40 Days for Life - Our Lady of Good Counsel

24 | The Good Counsel Courier Vol. 5 | Issue 5 | November 21, 2013www.olgcnj.orgGrave ConcernsWe seek your help, if possible, on a project outlined below.The headline sounds serious because the project is important tothe parish, but as you read you will realize that we are having alittle humor with what we would like to achieve.Everyone knows that our parish church was founded in 1881although Mass was celebrated in a local farmhouse for manyyears prior. The history of our parish and church and school iswell documented. We are all beneficiaries of this century-oldlegacy.What may be less well-known is that our parish cemetery,Mount Carmel in west Moorestown, dates from at least 1880,with the land being purchased some time before that. Shownis a photo of the deed to the first plot purchased by one theoriginal families.The history of our cemetery is not as well documented, andthis is where we seek help. Perhaps your family has a longhistory at Our Lady of Good Counsel and you have familymembers or friends of the family at rest in Mount Carmelcemetery; perhaps you have stories of family or cemeteryfolklore of famous, or not-so-famous, parishioners passed downthe generations.Whatever you have in your family archives, we wouldwelcome the opportunity to examine. No piece of informationwill be insignificant - it will confirm what we know and have inour records, or help to fill in the blanks.Your help in documenting cemetery history will honor thelegacy left to us by generations of parishioners, and build onthat legacy for future parishioners and historians.Please contact Thom Scattaregia at 856-235-0181 ext. 124,or email to scattaregiat@olgcnj.org - we look forward to hearingfrom you.Cemetery Records Photos:Top: List of parishioners making a contribution to the purchase of the landfor Mount Carmel Cemetery.Caption: This is a list of 36 original parishioners who contributed to thepurchase of the land for Mount Carmel Cemetery. In exchange theyreceived a lot or half lot if their total pledge was paid by October 24,1880. One of the first deeds in our cemetery.Copy of records for first lots sold:These stubs show the first lots sold in the cemetery on February 21,1880. James McElwee purchased one lot and Thomas McGuiganpurchased a half lot, both in the St.Joseph’s section. Depending oncemetery layout lots could accommodate four or six graves.On the blank receipt you will see that our parish was originally dedicatedto Our Lady and St. Patrick.