The Pleasant Mills Cemetery is also the site of a ghost town which no longer exist just across the river from Batsto. It is one of the oldest ghost town sites of the Pine Barrens but burials did not really begin till the early 1800s. The cemetery served not only the residents of Pleasant Mills but Batsto also and has many early pioneers. I chose to do this cemetery cause its one of the eerie and well known cemeteries in all the Pine Barrens in my opinion. 

The church that was on the cemetery site was a log structure in 1707 then was replaced by another one in 1760. The current building you see below was built in 1808 and has stood for two centuries strong. It was dedicated to Reverend Francis Ashbury the First Methodist Bishop of the United States. Then other sources claim that the church began as a log structure on land donated by Elijah Cark in 1758 so its hard to say. None the less its irrelevant when it comes to the Jersey Devil which haunts this area more then anywhere in the Pine Barrens almost. It sits on the Batsto and Mullica Rivers.  The Church was called the Clark's meeting house as a nickname but the real name was called the Pleasant Mills Batsto Church.. 

One of the Indians who was involved in the famous Greenwich Tea burning party in the Revolutionary war named Reverend Fithian a Presbyterian Minister does mention preaching at the Clark's Meeting House Logs. 

The first Catholic church was built in the town of Pleasant Mills in the Pine Barrens. Many Catholics settled in the area from Germany where there was religious segregation.  Those Catholics wanted peaceful homes establishing a saw mill and iron forge which drew in this colony of wood choppers and sawyers. They would practice in their homes until chapels in the town could be built. But even more so the Catholics did find segregation even in Pleasant Mills. 

The Revolutionary war caused many faiths to blend therefore all theologies started to become recognized. The Richards family bought Pleasant Mills and Batso businesses and donated the land for the first Catholic Church in the pines which is no longer standing.  This was the first church south of Trenton NJ another big city across on the Delaware River.  The town also is no longer standing that once existed except for the cemetery, wood bridge, church and the paper mill factory.

The factory would be part of the Bargain Town Circuit along with other forms of industry that existed in Pleasant Mills. The paper was made in 1862 called the Pleasant Mills Paper. Co of Wm. E. Farrel. Long before that time the sawmill was built in 1725 so of course this drew attention from the Catholics. Most Catholics did saw mill work rather then forging.  We could not find the paper mill found out later it was actually quite a distance from the cemetery. Cedar and  Pine was an important commodity in the area as well as the products used in making paper. It did burn down in 1879 not sure if a new mill was ever erected after that.

If you want to get more into before the booming of the town in 1645 Eric Mullica sailed up the river which now bears his name. He established a settlement nearby near where the Lenni Lenape Indians had a summer village near. In 1707 Scottish exiles were coming to Pleasant Mills and the nearby neighborhood called the forks developed a bartering post. 

The first stage coach arrived here in 1773 at the Thomas Clark Mill. In 1779 Elijah Clark sold his plantation to Richard Wescoat who built his home at Pleasant Mills in 1762. This home later would be known as the Kate Aylesford house named after a fictional character of a best selling Charles Peterson novel.  

Benedict Arnold supposedly kept his headquarters at Pleasant Mills until 1778 when he relocated along with all his supplies to Philadelphia in fear that the British would burn this town down. During that war its said Casimir Pulaski camped here with his men before the battle of Chestnut Neck. 

In 1787 the nearby town of Batsto was purchased and Pleasant Mills become associated with Joseph Ball. If you remember he was one of the four partners who operated the Weymouth Furnace. Ball later sold Pleasant Mills to Samuel Richards like it says above and Clayton Earl in 1796. 

Mrs. Patrick McGeary opened up her home to children of the Catholic Faith back before the church was built. Before that Catholics had to travel very far for church services Pleasant Mills was more convenient.  Because of this later down the road the New St. Vincent DePaul Roman Catholic Church and Parochial school were built in 1906 in the area. 

When you study any map you will see Pleasant Mills is listed as a town but honestly that marking is a cemetery. There are no foundations or remnants but the history behind what these people made who are buried here. At night this is one of the most eerie cemeteries I have seen. Its full of old stones some very unique and you just walk around thinking about how many burials here came from this town that no longer exist and the other nearby ghost town named Batsto which is fully restored but died out as well. 

The cemetery is full of many prominent names well know to the Pleasant Mills and Batsto community during there hay day. Some of those resting their is Simon Lucas the church's most colorful trustees as well as William and Jesse Richards of the Batsto Iron Family. Lets not forget the great Captain Jack Van Dyke a Revolutionary War Privateer and Master of the Brigantine called Gypsy Lane. 

There is also alot of ghost stories shared about this cemetery. Behind it our trails in the Pine Barrens we took a few some go off to nowhere some go on perhaps for miles. We made sure with this cemetery we visited during the day, at night and even early morning. Its one of these places you have to view a few times to grasp the concept that this area surrounding it was a large town at one time.

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Lord Rick