Over 100 years before the founding of Plainsboro in 1919, the Old Bethel Methodist Church was built in 1812 on property donated by Robert Davison Jr. The church itself had wavering success, falling in and out of disrepair over the early years. In 1850, a circuit minister (a traveling preacher, a popular role in the Methodist Church) arrived and brought an influx of interest by holding services on Sunday mornings. When he switched to providing services on Sunday afternoons, this interest once again dissipated. Services were discontinued after 1853. The building was used sporadically by various denominations until 1909.

Though the wooden church building was demolished in 1933, the graveyard associated with the church still stands today. Maintenance was originally taken over by the Plainsboro Lions Club and then by the Plainsboro Historical Society. It is now owned and maintained by the Township of Plainsboro. In our collection at the museum, we have one of the salvaged wooden pews from the church before demolition (see photo left).

The graveyard is not very easy to find as it’s tucked away off of Plainsboro Road. Looking up “Old Bethel Graveyard” in Google Maps will not help you much either. The best way to find the entrance to the cemetery is to enter the address 353 Plainsboro Road, which will bring you to a narrow path off of the main road with a little white sign reading “Old Bethel Cemetery.” Did you know that a burial ground associated with a church is called a graveyard, while a burial ground independent from a church is a cemetery? When the church was still standing, it was called the Old Bethel Graveyard. Since the church has been long demolished, it’s now the Old Bethel Cemetery.

As for the residents of the cemetery, there are family names such as Bobko, Davison, Eifert, Lake, Perrine, Thompson, and Van Kirk, just to list a few. Union solider in the Civil War, PVT Valentine Eifert, is buried at Old Bethel, born in 1840 and having died in 1918. He was a part of the 29^th Regiment in the New Jersey Infantry. The 29^th Regiment was organized in Freehold, NJ in September of 1862 and spent most of their time in the Washington D.C. and Virginia area. They were involved in the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia from April 30^th to May 6^th, 1863 which resulted in a Confederate victory. The Regiment was mustered out (discharged) in July of 1863, having lost one man in battle and 39 to disease. Eifert made it back home and married Anna Oehl on December 24^th, 1866 in Manhattan. He went on to live approximately another 55 years and both are buried together at Old Bethel. More information on the 29^th Regiment can be found on the National Park Service site here.