TUCKAHOE – The American Legion-Aaron Wittkamp Colwell Post 239 is looking for any living descendants of Henry Young, who served in the American Revolutionary War.
Young, born March 5, 1746, would have been 30 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed, and he served as an ensign in Capt. Willet’s Company of the 3rd Battalion of the New Jersey Militia from 1777 to 1783.
Paul Sutton, from the American Legion, said Post 239 is the only American Legion post in Upper Township, so they always got the job of decorating graves for holidays.
Sutton said among those graves was one in a former family graveyard on Tyler Road. Sutton said he was advised not to go there during the warmer months due to tick infestation, and the entire graveyard had been overgrown.
Sutton was no stranger to graveyard strolls, as he was dragged through many a graveyard by his mother, who was a genealogist. When he arrived at the graveyard on Tyler Road, he quickly made a discovery.
“I realized it was not just the grave of a veteran but a Revolutionary War veteran,” Sutton said.
Sutton did a little research on his own to see if anyone else knew about the grave and about Young. He connected with Barbi Harris, who is a member of the Atlantic County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). He said Harris knew the grave was back there but knew of no family members in Upper Township.
“There are family members, but they haven’t been tracked down,” Harris said.
She said there is someone in Minnesota who is a descendant of Young but would not be coming out for a dedication ceremony to be held in May.
Harris said there might be someone on Route 49 in Tuckahoe, but the person has not responded to her yet. Harris said it takes some work to locate descendants of historical figures. She said it’s like making an ancestral tree, only you start with the ancestor and move to the present day. She said living people do not have posted information, but when someone dies, they generally post who their survivors are.
“It takes a little sleuthing,” she said.
Harris said she went back and cleaned Young’s grave marker.
“I just cleaned it. Obviously, no one cared,” she said.
Harris said she also cleaned the stone of his wife, Millicent Townsend, daughter of Samuel Townsend, who is buried beside her husband.
Sutton provided photos Harris took of Young’s grave marker before and after Harris cleaned it. According to Sutton, Young’s gravestone is made of white marble and it can be traced back to a stonecutter in Philadelphia. This stonecutter used to make ballasts for ships at the port of Philadelphia and they were made of the same substance.
Sutton said he is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). His mother, the genealogist, was a DAR member, and when her sons became adults, they joined the SAR. Her mother, being a direct descendant of Revolutionary War figures, meant her sons were as well.
Combined with his tagging along when his mother searched graveyards, Sutton’s interest was piqued when he found this old marker in a family graveyard. At the time, he said, no one knew who owned the property.
Sutton spoke to Upper Township Engineer Paul Dietrich, who told him the graveyard was on land that is now owned by the federal government. Being as such, the U.S. Department of the Interior is obliged by statute to be caretakers of that property.
Sutton said the previous refuge manager “couldn’t have cared less” about the graveyard, but he recently received a call from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which put him in touch with the new refuge manager.
He said the service came out in January or February 2022 and removed a tree that had displaced the remains of four people. Sutton said there are 11 graves on the site, and Young is the only Revolutionary War soldier buried in Upper Township.
Sutton said part of the tradition of the American Legion is to honor deceased veterans, and they are planning to hold a ceremony May 6 at Young’s gravesite.
The post would like to contact direct descendants of Young, formerly of Petersburg. Young inherited the tract fronting upon the Cedar Swamp Creek between the mouth of Sluice Creek and a small creek below the present Upper Bridge and extending in an easterly direction to the Butter and Old Landing roads.
The grave marking ceremony will be held at the Young family burying ground, 144 Tyler Road, Petersburg, beginning at 11 a.m. May 6. The ceremony is supported by the current property owners – the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – as well as Upper Township and a local Boy Scout troop.
Anyone wishing to attend the grave marking ceremony and the post-ceremony reception at the John Wesley Gandy Farmhouse, at 26 Tyler Road, Petersburg, is asked to call Sutton at 609-408–2100 or to contact him by email at ssgtusmc6169@gmail.com.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
