, NJ) -- Mr. Silas B. Reeves was born in 1845 and served in the Union Army during the Civil War as a member of the U.S. Colored Troops, Company B, 41st Regiment. This unit fought with distinction throughout the last months of the Civil War and served along the Mexican border before the unit was disbanded in 1865. Reeves, along with other Black Civil War veterans, and freed Black people, whose eternal resting place are buried at Cedar View Cemetery in Lincroft, NJ. This historic site, which is close to 200 years old, is being preserved by a group of historians and preservationists, the Friends of Cedar View. There are several members of this diverse organization whose relatives are buried at this cemetery.
The non-profit organization has been actively raising funds and documenting the history of the cemetery and will present this story to an interested audience during a Black History Month celebration on February 17, 2023, at 6:00pm. This will be an online ZOOM presentation and to receive the Zoom link please send your name and email address to: [email protected]
The Friends of Cedar View was established to preserve and protect the cemetery. The upcoming presentation is to heighten awareness about the cemetery’s unique historical and overall cultural value it offers the public.
Recently, John Barrows, the editor of the Monmouth Timeline website commissioned artist, Sharifa Patrick, on behalf of the Friends of Cedar View to create a rendering of Silas Reeves’ homecoming from the war. The organization has presented the story of the cemetery at the Middletown Public Library and the Red Bank Public Library.
There are landscaping plans in discussion and ground penetrating radar detection work to be completed to get a more accurate number of how many people are actually buried at Cedar View. To date Robert Shomo, one of the historians of the group thinks it could be upwards of 225 people buried on the two-acre site, which is adjacent to St. Leo’s Church in Lincroft.
The mission of the organization is to preserve and protect the African-American Cedar View Cemetery founded on November 14, 1850 in Lincroft, New Jersey; to ensure the continued solemnity of this hallowed ground; and to bring increased awareness of the cemetery's unique historical and cultural value to the public.
This event and Friends of Cedar View are supported by: Church of St. Leo the Great, Middletown Township Council, Monmouth Conservation Foundation, Engineering & Land Planning Associates, Inc. (E&LP), Pilgrim Baptist Church, Sunrise Title Agency and T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center and many individuals whose names are too numerous to mention.
Donations are welcome and can be made via check or by online here. Checks can be mailed to Friends of Cedar View PO Box 371, Lincroft, NJ 07738. The Friends of Cedar View is a registered 501 (c) 3 Organization. Donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
