Uncovering Lost Black History, Stone by Stone Sourland Mountain, a once-isolated region in New Jersey, has long inspired tall tales. Two local women turned “history detectives” have been trying to recover its true story. Elaine Buck, left, and Beverly Mills, in the Stoutsburg Cemetery in Hopewell, N.J., the subject of their book, “If These Stones Could Talk.”Credit...Amr Alfiky/The New York Times Dec. 22, 2020 HOPEWELL, N.J. — History can seem thick on the ground in this quaint, prosperous town of 2,000 in semirural central New Jersey, not far from where Washington crossed the Delaware. A cemetery on the main street holds a grand obelisk honoring John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Next to it stands a monument topped by a stone on which another patriot stood to give a fiery speech supporting the cause of liberty.