American Legion Post 239 to mark grave of Revolutionary War soldier
PETERSBURG — Paul Sutton said when he took over his duties for Aaron Wittkamp Colwell American Legion Post 239 in 2020, he learned the post was responsible for placing a flag on an obscure grave “in the middle of nowhere.”
Sutton said he was “advised to not go out there in tick season and not to go specifically on Memorial Day, but get there when you can.”
Sutton said it is a family graveyard on the highest point of the land that the Youngs once owned, 1,600 or 1,700 acres stretching all the way to Route 9.
He said he first went to the Young Family Cemetery off Tyler Road in November 2021 and found “this is not some ordinary veteran.”
Sutton, who said as a child he was “dragged through cemeteries” by his mother, an amateur genealogist, recognized Henry Young’s grave was from the Revolutionary War era.
Sutton said he did some research and found the county had no information and that “his grave has never been recognized in any way, shape or form.”
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.
“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.
Sutton said the post felt something needed to be done to recognize the veteran.
“We’ve been putting flags on that grave for decades but nobody in the post ever knew what he was,” Sutton said.
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 New Jersey Archive and the National Archive.
Township Committeeman Curtis Corson, who noted he is a direct descendant of Young — his grandmother’s grandfather was a Young — said the post is looking for other descendants to attend a ceremony at 11 a.m. May 6 formally marking the grave.
Corson said Young served under Capt. Willetts, husband of Rebecca Stillwell.
“The cemetery had fallen into disrepair and they have restored the cemetery” working with the DAR and SAR, he said.
Sutton said the post contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which owns the property, and “they began to cooperate in terms of getting the place cleaned up.”
He said the path leading to the grave, Cedar Swamp Trail, was severely neglected. It is just across from 144 Tyler Road at the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.
“The 11-grave cemetery had just become a place that you cannot even find unless you know exactly where you are going,” Sutton said.
He said U.S. Fish and Wildlife removed a 90-foot black cherry tree growing amid the graves that was “in the way and a danger to anyone that went out there.” He said only a huge stump remains at present. Unfortunately, the tree grew amid the graves of the younger generation, those who died in the 1860s, and is a hindrance.
Sutton said there now is a horseshoe-shaped trail leading to the grave.
Sutton said Barbi Harris, a local genealogist and member of the General LaFayette Chapter of the DAR, cleaned all of the stones starting in January and they now appear as they did when installed starting in 1795. They’re made of white marble, probably ship’s ballast unloaded in Port of Philadelphia and sold to a local gravestone engraver, he said.
He said they would be erecting a sign at the entrance noting there is a Revolutionary War veteran buried there.
– STORY By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff