Liberty & Prosperity presents something new about pirate-fighting Richard Somers
STORY and PHOTO by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff. Reposted from Ocean City Sentinel, https://ocnjsentinel.com/
Click Here For Link To Original Post on August 27, 2025 in Ocean City Sentinel: Group celebrating Barbary Wars hero Sept. 4 in Somers Point ‣ Ocean City Sentinel
SOMERS POINT — The city will celebrate its most famous son during a Richard Somers Day event set for Sept. 4.
At 4 p.m., the civic group Liberty and Prosperity will tell the story of the Barbary Wars hero at Richard Somers Park (801 Shore Road), where there is a mural and statue that honor his service. After the event, the group will move to Sal’s Coal Fired Pizza at 501 New Road for a buffet.
Somers was born in 1778, during the American Revolution. In 1783, America won its independence after eight years of war with England.
When that war was over, America disbanded almost its entire army and scrapped its navy, according to Liberty and Prosperity, which was co-founded in 2003 by Somers Point-based attorney Seth Grossman. The United States had no quarrels with anyone in the world.
Like most Americans then, Somers completed school at age 16, receiving what Grossman said was an education better than those earning a bachelor’s degree today. He also had mastered a trade as a commander of large merchant ships sailing between New York and Philadelphia.
Somers had the skills needed to prepare ships for sea, supervise crews, adjust sails to the wind and stay on course without modern navigation tools. He had a promising future sailing larger ships with more profitable cargoes to and from ports all over the world.
However, Somers took a different path in 1798 when he was 20 years old. When America became independent, sea-fighters from “Barbary” kingdoms in North Africa attacked every American ship they could reach, seizing vessels and cargo. The crews were held hostage for ransom or sold into slavery.
In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, U.S. ambassadors in France and England, met with the Libyan ambassador to find out why they were attacking Americans and were told it was their duty as Muslims to attack, rob and enslave non-believers who did not pay them proper tribute, according to the group.
Because America had no navy, leaders had no choice but to pay the tribute to protect its citizens. However, in 1798, French pirates attacked U.S.-flagged ships in the Caribbean and the French government demanded bribes.
America finally had had enough, crying “Millions for defense! Not one cent for tribute.”
America built a navy, and Somers was among the first to join.
In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson sent the navy to North Africa to stop the attacks. In 1803, Somers, then 24, was put in command of a warship and sent to the scene of conflict.
“Americans won victory after victory and amazed the world with their skill and bravery,” according to the group’s website.
By the summer of 1804, all of the Barbary kingdoms had made peace with America except one in Tripoli. On Sept. 4, 1804, Somers and the crew of his ship Intrepid were killed in a daring mission to win the war before politicians in America could make peace before their job was finished.
The Intrepid was a floating bomb filled with 100 barrels of gunpowder and 150 fixed shells. Somers led 12 volunteers to sail the ship into Tripoli Harbor in an attempt to destroy the pirate fleet. However, the ship exploded prematurely, killing all aboard.
The bodies of all 13 crewmen washed ashore the next day and were buried in an unmarked communal grave. The Libyan government unearthed the remains in 1949 and moved them to the Old Protestant Cemetery in Tripoli.
Grossman said he has been part of organizing the event since 2005, after the city had hosted a major event in 2004 marking the 200th anniversary of Somers’ death.
“That’s when I heard to the story for the first time,” he said. “The next year, I got together with Sally Hastings of the Somers Point Historical Society and put together an event in 2005,” Grossman said.
The group holds a dramatic reading of Somers’ story, adding something new each year to keep it fresh.
“They kept asking me to come back to do the ceremony and you can’t give the same speech over and over again,” Grossman said. “So we’ve always looked for a new angle to tell part of the story never told before. In 20 years, we’ve never repeated the speech. We always find a new angle while preparing for it. Every year it got a little bit more historically accurate.”
The event will include a Scouting America color guard and Molly Pugliese, daughter of school Superintendent Ted Pugliese, singing the national anthem.
Grossman noted that they have featured special guests such as Mary Cannon, who painted the mural honoring Somers on the outside of the former city hall, now a branch of the Atlantic County Library.
Another was Chipp Reid, author of the book “Intrepid Sailors” about the crew of the ship.
They also learned that American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was the nephew of Henry Wadsworth, second in command of the Intrepid.
“We never know what we’re going to learn from this year’s presentation,” Grossman said. “This is not something we planned, but early on we realized that every element of Richard Somers’ story is a teachable moment on the principles of liberty and prosperity. Our group became experts by accident.”
Over the years, the city has held its own celebration in addition to the Liberty and Prosperity event but eventually let the group take the lead solo.
In 2021, the city hosted about 40 members of the USS Richard Somers Crewmembers Association, who visited the birthplace of their ships’ namesake during the annual recognition ceremony Sept. 15.
It was the association’s 10th anniversary and the 217th birthday of Master Commandant Richard Somers.
The event was sponsored by the Somers Point Historical Society and city. Then-mayor Jack Glasser welcomed the crowd, vowing to continue fighting to get the bodies of Somers and his crewmates back on U.S. soil.
Grossman said about 15 years ago, his group decided to hold its ceremony on the date of Somers’ death.
The attorney said he has a theme each year and this year expects it to be aimed at trying to interest younger members of the group to keep the tradition alive.
City Council approved use of the park Aug. 14.
“This is a great event every year. It’s actually very entertaining as well as educational. So if anybody that can be there, you should try and be there,” Councilwoman Janice Johnston said. “It’s a good history lesson.”
– STORY and PHOTO by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
