The Jersey City news., 1902-02-17
CRAVE FRAUD.
Money for Veterans Fun
erals and Tombstones
Misappropnated.
P. H. O'NEILL'S DISCOVERIES
Lack Of System Cause Abuse
Statistics Of the Old
Soldiers.

i r. Fl. s0,NeiH in connection with fa@
1 burial Of old soldiers and sailors Of the
/ Civil War mas disclosed gross frauds OF
/ the part Of many persons who collected
/ the S50-Ss5 for the interment and SIS fo1
/ Tombstone allowed by law and misap-
propriased a part or all Of the same. OF
The over 100 bur:als OF veterans by the
county only 40 graves have the tomb
stones allowed BY law.
| Members of the different veteran or
ganizations of the county are justly IN
\ dignant over the matter. They DO not
blame the members OF former Boards of
/ Freeholders, who paid the allowance pre-
scribed by law, but are unstinting in their
/ condemnation of the ghoulish work OF
those VINO collected the money and mis-
/ appropriated It.
] That the frauds praeticed in this con-
nection were only possible through the
I lack of proper supervision Of the inter-
ment of veterans by a representative of
Ethe county governmen is conceded.
The system existing here since the pass
/ age of the act of February 10, 1854, which
provides that the freeholders shah pay
/ s35 for the burial and s15 for a tomb
stone for all INDECENT vetreans who die
within the boundaries of the county. was
to pay the same on the presentation OF
( bill by the undertaken in charge Of the
funeral. -or a member of the family of the
deceased veteran who presented his hon
orable discharge from the army and madc
/ affidavit that such veteran died in in
/ digent circumstances
/ AS result Of this lack Of system Hud-
! son is the only one Of the counties Of the
state with no official record of the old
soldiers and sailors buried within her
boundaries. The bills presented and paid
/ by the county during the past seventeen
years show, in majority of cases, little
more than the names Of the deceased vet
erans. The discharges which originally
| accompanied the bin have been returned.
and there was no record Of the companies
or regiments in which the deceased sol
i diers served. nor information as to the
4 places of interment.
Succeeding Boards Of F'reeho,ders SIMPLY
followed the established precedent with
the result that the cordition revealed by
County. Overseer P. II. O'Nean's inyesri-
CATION was made possible
The act of 1854 prov:5es that It shall
be the duty Of the board Of freeho.ders
to designate some proper authority. other
than that designated by Jaw for the care
Of paupers and the custody Of criminals,
who shall cause to be Inferred the body
/ of an honorably discharged solder,
sailor or marine who shall hereafter die
without leaving means sufficient to de-
i fray funeral expenses The action of
the present Board of Freeholders in nam
4 ing County Ove-seer O'Neih. who is
himself a veteran, to look after such
linterments and compile an official record
of all old soldiers and sailors buried with
In the county, meets with the hearty en-
dorsement Of the surviving comrades of
veteran organizations.
| The record, as far as completed BY MI
OgNelE since he started at the work last
April. shows that over 1000 old soldiers
are buried here in twenty-five different
lceneseries. OF these the county has paid
for the interment of 435, although only
j forty of the headstones provided for Dy
i the 1854 act can be located In addition
{, over 1000 old soldiers and sailor inmates
LOT the Kearny homo have passed away.
Many have been inferred in graves pro-
vided by the institutions and the re-
mainder taken to the homes of the de-
i ceased In different sections of the county
The different veteran organizations OF
the county are heartily in sympathy with
the legislative bill authorizing the ex-
penditure of $4,000 for the purchase Of
additional soldiers burial plots and the
] placing in repair of those now owned By
the county. Only three unoccupied graves
remain in the soldiers plot in the New
York Bay Cemetery. which has been usse
/ for the burial of nearly all INDECENT vet-
Grams dying south of the Paterson Plank
Road. The plot in Wechawken Flower
/ HIl and Hoboken cemeteries are also
nearly filed.
The record Of the living and dead of
the different veteran organizations of the
county as far as completed by Mr..
| OsNeill, shows:
| Van Houten Post, No. 8. G. A. r.
Present membership 2is Dead In known
places Of interment ee; in unknown places
So Total rs
Henry Wilson Post. No. IS. G. A. r.
Present membership a. Dead in known
places of interment ss; in unknown places
IA. Total 11a
zabriskle Post. No. IS. G. A. R.-Pres-
ent membership q. Dead in known places
of interment 50.
George II Thomas Post. No q. G. A.
r. Present membership Il. Dead in
known Places CT interment rs.
Ellsworth Post, No, Il, G. A. r. Present
membership. s6. Dead in known places Of
interment l2.
Union veteran Legion. Present mem
bership, 20. Dead in known places OF In
terment. II.
The death rosters of these organizations
total s7s and in addition are the dead Of
M&dor G. Woerner POST, No. p. and T. A