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In 2020, Goline “Dory” Vanderhoof, a native of Plainfield, took up genealogical research as a hobby while pandemic quarantine kept him from his regular job. Vanderhoof, a descendant of some of the earliest Dutch settlers of northern New Jersey, compiled detailed research on the history of both his family and the region. In the process, he came across something startling: Vanderhoof’s ancestors, the Doremus family that had settled and farmed much of the land that makes up modern Cedar Grove, were slave owners. They lent some of their enslaved people to relatives in what is now Verona, where Vanderhoof’s research found more slave owners.

To date, Vanderhoof’s research has identified seven individuals as slave owners in our area, including a man often recognized as a founder of Verona’s pre-Civil War economy, Dr. Christian Bone. Vanderhoof has also identified 14 individuals who were enslaved. However, there would almost certainly have been more because only enslaved males over 25 were taxed and because of the ease and frequency of tax evasion. (His research points to more than 50 enslaved Africans living in Cedar Grove in 1800, which then had a population of about 200.)

The popular view is that slavery was a uniquely Southern sin. But records like Vanderhoof’s and others show that New Jersey’s early history is littered with evidence of racially based chattel slavery, which did not end in the state until 1866. An 1804 law mandated that enslaved people be freed 21 to 25 years later–but only if they had been born after the law’s passage. Those born before would remain in servitude for their entire lives.

The Middle Colonies like New Jersey did not share the plantation economy that defined the South. Rather, the Anglo-Dutch settlers of the area of modern Verona used enslaved African-Americans as supplementary labor for various tasks. Small-scale farmsteads and other ventures were worked by both slavers and slaves. On Vanderhoof’s family’s property, enslaved people were almost certainly used to cut down old growth forests to make way for farmland. They also may have been buried there.

“The Cedar Grove and Verona colonial settlements relied on enslaved Africans for labor in the clearing of the land and the operation of the farms and mills,” says Vanderhoof, now a resident of Canada. Dr. Bone, a Hessian immigrant, owned slaves and almost certainly used their forced labor to dam the Peckman River near the current waterfall in Verona Park. Bone operated a milling business at the site using enslaved people. A millstone once used in the production of flour at Bone’s mill is prominently displayed in the center of town near H.B. Whitehorne Middle School, although there is no sign that identifies its historical significance or its relation to slavery.

Verona’s enslaved people do not seem to have stayed in Verona after their manumission. Many former slaves were unable to find work in the towns where they had been forced to labor for years. Instead, they went to more urban communities in places like Newark, Elizabeth, and Rahway, where they had to work as servants to the wealthy in spite of a great number of them being highly skilled in trades such as blacksmithing, masonry, and carpentry.

Vanderhoof’s research began with his ancestors’ farm records, which had been carefully preserved over the centuries. He worked with professors at Montclair State University and Rutgers University to corroborate those records and put them in greater historical context. The specific resources used included tax ratables, which were records of properties and their value; the Black Loyalist Directory, which recorded people who fled their enslavers and those who joined British regiments during the Revolutionary War; the Essex County records of black births; and transfers of enslaved people in wills.

Speaking about the research, Dr. Christopher Tamburro, a Verona High School history teacher, expressed his belief that “it helps to give us a better understanding of our modern environment, how we got to where we are and it’s important to note that these violent, inhumane practices were happening all around.”

Tamburro, who also serves on the Town Council as mayor of Verona, hopes that Vandehoof’s revelations “help to shed light on some of this legacy that exists in town to potentially allow us to recognize that as a municipality and to include things like historical markers so we can continue education on this topic since we don’t want this to be an object of interest and concern for a few days. We want to be talking about it for as long as Verona is around so we can continue to address it.”

George Donnelly graduated Verona High School with the Class of 2023. This story was part of his senior Capstone project.

Yesterday, many Verona residents were surprised to learn that, because of a water main break in the Passaic Valley Water Commission (PVWC) system, Verona had to boil its water before drinking. Why, they asked, are we buying water from an outside source when we have our own wells?

Short answer: We haven’t been able to use our wells since August 2021.

We’re getting closer to being able to use them again, but the rehabilitation work has taken far longer than town officials originally thought, at a much greater cost. In the meantime, instead of using mostly well water mixed with a bit of PVWC water, Verona has had to be entirely on PVWC supply.

