Farms: Re-dedication Ceremony Hendrickson Family Burial Ground Holmdel, NJ

On March 13, 2011 a Re-dedication ceremony was held at the Hendrickson Family Burial Ground in Holmdel, NJ. The cemetery was destroyed in July/August 2010 by the Beau Ridge Homeowners Association Board of Directors. 50 of the 60 tombstones were destroyed before a cease and desist order was issued to stop. The Hendricks and Hendrickson Family Association of Monmouth County NJ is working to reconstruct the cemetery. Following is a history of the cemetery. The Hendricks and Hendrickson family was among the first settlers in Monmouth County, NJ. They purchased land as early as 1692 in what was to become Holmdel, NJ. The original Daniel Hendrickson house was built around 1693 at the corner of Holland Road and Laurel Avenue. Daniel's brother, William, operated a grist mill nearby on the Mahoras Creek which parallels present-day Laurel Avenue. Last year, the discovery of a 365-year-old document in the New York Archives showed that the Hendricks and Hendrickson families emigrated about 1667 from Barneveld, in the Province of Gelderland, in the Netherlands. Many of the descendants of Daniel Hendrickson adopted the name "Hendrickson" while those of his brother William used the name "Hendricks". In 1699, Daniel and William Hendrickson, and other early Dutch settlers, founded The Dutch Reformed Church of the Navesink which is the present-day Old Brick Reformed Church. As family members died, many were buried in the Hendrickson Cemetery which dates from the late 1600s. Many of the Hendrickson family members buried in this cemetery gave extraordinary service to Monmouth County. Daniel Hendrickson was named Constable of Middletown 1704-1706, Captain of the Militia in 1706, and High Sheriff of Monmouth County by Queen Anne in 1707. At least 3 of his direct descendants buried in this cemetery were patriots of the American Revolutionary War. Other descendants buried here also fought in the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Daniel Hendrickson's grandson, Hendrick Hendrickson, is also buried in this cemetery. His home and the home that he gave to his daughter, are preserved by the Monmouth County Historical Association as the Holmes-Hendrickson House and the Longstreet Farm. One of the last owners of the original Daniel Hendrickson farm was William Henry Hendrickson. He was the former 3 term state senator from Monmouth County. He and his family are also buried in this cemetery. At his death in 1899, he was one of the wealthiest men in Monmouth County. We commemorate the farmers, the tradesmen, the judges, and the elected officials buried in the Hendricksion Cemetery. We hope the Hendrickson Cemetery can be restored and preserved for future generations in memory of one of the founding families of Holmdel and Monmouth County.