TOMS RIVER – History isn’t something that stays in books. It’s a living, breathing body of work that is constantly growing. In the same way that you can’t remember being a baby, no one is still around who lived during the township’s formative years.
Well, let’s amend that. Some of them are still here. If you know where to look.
In the downtown grid of streets, one area stands out among the municipal buildings and law offices. It’s a cemetery at the corner of Hooper Avenue and Washington Street. Here, you’ll find a few Revolutionary War soldiers. You’ll see familiar names on stones. But mostly, this is a place full of people who were trying to build their lives and wound up building a town.
J. Mark Mutter, township historian and retired clerk, gave the tour to Scout troops one recent morning. He told the stories of the people he knew about, like Timothy Page, who was born in what is now Cattus Island County Park. He was a lookout during the Revolutionary War.
“He’s the first person we’re going to visit,” Mutter told the boys. He pointed out the age on the tombstone: 19. “He was a teenager,” he said, putting it into perspective.
Some of the history was framed with Toms River’s part in the Revolutionary War. The town was formed in 1767, and blood was shed here in the battle of Toms River.
“We call it a battle because we’re from Toms River. It was probably more of a large skirmish,” Mutter said.
The scouts didn’t come with books and notebooks; they had rakes and gloves. After the lesson, they cleaned up the cemetery. It was full of fall leaves and branches. Some things, of course, they couldn’t do anything about: There were tombstones that were toppled, cracked, worn down by weather to be unreadable.
But the thing about history is that you don’t just read it and put it back on the shelf. You have to nurture it, care for it, shine it up and show it off.
Cubmaster Jeff McElwee said that the clean-up is part of a service project for the boys.
“We clean up the area and remind everyone of the importance of it,” he said.
Scoutmaster George Rose said history is a big part of scouting. They’ve been to places like Gettysburg and Valley Forge.
“You travel (to these historical sites) and you always forget what’s in your own back yard,” he said.
