Denville Methodist Episcopal Cemetery

Denville Methodist Episcopal Cemetery, commonly referred to as the Cook Cemetery, is located at the site of the first Methodist Episcopal church in the Rockaway Valley, on land then belonging to the Cook family.

The following transcriptions are from the Genealogical Magazine of NJ
[GMNJ, Vol 53, May 1978, page 65]

BLANCHARD, Charles E., son of Manning & Susan Blanchard, d. Mar. 8, 1889, aged 25 yrs.
BLANCHARD, Emma V., dau. of Columbus & Celia Blanchard, d. Oct. 4, 1884, aged 0.3.11
CASTED (?), Mary Peer, dau. of William & Sarah (Husk) Casted(?), d. Feb. 15, 1887, aged 41 yrs.
ESTLER, Henry, son of Henry Estler, d. July 23, 1894, aged 75 yrs. and 6 mos.
ESTLER, Sarah A., dau. of Nancy HENDERSON, d. Aug. 13, 1899, aged 78 yrs. and 5 mos.
HUSK, Anthony, d. Dec. 13, 1883, aged 84
HUSK, John H., Son of Henry & Ami (Cook) Husk, d. Jan. 30, 1889, aged 72.3.18
HUSK, Susan Elizabeth, dau. of Asher & Susan (Fairchild) Husk, d. Nov. 12, 1884, aged 68.1.12
MASSAKER, Bertha May, dau. of John H. & Mary Ellen Massaker, d. Oct. 9, 1882, aged 5 yrs. and 9 mos.
PEER, Calvin A., son of Samuel & Ida Peer, d. Mar. 28, 1907, aged 82 yrs.
PEER, Cora, dau. of Walter & Isabelle Peer, d. Apr. 5, 1896, aged 21 days.
PEER, Edward C., son of Calvin & Catharine (Cook) Peer, d. Sept. 27, 1882, aged 21 yrs 10 mos.
PEER, Hannah, dau. of Walter & Isabelle Peer, d. Dec. 26, 1897, aged 71.9.5
PEER, Margaret C., nee McNealy, d. Apr. 1, 1882, aged 45 yrs. & 11 mos
PEER, Nora E., dau. of Walter & Isabelle Peer, d. Dec 11, 1887, aged 12.0.15
SMITH, John, d. Jan. 31, 1888, aged 66 yrs.
SPEER, Archibald, son of Benjamin & Anna Speer, d. Feb. 5, 1890, aged 70 yrs.
VAN ORDEN, John, son of John & Sarah Van Orden, d. Aug. 11, 1895, aged 24 days
VAN ORDEN, Joseph, son of Ira & Caroline Van Orden, d. Nov. 4, 1884, aged 1 yr. and 1 mo.
VAN ORDEN, Margarette, dau. of Thomas & Agatha (Peer) Van Orden, d. Dec. 9, 1885, aged 2.0.12
VANDERHOOF, Elizabeth, dau of David Cook, d. Apr. 24, 1882, aged 78.7.26
VANDERHOOF, William, d. Jan. 18, 1889, aged 74 yrs.

A Note from GMNJ:
A comparison of the death records with the gravestones shows that only three of these persons have markers. In addition, Mrs. Harold Cook of Denville (90 years old in 1973) reports that her grandmother, Sarah Ann (Van Orden) Egbert, who died in 1895, is also buried here without a gravestone. It is also possible that some persons originally buried here have since been re-interred elsewhere. There are no indications that anyone has been buried in this cemetery since 1907.

The Denville M.E. Cemetery gravestone inscriptions were copied by Russell B. Rankin and Frances G. Dodd on June 10, 1923. The inscriptions were checked by Edward J. Raser on June 10, 1973, by coincidence exactly fifty years later. As indicated in the following list, several stones could not be found during this recent visit.