The legacy of ‘forever’ chemicals

Two years ago, Verona’s wells had to be taken offline after the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection found that water from them was not in compliance with the state standard on Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA), one of a family of chemicals known as PFAS that have been used to make things like non-stick pans, stain repellants and firefighting foam. Though largely discontinued, the so-called forever chemicals have leached into groundwater all across the U.S.

In 2018, New Jersey set a drinking water standard for PFOA at 14 parts per trillion (PPT) and municipalities were told they needed to be in compliance by 2020. New Jersey’s rule was far stricter than the federal standard established in 2016, and they meant that more than 100 entities, including towns like Verona, were out of compliance.

Verona originally thought it would cost $1 million to put new filtration systems on our two wellheads, one located in the Verona Community Center’s annex building and the other across Fairview Avenue from Verona High School. But supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic, combined with rising demand from stricter PFOA standards across the U.S., have pushed the price tag higher. In a May 15 presentation to the Town Council, the firm retained by Verona to do the work, Jacobs Engineering Group, said the cost would now be $5.5 million. The Jacobs representative stressed that the firm has designed Verona’s systems so that there will be multiple sources for its components, which should help to hold the costs where they are now.

Funding the remediation work

How the work gets paid for remains to be determined. Verona officials intend to apply to the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank (I-Bank), an independent state financing entity that offers low interest rate loans. There’s also the state’s Water Infrastructure Investment Plan (WIIP), which is funded by the federal government’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In addition, Verona is a party to a class-action settlement with one of the makers of PFOA chemicals, though the town has not disclosed the terms of that settlement.

Jacobs expects the Linn Drive well to be back in service next year, but the Fairview Avenue well won’t be online until 2025. Verona has to construct an entirely new building to house the filtration equipment there, and town officials are hopeful it won’t be delayed by state approvals. The Fairview Avenue property is a so-called Green Acres site. Mayor Christopher Tamburro said Wednesday that town officials are working to keep the permitting process moving. “Nobody is sitting on their hands,” he said. “It needs to get done, but the regulatory side is significant.”

In the meantime, Verona residents must pay a surcharge for the extra PVWC water we need to buy and weather any problems that arise with that supply. As of Thursday morning, the boil water notice remains in effect, which means that residents need to boil any water they intend to drink for one minute.

VERONA — A North Jersey teacher who oversaw the school chess club is charged with engaging in sexual activities with a juvenile student in the club.

Matthew Swajkowski, 36, of Verona is a science teacher, chess club advisor, and assistant girls' tennis coach at Verona High School. He is married, according to jail records.

On Friday, he was arrested and charged with sexual assault, child endangerment, and other offenses, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said.

Swajkowski gave a high school student in the chess club alcohol and engaged in sexual conduct with the student, who was either 16 or 17 years old, officials said.

An arrested staff member had been placed on administrative leave as soon as the Verona school district had learned about the accusations, Superintendent Diane DiGiuseppe said in a statement. She did not specifically name Swajkowski in the statement, TAPintoVerona/CedarGrove reported.

"The accusations against and subsequent arrest of a staff member are extremely distressing. The district takes any accusation of inappropriate conduct by a staff member seriously, cooperates with law enforcement authorities, and takes personnel action as permitted by law," DiGiuseppe said.

The prosecutor's office on Tuesday issued a statement announcing Swajkowski's arrest.

"While the age of consent in New Jersey is 16, it is unlawful for anyone whose 'legal, professional or occupational status' gives them 'supervisory or disciplinary power' over a child who is at least 16 but less than 18 years old to engage in sexual conduct with that child," the prosecutor's office said.

Swajkowski faces three counts of sexual assault by a supervisor, five counts of child endangerment, two counts of child porn possession, and a count of making alcohol available to a minor, according to jail records.

Swajkowski was ordered by Superior Court Judge Patrick Arre at a hearing Wednesday to remain in custody at Essex County jail pending the conclusion of the case, Essex County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Robert Florida said.

Windfarm projects proposed for NJ coast — and what they might look like

These are the wind energy projects approved for and planned for the ocean off the coasts of New Jersey and New York. While the projects have the support of officials who say they will stimulate the local economy and create renewable energy to power millions of homes, many coastal residents have raised concerns about how the projects will impact tourism and the environment.

The gallery includes competing photosimulations — those on file with the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and those recently commissioned by a group opposed to the wind farm development.

Mike Boone and Dominic Ferry are the two candidates running for one seat on the Verona Board of Education on Tuesday, November 7.

