Old North Church Cemetery
120 Washington Ave.
Map / Directions to the Old North Church
Map / Directions to all Dumont Revolutionary War Sites
The Old North Reformed Church was built in 1801. It replaced an earlier church from 1728 that stood one mile south of here.[1] There are several Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the cemetery, including: [2]
Jacob D. Demarest
Died May 15, 1829
Isaac Nicoll
Colonel, NY Minutemen
July 19, 1741 - October 9, 1804
Derick Banta House
Now part of the Dumont Public Library (Dixon Homestead Library)
180 Washington Ave.
Map / Directions to the Derick Banta House
Map / Directions to all Dumont Revolutionary War Sites
What is now Dumont was known as Schraalenburgh at the time of the Revolutionary War. Derick Banta served as a private in the Bergen County militia during the Revolutionary War. He was born in a house (built circa 1735) located at this site in Schraalenburgh. In 1776, Derick inherited the house.
During the Revolutionary War, a considerable amount of Derick's property was taken or destroyed by the British. In 1778, a band of Tories (Americans who supported the British during the Revolutionary War) burned Derick Banta's home and barn.
Sometime between 1780 and 1790, Derick Banta built this house on the site of the one that had been burned. Since 1929, it has been used as the Dumont Public Library. In the 1980's an addition was made to the library; part of the modern addition is just visible on the right side of the photo above. [3]
1. ^ Information and dates about the Old North Church were drawn from the Bergen County Historic Society sign at the church.
2. ^ Name, date, and military information drawn from gravestones and markings in the cemetery.
3. ^ Information about Derick Banta and the house was drawn from:
• The Bergen County Historic Society sign in front of the building
• H. Jeanne Altshuler, Dumont Heritage, Old Schraalenburgh, New Jersey (Hackensack, NJ: Published by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Dumont, New Jersey, 1969) Pages 60, 61, 73, 75, 81
▸ Page 61 shows a copy of "Portion of 'Inventories of Goods' of Derick Banta taken or destroyed by the British," which is credited to the New Jersey State Library. Within the section of the inventory for 1778, there are entries for "a Large house burnt" and "a Large Barn burnt."
Althshuler's text appears to contradict this date, stating that the house burned as part of a raid on June 24, 1780. However, since the year 1778 is shown in the original document, I have accepted 1778 as the year the house was burned.