Former NJ cemetery caretaker reflects on lineage to Civil War veterans buried there

SOMERVILLE, N.J. (PIX11) - According to Arthur Adair, everyone dies twice.

"We die when we physically give up the ghost and we come here to rest," said Adair. "But we also die when our story is no longer told."

Adair is hoping to keep a few brave men alive. They are men buried in the New Cemetery of Somerville. They are men who were part of the United States Colored Troops (USCTs).

"They were patriotic Americans," said Adair. "They wanted to be part of the American dream."

The USCTs were regiments of African American Union soldiers in the Civil War.

Around 20 years ago, Adair took over as the cemetery's superintendent, mowing the grass and tending to the grave markers, including those of the USCTs.

"My job now," said Adair, who is now a part-time worker at the cemetery, "is more like a griot, a historian who tells the story. In here, there are 20,000 stories to be told."

"This place talks to me," said Adair. "It may sound funny, it may sound stupid. But the place talks to me."

In the cemetery, there are 200 Civil War veterans buried – out of them, 18 are USCTs.

About a year into his time as superintendent at the cemetery, where many of his family members are at rest, Adair made a discovery: he is a descendant of three USCT soldiers there, including Andrew Kline, a Somerset County resident who served in the Civil War with his brother.

"Having never known slavery, they didn't want to know slavery," said Adair, "so the best way to do it was to join."

As Somerville gets ready to celebrate Juneteenth, Adair will be receiving Somerset County's annual Juneteenth Leadership Award for all that he's done for these men.

"I'm very humbled by this award," said Adair. "I told my wife and my daughter, I don't know why I'm being honored for doing what I'm supposed to be doing."