By Linda Tancs

Ye Olde Yellow Meeting House is the oldest Baptist church building in New Jersey, located in Upper Freehold Township.  The building dates to the 1700s and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.  Though no longer used for worship services, the grounds are open to the public during daylight hours.  Revolutionary War-era veterans abound in the cemetery; their weathered, delicate stones tell tales of gallantry and sacrifice.  Consider the tombstone of Upper Freehold Township native Brig. Gen. Elisha Lawrence, whose marker reads:   “A stranger to all ambition but that of being useful, he was twice vice president of New Jersey for several years presiding judge of the pleas, and after a series of faithful and gallant services in the Revolutionary War he was appointed by his county brigadier general of the Monmouth militia of the surveyed blazing line when wars loud conflict racked the brain.  Now sheltered in the realms divine he treads heavens ever-peaceful plan lead on by softer, mercy’s mildest ray while fellow warriors hail him on his way.”  You can visit this colonial town and others nearby via the Upper Freehold Historic Farmland Byway.