b'Matters weeklynewspaperfrom 1870-1906.There are many Civil Warveteransunder-ground.OneisRichard MAGAZINEWheeler,who,in1862 at28,lefthispregnant wife and son to join the Union Army. His battery F eature your products in the foughtinVirginia,and hereturnedin1864to his wife, son, and a one-Matters Magazine year-olddaughterhed never seen. He served as thepostmasterinSouth Holiday Gift Guide Orange until his death. In 2018, a group of ten Academy Heights neighbors cre-As you look around itsated the Founders Park Conservancy, whose mission easy to spot more familiaris to make the park a useful, beautiful space. Photo by names:Meeker,DurandJessica Miller.and Beach, to name a few.In1890MorrowMemorialbated taking over what had become a Church moved its building, which hadchronic eyesore. Finally, in the 1960s, been the old Jefferson Village Baptistthe Trustees decided on a positive plan Church, to a new site on Lenox Placeof action to rehabilitate the space with in Maplewood. Graves left behind onthe help of federal funds. ClaremontAvenueandRidgewoodThey applied for and received per-Roadweremovedtobepartofthemission from the State of New Jersey cemetery that is now Founders Park. toconverttheareaintoamemorial Eventually,thePresbyterianparkwithamenitiesforseniorsand Church transferred ownership of theaplayareaforchildren. Tombstones property to the South Orange Ceme- were relocated underground to make tery Association (a corporation of fourspaceforthelivingandtheelegant men). Members of this group main- stonemonumentwasbuiltandin-an annual reader favoritetained the area until the last of theirscribed. The park opened in 1971.featuring pages of gift ideas deathsaround1915.Followingthis, the cemetery languished for decades. from local merchants The Village of South Orange suspend-ed further interments in 1926.In 1923 a spark from a nearby rail-road car caused a fire that resulted in $20,000 worth of damage to the cem-etery and a nearby nursery. Over time, variouscivicmindedresidentstried to clean and refurbish the area, but it needed more attention than it received. The stone monument was built and in-For years South Orange Village de- scribed after tombstones were relocated underground.Overtimeinterestanduseagain waned.Oncemoretheareafellinto disrepair. Then, in 2018, a group of ten Academy Heights neighbors created the Founders Park Conservancy. The Con-servancys mission is to make the park a To find out how to useful, beautiful space. With a little help feature your products, visitfromSouthOrangesDepartmentof Public Works, they are doing just that. mattersmagazine.com One of the photos of the cemetery takenWehaveaverysmallbudgetto by the insurance company that was or contact your sales representative investigating damage done by a firefund the repair and upkeep of Found-caused by a sparking railroad car in 1923. ers Park, says Founders Park Conser-42/ matters magazine / fall 2023'