BLANCHARD, William*; wife Irene*; dau. Emma Jane, d. Nov. 26, 1863, aged 4.8.26
BLANCHARD, William H.*; wife Sarah A., d. Sept 11, 1887, aged 22.3.17
COOK, ____*; wife Mary*; dau. Eliza J. Small stone next to Hannah Peer, inscription eroded beyond further reading in 1973.
COOK, David, d. Nov. 10, 1860, aged 80.4.5; wife Jemima, d. Aug. 7, 1851, aged 70.8.9
COOK, Edward*; wife Mary*; dau. Laura, d. Oct. 13, 1851, aged 1.9.5
COOK, Elizabeth. See Calvin A. Peer
COOK, Major John P., d. Apr. 24, 1864, aged 76.1.8; wife Mary Fredericks, d. July 1, 1862, aged 74.2.18
COOK, Martha. See Jacob V. N. Voorhees
COOK, Stephen H., b. Nov. 21, 1797, d. Mar. 19, 1853. To his left, Elizabeth, b. Aug. 26, 1799, d. May 4, 1878
DUDLEY, Joseph*; wife Areadner*; dau. Emma, b. July 16, 1859, d. Nov. 13, 1860
EARLES, Enoch K., d. May 11, 1880, aged 79 yrs; wife Elizabeth, d. Apr. 24, 1881, aged 79 yrs. Both stones missing in 1973.
FREDERICKS, Mary. See Major John P. Cook
HARTRUM, Mary E. See L. C. Vanderhoof
HUSK, Anthony*; wife Sophia, d. Apr. 22, 1851, in 48^th yr.
HUSK, Henry, d. Feb 28, 1817, aged 25 yrs. Only brownstone marker in plot; face completely scaled off in 1973.
HUSK, John H., b. Oct. 12, 1816, d. Jan 30, 1889; wife Susan E., b. Oct. 1, 1816, d. Nov. 12, 1884
LEE, Jesse*; wife Sussnie*; dau. Jessie Annie, d. May 18, 1873, aged 2.6.3
PEER, Calvin, "Co. L, 27^th N.J. Vols.," (no dates or age). GAR marker only
PEER, Calvin A.*; wife Elizabeth Cook, d. Jan. 16, 1892, aged 60.11.20; son George H., d. Mar. 10, 1857, aged 2 yrs & 3 mos
PEER, Hannah, d. Dec. 26, 1897, aged 71 yrs & 9 mos
PEER, Ira*; wife Eliza A.*; dau. Emma Jane, d. Feb. 19, 1857, aged 2.4.7
PEER, Jacob*; wife Hannah*; son George Wesley, "Private Co. K 7^th Reg. N.J. Volunteers. Died at Yorktown, Va. May 13, 1862," aged 16.11.18
PEER, Samuel, d. Dec. 15, 1867, aged 80 yrs & 3 mos.; wife Ida, d. Feb 28, 1862, aged 67.4.26
PEER, William A., b. May 4, 1862, d. Feb. 24, 1893, To right of Samuel Peer, Sr.
SPEAR, Mrs. Ann, d. May 7, 1866, aged 77 yrs.
SPEAR, John, "member of Co. K, 27^th Reg't. N.J. Vol's., Died in Washington, D.C.," Dec. 26, 1864, aged 39 yrs. GAR marker: "John Speer, Co. E, 34 N.J.V."
THOMPSON, Chilleon, "Co. C, 7^th N.J. Inf.," (no dates or age), government stone. GAR marker: "Chileon Thompson, Co. C. 7 N.J.V."
TILL, William, "Co. K, 7^th N.J. Vol.," (no dates or age) on wooden slab, now gone. GAR marker confirms "Co. K, 7 N.J.V,"
WILLIAMSON, Peter*; wife Mary Jane*; dau. Emma Jane, "Drowned at Port Washington," Nov. 20, 1871, aged 11.3.12; son Robert, d. Feb. 20, 1868, aged 9.6.2
VANDERHOOF, David, "Pvt. Co. C, 7^th N.J. Vol.," d. Sept 7, 1875, aged 31.9.18. To left of David Cood; only fragments of stone remaining in 1973.
VANDERHOOF, Jacob*; wife Mary A.*; son Charles F., d. Nov. 30, 1869, aged 1 yr. & 2 mos.
VANDERHOOF, L. C.*; wife Mary E. Hartrum, b. Sept. 21, 1857, d. Apr. 7, 1885
VANDERHOOF, William*; wife Elizabeth, d. May 13, 1871, aged 58 yrs.
VOORHEES, Jacob V.N., b. Dec. 13, 1808, d. Apr. 19, 1862; wife Martha Cook, b. May 10, 1812, d. Apr. 16, 1862

From the manuscript, Denville Cemeteries, by Bob Illig we have the following list:
(NHS) = no head stone

BLANCHARD
William H.
Sarah A. (w/o William H.) b. 1865; d. 9/11/1887; 22 years
Emma Jane (d/o William & Irene); b. 1859; d. 11/26/1863; 4 years
Emma V. (d/o Columbus & Celia) (NHS); d. 10/4/1884; 3 months
Charles E. (s/o Manning & Susan); d. 3/8/1889; 25 years