Site of Bethel Indian village must be preserved, protected

I continue to follow the story of the site of the American Indian village of Bethel, located in present-day Monroe.

As author of "Bethel Indian Town of New Jersey, Its History and Location Revealed," and historian of Delaware Indians in our state during the Colonial period, I can affirm that there is incontrovertible documentary evidence of exactly where this village was located. The CVS site suggested by local township officials was in fact a privately owned parcel of missionary John Brainerd and Bethel schoolteacher Ebenezer Hayward. The Indian town was nearby, on the Faulkner tract, which can be easily identified by one of its boundaries, Faulkner Brook, which ironically flows very near Monroe Township High School.

Bethel Indian Town was situated at the headwaters of Wigwam Brook. Historical topographical maps, including one from the 1940s, clearly delineate where the brook started. Located at the intersection of Perrineville Road and School House Lane, the springhead is now a depression adjacent to the soccer fields in Thompson Park.

The village was one of the largest in Colonial New Jersey, with more than 40 homes, two schools and a church. Home to up to 200 Delaware Christian converts at one time, the village site also contains a cemetery where dozens of its residents were buried.

Whatever the future holds for this site, full compliance with environmental and historic preservation and Indian graves protection laws must be the watchword for all involved.

A full description of the site and the role of Bethel during the French and Indian War is available at http://gnadenhutten.tripod.com/bethelindiantown.

Richard S. Walling

Somerville