A Tiny Roadside Cemetery in Basking Ridge

Isn’t it strange that you might drive by something 1,000s of times and never notice something….until you do. This is one of those stories.

Just to the south of the former Millington quarry entrance on Stonehouse Road sits a tiny roadside cemetery that honors one of the original families of Basking Ridge. The plaque at the cemetery recognizes Daniel Vail and the family farm, an early member of the Basking Ridge Vail family whose descendants left an extraordinary mark on American history.

For more than two centuries, the Vail family has remained woven into the history of Bernards Township. Their legacy reaches from the colonial farms of Stonehouse Road to the invention of the telegraph, the growth of the Bell telephone system, and ultimately the communications revolution that transformed the modern world. Few local families can claim a story that begins with colonial farming and ends with helping connect the world.

Daniel Vail’s story is the story of one of the families that helped shape early Basking Ridge. While his more famous cousin Alfred Vail would later help change the world through the invention of the telegraph, Daniel’s legacy was written into the fields, stone walls, and roads of western Bernards Township. His descendants farmed the land for generations, married into many of Somerset County’s founding families, and left behind a family cemetery that still survives today as a quiet reminder of one of Basking Ridge’s oldest homesteads.

Born on March 7, 1735/36, Daniel Vail was the son of Isaac Vail and Christiana Vail, descendants of one of New Jersey’s earliest Vail families. During the eighteenth century, the Vails spread throughout northern New Jersey, establishing themselves as farmers, craftsmen, and community leaders. Daniel eventually settled in what is now the Stonehouse section of Basking Ridge, where fertile farmland and abundant water made it an ideal place to raise a family and build a lasting estate.

Daniel Vail married Mary McEowen, sister of William McEowen of Pluckemin, on September 21, 1774, a member of another respected Somerset County family. Mary was the Granddaughter of John Cross, first pastor of Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church. Their marriage united two well-established colonial families and strengthened ties throughout the growing communities of Pluckemin and Basking Ridge. Together they raised a large family whose children would marry into many of the area’s best-known names, including the Vanderveers, Kirkpatricks, Scudders, Coles, Hills, Barkalo(w)s, and Fitz Randolphs. These marriages helped weave the Vails into the very fabric of Somerset County’s early history.

#	Name	Birth–Death	Notes
1	Mary (McEowen) Vail	1759–1840	Wife of Daniel Vail. Headstone #1. Daughter of Alexander McEowen.
2	Daniel Vail	March 7, 1735 – September 30, 1793	Original settler of the farm at 135 Stonehouse Road. Headstone #2.
3	Anne Vail	September 1, 1776 – February 11, 1853	Daughter of Daniel and Mary (McEowen) Vail. Headstone #3.
4	William McEowen Vail	1829 – November 20, 1845	Son of Israel and Mary (Flair) Vail. Grandson of Daniel and Mary. Headstone #4.
5	Infant (“Baby”) Vail	Not identified	Small grave marker (#5). The sign states it is a small grave stone.
6	20 additional burials	Unknown	The sign states there are 20 other markings located at the back right side of the burial plot.

As Bernards Township developed, Daniel’s farm became one of the important family properties. Unlike many early farms that disappeared through subdivision or changing ownership, the Vail homestead remained in family hands for generations. Today, the small family cemetery located on land now surrounded by the closed Tilcon quarry preserves the resting place of Daniel and many of his descendants. Though tucked away from public view, it stands as one of the township’s most significant private family burial grounds and serves as a tangible link to Basking Ridge’s colonial past.

Among Daniel’s children, his son Israel Vail became particularly important to the continuation of the family’s Basking Ridge branch. Israel remained on the family property and married Mariah Barkalo(w), another member of a long-established local family. Their descendants continued to farm and live in the Stonehouse area throughout the nineteenth century, ensuring that the Vail name remained closely associated with western Bernards Township long after the Revolutionary War had ended.

Another son, Daniel Vail Jr., married Dinah Vanderveer, connecting the family to one of Somerset County’s most distinguished Dutch-American lineages. Over succeeding generations, Vail descendants continued to marry into other prominent local families, including the Corys, Smiths, Southards, and Barkalos. By the early nineteenth century, it was difficult to study the genealogy of Basking Ridge without encountering the Vail family in one branch or another. (See family tree)

Map Initial	Name	Comments
I. Vail	Israel Vail	Israel Vail, whose farm was in this area and whose family cemetery survives on former Vail land.
E. Vail	Enos Vail or Elias Vail	Both names appear in Bernards Township Vail records during the mid-19th century.
L. Vail	Lewis Vail or Levi Vail	Both occur in local records; the deed records would determine which one owned this parcel in 1850.
J. Vail	John Vail	A very common member of the Bernards Township Vail family.

