A few days ago I received an e-mail assignment from Nathan Natas to the tune of "Mission Impossible." An assignment I had to accept, despite the death threats on my family.
The assignment was to drive a whole 25 miles out of my way ... MY WAY ... to snap some pictures of a graveyard. Not just any graveyard, but THE graveyard ... whose graveyard? The Methodist Church of Staten Island. Why you ask? Because he asked me too, that's why? [not to mention the death threats on my family.]
Anyways .... getting to the point .... Drove down to Staten Island, took me roughly 20 minutes, and I found my way to the Woodrow Methodist Church, which was erected in 1842, at least that's what the plaque says:
http://www.food4jws.org/images/woodrow_church_plaque.jpg
There is a cemetary which pretty much surrounds the Church, as a matter of fact when you walk up walkway to the front of the Church, you pass numerous tombstones:
http://www.food4jws.org/images/woodrow_front_cemetary.jpg
And as you get to the front porch you are greeted with this sign:
http://www.food4jws.org/images/woodrow_church_sign.jpg
The Church tself looks like it hasn't been kept since the day they built it the second time around in 1842.
http://www.food4jws.org/images/woodrow_front_church.jpg
It's a historical piece which is an eye sore in the town if you ask me. The tombstones surround the church from the front of the church when you walk in to the sides and rear. Old paper thin tombstones, so faded you could hardly make out who's buried.
http://www.food4jws.org/images/woodrow_rear_cemetary.jpg
Some of the tombstones were destroyed by time and vandals. As you walk to the rear of the Church, to your left is a nice piece of land, undisturbed, all mowed nice and evenly.
http://www.food4jws.org/images/jfrplot1.jpg
This is the infamous Watchtower plot, pretty sizeable, takes up about a 1/4 of the land, nothing there, no marker, no tombstones, no nothing, not even a hint of the dirt ever being disturbed. It looks so out of place.
http://www.food4jws.org/images/jfrplot2.jpg
This property is also home of MacMillan, vice president under the Judge, again, no markers, or tombstones or anything.
There was no one there when I visited this morning, doors were locked. so I couldn't verify anything. However, Mr. Natas a in October 2002 did have a telephone converation with a Mr. Beyl who is caretaker of the property. When asked if this was the same cemetery where "Judge" Joseph Franklin Rutherford, the 2nd President of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, was buried. Mr. Beyl stated "Well, you know, that is very interesting... I know that they
(the WTS) own a piece of land here, but I couldn't tell you who is buried on it because it has absolutely no markers or headstones or anything. ... It's remarkable because there's nothing on it. When we mow the grass on the rest of the cemetery we mow there
too, but it hasn't been used for a long time, if it was ever used at all."
Mr. Beyl described the plot as approximately 100 feet by 100 feet and stated that if you were to enter the cemetery near the church and
walk to the back of the cemetery you would find this area easily since it is remarkable that it contains no evidence of any graves.
The Church and its adjacent property sits on a city block, the whole area around it has been redone, upscale brick homes, no less than half a million dollars a piece. As I said the Church and property is an eye sore compared to the new developments being put up, construction crews were all over the place building townhouses, single family homes and small condos.
Accordingly the cemetary was with distance of the WBBR Radio Station buiolt by the Society in 1922. It is now Bloomberg Radio, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City. However the old radio station is no longer there, WBBR is gone! I drove up and down that area. Looked up hoping to catch a glimpse of a tower or something ... nothing, nada. I asked around, few knew of an old radio station, of course these were new residence so I asked the old timers and they said it was gone.
So there you have it. the Judge's final resting place [???] Staten Island, New York, in the back of an old Methodist Church, in an unmarked grave, according to the Watchtower Society, yet the caretaker himslef states, it's unlikely anyone is buried there! So where is he???
"California here we come ....."
Mission acomplished, Mr. Natas, release my family!
RR