Crawford Cemetery, the Garden State Arts Center, and the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial stand on land that was part of a 1219 acre tract granted to John Bowne by the King of England in 1687. John Crawford emigrated to America from Ayshire, Scotland in 1672 and settled in Middletown, and over the years his family grew and prospered, acquiring land in the area. On December 7, 1756, Catherine Bowne, a great-granddaughter of Captain John Bowne, married William Crawford, a great-grandson of John Crawford, and through this marriage she conveyed the Bowne estate to her husband. The cemetery stands on land that has remained in the Crawford-Bowne family since the original 1687 grant.