PETERSBURG — “I’ll breathe better at about noon on the sixth of May,” said Paul Sutton, adjutant with Aaron Wittkamp Colwell American Legion Post 239 in Tuckahoe.
Preparing for the dedication of Revolutionary War veteran Henry Young’s grave required a detailed battle plan and an army of volunteers, as well as assistance from outside forces.
“We’ve been at this for two and a half years,” Sutton said. “Once we identified the grave and were able to validate his military service, we were able to work with Fish and Wildlife and the township to make this happen.”
Planning the event, scheduled for 11 a.m. May 6 in the Young Family Cemetery off Tyler Road at the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, involved township officials and veterans groups as well as representatives of county and state organizations.
Young, born March 5, 1746, in Cape May County, died Nov. 6, 1795, in Petersburg at age 49. He began his service as an ensign under Capt. James Willetts Jr. in the Second Cape May Militia in 1777. He later served under Joseph Beavers in the 2 Battalion, Hunterdon Militia.
But his grave and the cemetery where it is located had long been neglected and forgotten until a couple of years ago, when Sutton took over his duties as adjutant.
He said the post had been decorating the grave with flags on Memorial Day for years but nobody knew the history of the man whom they were honoring.
“When we discovered he was a Revolutionary War hero buried in the middle of nowhere, we certified his service and got involved with the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution,” Sutton said, noting each organization will put a grave marker at the site.
A member of the Sons of the American Revolution, he was able to find out more and eventually got Young’s military service records from the New Jersey Archive and the National Archive and spearheaded the effort to mark the grave.
A checklist of items Sutton created included traffic control on Tyler Road, potential assistance from Marmora/Tuckahoe fire companies, county involvement (since Tyler Road is a county road), all directed to Larry Cole, Upper Township Recreation Department secretary.
Quartermaster Bill Eisele, who serves on the monument committee with Sutton, was tasked with handling the handicapped access and temporary parking signs.
Other issues concerned permits, insurance and other legal considerations.
Township Administrator Gary Demarzo was in charge of securing the Boy Scouts Color Guard and bugler.
Sutton said the Marmora Volunteer Fire Company would be present to deter speeders and EMS workers would be on site in case of need.
“We expect a good number of elderly folks, older than me and I’m 79,” Sutton said. “People with DAR and SAR really turn out in big numbers for these things if there is good weather.”
The site, which had been terribly overgrown until the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife started clearing it recently, also required finishing touches.
The large stumps from a couple of cherry trees were blocking the tombstones and there was no real path accessible by the public. Inquiries were being made into resetting the tombstones.
Additional cleanup around the cemetery and elimination of tripping hazards was scheduled by the end of last week.
As if that were not enough, a reception is scheduled following the ceremony at the John Wesley Gandy Farmstead just down the road south of the Cedar Swamp Trail.
Barbi Harris, a township resident who is a member of the General Lafayette Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was mustering up volunteers, Eisele was to pick up the refreshments and Sutton to line the path with flags.
Wesley United Methodist Church provided the podium and Harris was in charge of securing the sound system.
Other agencies involved in the ceremony include the Colonel Richard Somers Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, the National Society Sons of the American Revolution and the State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, as well as the Historical Preservation Society of Upper Township.
Sutton will serve as emcee and Charles Morgan, immediate past president of the State SAR Society, will deliver the welcome address.
The posting of the Colors will be done by New Jersey State Society SAR Color Guard and the Rev. Robert Costello, pastor of Wesley UMC, will deliver the invocation.
Raymond J. Lambert Sr., vice commander of Post 239, will lead the Pledge of Allegiance and Michael T. Mangum, vice president of the State SAR Society, will lead the SAR Pledge.
Sutton said one thing of which he is really proud is the ceremony will mark the first time that Taps is sounded over the grave He said it did not became tradition to do so for fallen soldiers until 1863.
“To me, that’s something special,” Sutton said.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff