Hackensack Cemetery Sign

Samuel P. Johnson Grave Marker

This grave marker, which is at Hackensack Cemetery located at
289 Hackensack Avenue Hackensack, New Jersey, reveals that George H. Johnson served in the U.S. Army during World War II and died at the age of only 51

Samuel P. Johnson was not on the Original Wall Unit List, but I have listed Samuel P. Johnson with the Original Wall Unit List for these reasons:

First being African American he most likely would not have finished High School prior to
World War II but still have attended Hackensack Schools.

Second the grave marker states that Samuel P. Johnson served for New Jersey during his time in service couple that with being buried in Hackensack he either lived in Hackensack or the surrounding area which was all considered Hackensack prior to 1930 which is well after his date of birth.

Finally, the grave marker confirms his connection to Hackensack by being buried within its borders since passing and forevermore.

Samuel P. Johnson is buried in the African American section of Hackensack Cemetery. In the 1880’s a law was passed because of an incident concerning Hackensack cemetery, making it a crime to refuse burial of African Americans in cemeteries with a fine of up to $500.00. 

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The cemetery was officially founded in the 1890’s and the segregation within its grounds went on for many years to follow with attitudes probably changing after World War II.

Grave plots having been bought before a person died in the 1950’s, and many African Americans more comfortable resting their loved ones in a more traditional area among friends and family not much has changed.  Italians in Hackensack are much more highly represented in
St. Joseph’s cemetery for similar reasons they really were not welcome in the more Dutch and Anglo-Saxon cemetery of Hackensack at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, so they created their own cemetery through St. Joseph’s Catholic ministries right next to
Hackensack Cemetery.
 
I do not know at the present time if there is any family connection between
George H. Johnson and Samuel P. Johnson.

Written by:
Bob Meli
August 11, 2018

Background image of the “Red Ball express” truckers Black soldiers during World War II obtained from:
https://aaregistry.org/story/the-red-ball-express-black-soldiers-supplied-troops/