Frenchtown Cemetery tours offered

Ever been to the Frenchtown Cemetery? It has almost four times the population of the alive part of Frenchtown.

On Saturday, June 8, at 2 p.m. Rick Epstein would like to tell you about some of those folks.

His Upper Cemetery Tour includes the misfortunes of Constable Clarence Doan, Miss Frenchtown’s day of glamour, how Corporal Finney’s sudden death caused his father to put up a 7-ton pink granite monument, how Ron Rogers tried to make minstrel shows OK, Oliver Kugler’s passion for retail, the stubbornness of Old Mary Moore, the crimes of Amos Hart, and the misbehavior of Elden Cooley, who had a master’s degree in Monkey Business.

“Each tour costs $15 and it’s free for teenagers. If you buy a cemetery plot (only $950), your tour is free, and I promise not to talk about you,” said Epstein. If you are interested in the tour, email Epstein at rickepstein@yahoo.com so he’ll know to show up. If no one emails, he’ll find somewhere else to be.

His 2024 tour schedule continues with his Lower Cemetery Tour at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 15. You’ll learn about the women who rescued Captain Slater of the Union Army, the man who swam away from the Milford train wreck of 1877, Frenchtown’s first car owner, headstones made of “white bronze,” and the time Lew Slater and Powers Williams kidnapped a gaggle of geese from the borough pound. And more.

On Saturday, June 29, at 10 a.m. is the Bad Luck & Poor Choices Tour. Epstein’s tours continue on Saturdays in July and August. More tours will be scheduled through October.

Epstein’s book is available at the Frenchtown Bookshop or at several other downtown shops. This hardcover book costs $30 and is titled “Frenchtown; Fires, Floods, Fads, and Felonies.”

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