Civil War history being preserved by WWII vet.
BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Township historian Ceil Leedom and VFW Post 911 Commander Al Kady are trying to promote the past. Currently at the South Brunswick Municipal Library is a display honoring the Hush-Roberts cemetery near Sand Hills Road in Kendall Park.

Kady found the gravesite eight years ago and has been trying to preserve it ever since. It contains the grave of Aaron Hush, a black man from Franklin Township who served in the Civil War.

"He fought for the same things I did," Kady said. "He's a brother. The ground he's on, we have to keep clean. It's sacred, hallowed ground."

Hush volunteered for the 32nd Regiment of the United States Colored Troops of Philadelphia in February of 1864 and served until August of 1865. He went to Philadelphia because New Jersey did not allow blacks to fight at that time. He was one of 2,872 black people who fought in the war.

"I don't believe Aaron Hush was ever a slave," Leedom said. "He probably had to serve as an apprentice until his 20s and then he was free. It was very likely he was born totally free."

Kady found the gravesite when he was hunting. There were plants and vines all over it.

"I made an effort to clear it," Kady said. "I'm trying to get grant money. I'm trying to get a white fence around it."

The cemetery is 4,165 square feet and is square in shape. There are six known burials there, ranging from 1908 until 1968. Other people buried there are Sarah Catherine Roberts (Hush's wife), Celia Roberts (the sister or mother of Sarah) and Charles Roberts (the son of Celia.)

In 2000, the year Kady found the site, there was a ceremony held to honor Hush and the other people buried there. Members of Hush's family came to visit and Rep. Rush Holt was there, as well.

Leedom said there is legal access for people to visit the site, but since one has to cut across residential yards to see the cemetery, people should be careful and only go if they have to.

Hush married Sarah Catherine Roberts in New Brunswick and had eight children, four boys and four girls. He died in 1916 at the age of 70.

Leedom has a lot of information at the library about Hush, including many primary documents. She has his volunteer enlistment, pension information and his honorable discharge papers.

The site is also called the Thompson Plot, because a man named George Thompson was the last person to buy the land. It is not known if he is still the current legal owner.

"We tried to find that out and couldn't find out," Leedom said. "We don't know who's buried there. Other people must be buried there, we just don't know who they are."