The Town of Phillipsburg is marking the completion of Black History Month with a ceremony commemorating the burial site of an unknown Black child. Buried in 1844 upon the grounds that would become the Phillipsburg Cemetery, little is known about the child who is said to have “fallen into a sandpit and died of injuries.”
The Town of Phillipsburg in conjunction with the Phillipsburg UEZ and the Phillipsburg Area Historical Society have commissioned a plaque to memorialize the child. Because the exact site of the child’s burial is unknown, the plaque will rest at the entrance of the Phillipsburg Cemetery, marking for visitors the child’s presence within the graveyard.
“We know from archival records that in 1844 the first person known to be buried in what would become the Phillipsburg Cemetery was a Black child, but we do not know that child’s name as it was not thought important enough to record,” said Phillipsburg Councilman Lee Clark. “Like so many other aspects of American culture and history, even here in this graveyard an African-American led the way – but was unmarked and unrecognized. Today, we take one small step in acknowledging this child with this plaque commemorating a life, precious in God’s eyes and now, finally, visible to ours.”
President of the Branching Out Foundation and Phillipsburg School Board Vice President Vickie Mendes-Branch agreed. “We gather to memorialize this Unknown Black Child and dedicate ourselves to the generations of children to come: that they not become lost in classrooms indifferent to their lived experience and their disparate needs; not become meaningless statistics and not become unmarked or unrecognized by the world at large as it passes them by.”
Phillipsburg Cemetery, the first public cemetery in the Phillipsburg area, was formerly known as “Mr. Roseberry’s wheat field.” The Roseberry family were pioneer settlers of Phillipsburg in the 1700s and it is historically possible that the wheat field may have been the final resting place for an unknown number of African-Americans of that era. In addition to commemorating the Unknown Black Child laid to rest in 1844, the plaque and ceremony will acknowledge and commemorate these others who may be interred there as well.
The ceremony will be held at Phillipsburg Cemetery on February 28, 2026 at 11 a.m. It will be led by the Reverend Wayne C. Sherrer, author of Phorgotten No More: Glimpses of the African-American presence in Phillipsburg, New Jersey 1777 – 2021. Following the ceremony, a reception will be held at the Phillipsburg Arts Association, 140 S. Main St., Phillipsburg, NJ.
“So much of Phillipsburg’s history remains unknown,” said Phillipsburg Mayor Randy Piazza. “It is still being uncovered and learned even today. This child’s story reminds us that there are voices from our past that were never properly recorded – and lives that were never fully acknowledged. It is our duty to continue searching, learning, and telling the stories of those who have been forgotten or ignored – and making sure that it never happens again.”
Donations to fund the plaque and other commemorations of African-American history in Phillipsburg –including the town’s significance as a stop on the famed “Underground Railroad” that helped usher runaway slaves to freedom – may be forwarded to the Phillipsburg Area Historical Society, a registered not-for-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and therefore eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions in accordance with Code section 170.
Donations may be sent to Phillipsburg Area Historical Society, PO Box 175, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865. Checks should note in the memo line that the donation is for BHMC (Black History Monument Committee) or through by clicking this link: Phillipsburg Black History Monument Committee Fund
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Information provided to TVL by:
Phillipsburg Urban Enterprise Zone