• James Vail was Daniel Vail’s brother and lived at the “Stonehouse” Village. He married Betsey Carle, eldest daughter of Jonas Carle.
• Daniel Vail’s son Alexander married Nancy Southard, daughter of the Honorable Henry Southard.

1830s:
Alfred Vail and Morse Code

Although Daniel Vail spent his life as a farmer in Somerset County, he shared common ancestry with one of America’s most celebrated inventors. Alfred Vail, born in 1807, was Daniel’s distant cousin rather than his direct descendant. Alfred grew up in Morristown, where his father Stephen Vail operated the historic Speedwell Iron Works. There, Alfred partnered with Samuel F. B. Morse to develop the practical electric telegraph, introducing innovations that revolutionized long-distance communication around the world. While Alfred’s accomplishments earned international recognition, Daniel’s branch of the family quietly built a legacy rooted in agriculture, community, and the development of Basking Ridge.

Among them was Alfred Vail, who collaborated with Samuel F. B. Morse in the late 1830s to perfect the electric telegraph. Working together at Historic Speedwell in Morristown, they successfully transmitted messages over more than two miles of wire, helping launch the communications Revolution. Today, the Speedwell factory on Route 202 is preserved as a National Historic Landmark.

Alfred Vail, who partnered with Samuel F.G. Morse to develop the electric telegraph in the late 1830s, was a member of the prominent Vail family with deep roots in Basking Ridge. However, he was raised in Morristown rather than on the family farms in Somerset County. At Historic Speedwell, Vail and Morse successfully transmitted telegraph messages over more than two miles of wire, helping usher in the age of instant communication. Today, the Speedwell factory along Route 202 is recognized as a National Historic Landmark.

While Alfred represented the Morristown branch of the family, the Basking Ridge Vails remained on their ancestral lands. Israel Vail, a country cousin, lived in Basking Ridge, and a small Vail family cemetery still survives just outside the quarry property along Stonehouse Road. The family’s legacy continued into the twentieth century through Theodore N. Vail, President of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), who transformed the nation’s telephone network and helped shape modern communications.

More New Jersey Vails

Theodore Newton Vail (1845–1920) was a pioneering telecommunications executive who served as the first president of AT&T and transformed the Bell Telephone system into a nationwide network, championing the idea of “universal service” that connected Americans by telephone. A distant cousin of the Basking Ridge Vail family, he built the magnificent Vail Mansion in Morristown between 1916 and 1918, although he died before he could live there.

Vailsburg?
How About That Vail Branch

Vailsburg, now a neighborhood in Newark, was originally an independent borough from 1894 to 1905 before being annexed by the city. It was named for Dr. Merit H. Cash Vail, a prominent physician, landowner, and civic leader whose efforts helped shape the community’s growth. Like the Vails of Basking Ridge and Morristown, he belonged to the extended New Jersey Vail family, illustrating how one colonial family left its mark across the state, from farms and villages to technological innovation and even the name of an entire iconic Newark community.

Newark, New Jersey’s Incredible Velodrome and Motordrome Racing Venues

Want More?

Sidebar History:
Stonehouse Village

Ever wonder why Stonehouse Road was named Stonehouse Road? Yes, it’s pretty simple: it’s named for a Stone House that was part of one of Basking Ridge’s original hamlets, the Stone House Village. One local history account notes that the road originally bore the name “Stone House Road” because it connected Millington to the small hamlet of Stone Houses at the intersection, including the Vail’s homes and farmland.

“…the road was called for more than one hundred and fifty years Stone House Road. It led from the village of Millington to the small hamlet in Bernards Township of Stone Houses built at the intersection of Stone House Road, King George Road and Valley Road. The original homes were built by original settlers between the 1750s and 1770s.”

The 1764 Stonehouse Village would have been just south of the Vail properties. The house was reportedly owned and offered for sale in 1781 by Captain Patrick Dennis, commander of General Washington’s armed cutter Vigilant and a Revolutionary War privateer and intelligence operative. The Vigilant was one of 10 vessels patrolling the United States coastline against British invasion, and those cutters laid the foundation for what is presently the Coast Guard.

Related Family Local History and Ties

The Founding Families of Bernards Township (Basking Ridge)

The Southard Family of Basking Ridge and A Historic Finding

The History of Bernards Township Street Names

More Local Cemetery Research

Our Readers’ Top 10 MLH Posts this Week