To help readers to get to know the candidates, MyVeronaNJ interviewed both separately via Zoom last week. There were four questions that were the same for both the candidates, and another four that were specific to an individual candidate’s background, platform or public positions. You can read each candidate’s response to all eight questions on the pages below, which also include ways to learn more about them on the web and social media.

Mike Boone Dominic Ferry

Both men have been residents of Verona for two decades and both have two children who have gone through, or are still in, Verona’s public schools. Boone, who has had a long career in communications, now leads operations for digital publications and marketing communications at Interpublic Group (IPG), a global advertising and marketing company. [Full disclosure: This reporter worked at The Wall Street Journal when Boone worked there, but we did not work in the same area or country.] Ferry, a native of Belleville, has spent 36 years in Nutley’s Water Department, where he is now assistant superintendent of public works. He also owns his own consulting company.

The Board of Education election is Tuesday, November 7. The candidates are listed on the back side of the mail-in ballot, along with a proposal to increase the amount of Verona’s open space levy to three cents per $100 of assessed value from two cents. The open space trust fund was created in 2019.

Representatives of two cancer support groups that got their start in Verona gathered in the center of town on Tuesday evening for a flag raising to mark breast cancer awareness month.

WINGS, which stands for for Women Inspiring Nurturing Giving Strength & Support, runs programs on the using the healing arts—music, art, movement, writing, and the like—to alleviate anxiety among women cancer patients before, during, and after treatment. On October 18, they will hold a session on nutrition, while their November 15 session will be about healing movement. All programs, which are held at the Verona Community Center, are free, but participants do need to register in advance.

The Minette’s Angels Foundation was created 20 years ago to honor a Verona resident and nurse who passed away after a 10-year battle against breast cancer. Ken McKenna, the widower of Minette Grosso McKenna, told those gathered for the flag raising about how the foundation has expanded over the last two decades. It continues to provide assistance to those in treatment and supports research, but it now offers three scholarships to nursing students and has expanded from Verona to serve patients across northern New Jersey. McKenna noted that the foundation has granted funds to Trinitas’ Comprehensive Cancer Center in Elizabeth to support the cost of wigs, lymphedema sleeves and gloves, mastectomy bras and prostheses. He stressed the importance of this assistance in a disadvantaged community where women too often have to choose between buying food and buying the medicine they need for their treatment.

Tonight, Wednesday, October 4, representatives of Minette’s Angels will be at Verona High School for the annual “Dig Pink” fundraiser held by the volleyball teams of Verona and Cedar Grove to benefit breast cancer research. The game begins at 7 p.m. On Thursday, October 19, from 6 to 8 p.m. the foundation will host “Real Panthers Wear Pink,” a benefit walk in Cedar Grove’s Panther Park.

What do you do when you have good retail frontage on Bloomfield Avenue but don’t need it all for your existing business? You turn it into an independent book store.

That’s what Josh Jacobs, the owner of Hearth Realty, and his wife Lauren Jacobs, are going to do at 460 Bloomfield Avenue across the street from Verona Park and where Hearth Realty’s Verona office is located.

“Although our team and business are growing, the real estate office has become less important to conducting business,” Josh Jacobs, says of Hearth Realty, which is located next to Dolce Marie Cafe & Bakeshop. “Customers don’t walk into the office for real estate services anymore. The state still requires brokerages to maintain office space and we are fortunate to have other office space in the building that we will be able to use for real estate purposes while dedicating the front to the bookstore.”

The Collective Bookstore, as the new bookstore will be known, will offer a collection of books and gifts and specialize in new releases, best sellers, children’s books, classics and select vinyl records. Additionally, the store will also offer special programs for local book clubs, teachers, and unique shopping experiences for customers. Special events will include a rotating feature of authors and product features from local businesses. Jacobs expects the store to hold a grand opening in July.

“Our mission as residents and local business owners has always been to help strengthen our community,” says Jacobs. “Over the last five years, our affiliated businesses (including Hearth Realty Group) have supported over 100 local charities and organizations. The bookstore will donate a percentage of annual profits on an ongoing basis to our education programs, offer fundraising opportunities for local organizations, teacher discounts for classroom products, and educational and field trip programs throughout the year.”

Residents can shop the bookstore even before the physical store opens by placing special orders for book clubs or school events or shopping on www.TCbookstore.com.

The Collective Bookstore 460 Bloomfield Avenue Verona, NJ 07044