PETERSBURG — “I’m sure gonna be glad when today’s over. These past two years it’s been a bit of a nightmare trying to get permission to place the sign where it is,” Paul Sutton, former adjutant of Aaron Wittkamp Colwell American Legion Post 239, said Sept. 27.
Years in the works, the final steps of recognizing the grave of Revolutionary War Ensign Henry Young at the Young Family Graveyard on Tyler Road took place Saturday.
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.
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.
“I came out here and actually I went the wrong way and couldn’t find the cemetery. I finally found it — took me about an hour and a half. I found that the area was so badly overgrown,” he said.
Fortunately for Sutton, right about the time he started, Robin Donohue took over as regional manager of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, where the graveyard is located.
“So we put our heads together and they went to work back there and cut that big tree down and cleaned up the cemetery,” Sutton said.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was very helpful in getting it in the ground and then just organizing this,” Sutton said.
In May 2023, Post 239, in conjunction with the local and state Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution, rededicated the cemetery.
On Saturday, Sutton served as the master of ceremonies of the Pomeroy Foundation Historic Marker Dedication Ceremony.
As a lead-up to the 250th birthday of the United States, the William Pomeroy Foundation is offering free roadside signs commemorating the burial sites of one or more Revolutionary War soldiers.
“We applied for and were granted one of these signs, which was received in late 2023,” Sutton said. “Due to unforeseen and unavoidable delays that were no fault of the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office, this sign was not installed until late May of this year.”
According to the terms of the grant from the William Pomeroy Foundation, the American Legion and the Col. Richard Somers Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution were obliged to hold a public dedication of the sign’s positioning at the entrance to the refuge.
“Fortunately, we had tremendous assistance and hours of challenging work dedicated to this effort by the personnel of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” Sutton said.
The effort included the removal of a 90-foot black cherry tree in front of Young’s grave and a general cleanup and restoration of the graveyard.
“We also had the benefit of the long and dedicated efforts of Barbi Harris of the Gen. Lafayette Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, who rejuvenated the marble gravestones of Henry and Millicent Young, plus the foot stones of the other nine individuals interred there,” Sutton said.
The Rev. Robert Costello, pastor of the Wesley United Methodist Church in Petersburg, delivered the invocation.
He said over the summer, he and his wife visited Normandy, France, where they saw hundreds of grave markers from World War II.
“People have given themselves in sacrifice in order for our country to be what it can be. It’s a humbling experience. And today we’re here to honor one who did it way back when, in the day when this country was becoming alive,” Costello said.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Ray Lambert, senior vice commander of American Legion Post 239.
Chris Sands, president of the New Jersey State Society of Sons of the American Revolution, thanked everyone for attending.
Shea Pease, of the Gen. Lafayette Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, said she was honored to “stand alongside our brothers in the Sons of the American Revolution.” “Through projects like this, we not only honor the sacrifices of our patriot ancestors but also ensure that their stories and the responsibility to preserve them are passed on to future generations,” she said. “These stories are the foundation of our national identity and serve as a powerful reminder of the price of freedom. This marker, like so many others across our nation, stands as a lasting tribute to the resiliency and courage of the American patriots who fought and sacrificed for the liberties we cherish today.”
Bill Archer, commander of Post 239 and the Cape May County American Legion, spoke of the effort it took to get the job done.
“When I took over as commander of this post, I had no idea what he was doing,” he said of Sutton. “I’m so happy I was able to see it through completion.”
– STORY and PHOTOS by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
