Piscatawaytown Burial Ground is a graveyard that holds the burial sites of many Revolutionary War soldiers and other folk; graves date back to 1693, when two brothers died from eating poisonous mushrooms. But the graveyard also houses a witch, locals say. Mary Moore, buried here in 1731, was accused and put to death for witchcraft. Mary’s ghost is said to appear if you walk around her grave three times and spit. However, another tale says that two local boys stole Mary’s headstone years ago, so no one knows where to find it. The legend’s variations tell of several ways the boys were cursed and died for tampering with the gravestone.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 2133 Woodbridge Ave
Edison, NJ
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 40.50048253545353, -74.39574149249893
- County:
- Middlesex County, New Jersey
- Nearest Towns:
- Piscataway, NJ (0.2 mi.)
Edison, NJ (1.5 mi.)
Highland Park, NJ (1.5 mi.)
New Brunswick, NJ (3.1 mi.)
Sayreville, NJ (3.4 mi.)
Metuchen, NJ (3.4 mi.)
South River, NJ (3.8 mi.)
Milltown, NJ (3.9 mi.)
Society Hill, NJ (4.0 mi.)
Sayreville Junction, NJ (4.2 mi.)
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
my friend and i found the hoopar brothers’ tomb. she said she felt an unusual warm spot next to it. we also tried to find mary moore’s grave, but no dice. maybe those boys really did steal it or mary’s grave is so illegible that we didn’t notice. plan on coming here again.
Hi I grew up in Edison. I saw the grave in 1973 when I was a kid. It was really strange it said “Here Lies The Accursed Body Of Mary Moore. She Burns In Hell Forever.” So the witch story may very well be true. It was a horrible Epitaph. As an adult I went back in 2004 the stone is there but the face is damaged so you will not be able to read it. It was stolen once, and dropped before it was returned. In the picture above it is on the right all the way down by where the blue car is ( toward Highland Park )
All this is true. I have heard talk that the kid who stole it got killed crossing RT1 with it. Unconfirmed on that.
Went to this cemetery today. Hard to walk on the snow. I heard this location was in Highland Park but I guess I was wrong. Found in Edison. Preety, peaceful place.
I went there a few yrs ago with a huge group of friends. As we were planning our route, two of us saw a guy step from behind a tree, cock his gun then hide again. I had no idea about the war vets, just the witch. I freaked out because I couldn’t tell if it was real until I saw the look on my friends face. After wandering, I went back to the car because one side of the place was freezing while the other wasn’t. It was weird. When we were all in the car, the videos all 6 of us took , we’re deleted. All of them.
Still haven’t gone back yet, but really? Some guy had a gun on him? Did you report it? I would’ve freaked out.. Very strange that the vids you guys took got mysteriously deleted, too.
There are signs there now that say ‘cemetery property, no trespassing’ which is a shame…
Hi I was born and raised in Ney Jersey. My dad actually went to school with the two boys that stole Mary’s gravestone, he went to their funerals. He said one died from crossing the street on route one and was hit by a car. When they asked the driver if he saw him crossing the street the driver said no. After that had happened the man who stole the gravestones brother smashed up the grave stone. It is told if you walk around her gravestone three times and spit you will be face to face with her ghost
My mom and uncles grew up in Edison in the 70’s they also knew the brothers who stole the headstone of Mary Moore. The brothers were from what I remember the perupskis or purupskis. My family in Edison were the Hansen’s David Dennis and Margo
Hi. My family owned a house on Church street for about 50 years. Mary Moore, the original one with the Skull and Crossbones headstone, the one people say was accused of poisoning was actually really the who was poisoned. The gravestone was stolen and the one brother put it atop his headboard and when it fell one brother was hit and injured and the other was hit by a car while returning the gravestone to the cemetery. I only know this because while my sister and I were walking down Woodbridge avenue, we found the broken headstone and put it back into the hole and said a prayer. The original location for the “Witch” Mary Moore is directly behind the fences of the houses on Church street. Near the now paved path. There was a hugeb tree near her grave. I know this because it was literally my playground as a child.
I also lived in the area at that time and remember that story. I was dating Dennis then too. You must be Margo’s son. Was the brother that died getting hit by the car, named Francis? He went by the name, Franny?
Around 1973, as an 8th or 9th grader and with some of my classmates (we had to be across the street to witness court, so we decided to go into the cemetery) we performed a seance around the headstone of Mary Moore with undeniable paranormal results. This was before the headstone was stolen. My friend put his lighter on the ground to use as the “candle”. As we were calling the spirit, the lighter moved across the ground – and kept moving! – as though there was a magnet underneath pulling it across the ground. It had moved at least 7 feet before we were all running and my friend picked up his lighter as he was running. TRUE STORY! After this incident, I heard about the two people we knew from Edison who stole the headstone and brought it home. They both died of accidents within a short amount of time. If Mary Moore’s spirit is still around, it is not because she was a “witch” – it is because she was brutally murdered! Back then, if a woman used herbal remedies for cures she was considered to be a “witch”.