Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
Five more Revolutionary War era burial sites now have new grave markers , thanks to the work and efforts of the Middletown Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) as they held another in a series of ceremonies Saturday at the Old Brick Reformed Church in Marlboro.
Grave markers for John Covenhoven, the Reverend Benjamin Dubois , Private Oukey Lefferson, Private Peter Van Dorn and Garret Van Der Ver were uncovered by DAR members and descendants of the nation’s first war heroes in a ceremony which began with a color guard from the NJROTC unit at Colts Neck High School presenting colors, and a pledge of allegiance at the graveyard by the close to 100 persons in attendance at the ceremony.
Prior to the ceremony, violinists Summer Liu and Evelyn Lee presented an hour long medley of military and patriotic songs for the gathering crowd in front of the church on Newman Springs Road.
Mayor Jon Hornik welcomed the crowd and urged them to remember and promote the importance of American history and the role Monmouth County and this area in particular played during the revolution. The DAR has recognized that at least 17 patriots from the Revolutionary war era are buried at Old Brick Reformed Church’s burial ground and markers indicate the burial sites of each.
Covenhoven was a colonel in the war, and a descendant of Dutch ancestors who came to New Netherland in 1625. The name is in the earliest records of the church as far back as 1709. Colonel Covenhoven also represented Monmouth County in the colony’s Provincial Congress before the war, and served on committees to draft the state’s first Constitution. He also was on the committee that designed the Great Seal of the State on the state flag. As a soldier, he was taken prisoner and signed an oath to the King in order to gain freedom, later signing an oath to the United States rejecting his former oath. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1781 and 1782.
The Reverend Benjamin Dubois, a minister at the Church during the War was known as the “Fighting Preacher” because he frequently shouldered is gun and knapsack and took his turn on patrol in addition to being ta pastor, the first born in the colonies and the firsts to preach in the English language. He sold produce to the Continental Army and signed aa 1781 petition to encourage free trade.
Private Lefferson serve in Capt. Benjamin Van Cleaf’s company in the 1st Monmouth Militia regiment under Col. Asher Holmes and was a tailor by trade. He signed the Articles of Retaliation after the war, served as a juror, was an elder in the church and eventually a deacon in the Old Brick Reformed Church.
Private Van Dorn served in multiple tours of duty in New Jersey troops other a variety of captains and colonels, and was at the Battle of Germantown, a major engagement during the war.
Mr. Van Der Veer provided his second son, Henrick, as a substituted for his service in the war, and paid the supply tax that funded the war. He and his wife Jane Voorhees had five sons and three daughters. Their oldest son, Tunis, married Francy DuBois and their youngest son David, married Catherine Dubois, both the children of the Reverend Dubois.
Also participating in the ceremony, which moved throughout the burial ground as DAR members and family members uncovered the new markers at each grave, were Chapter Regent Michele Donnelly, State DAR representative Jan Rohn, Monmouth County Historical Commission members Peter Van Nortwick and Maureen O’Connor Leach, as well as members of several local historical societies.
The Colts Neck Color Guard was comprised of NJROTC Lt. Virginia Van Mater, PO second Class Colin Gulka, Seaman recruit Charles Cappen and Petty Officer Morgan Van Mater.
Funding for the program and the markers was made possible in part by an operating support grant from the state Historical Commission through grand funds administered by the Monmouth County Historical Commission.
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