Above Image: Our ceremony began with the posting of the colors by the Honor Guard of Amvets Post 911 of Somers Point, NJ. Photo by Brian Fitzherbert. Pictured above from left to right are Ted Pugliese, Vicki Rago, Don Brown, and Ken Blankenbuehler. Photo by Brian Reed of https://shorelocalnews.com/. This Honor Guard often volunteers to honors veterans and their families at funerals, memorials, holidays, and other special events throughout South Jersey. Click this link to learn more about them: Honor Guard (amvetpost911nj.com)
At 4pm on September 4, a wide section of the community gathered at the Richard Somers Park by Shore Road and New Jersey Avenue in Somers Point, New Jersey. This was the day Richard Somers and the entire crew of the Intrepid died in Tripoli on September 4, 1804.
Above Image: Molly Pugliese of Egg Harbor Township, sang both our National Anthem and Columbia, The Gem Of The Ocean, our previous unofficial national anthem. Photo by Brian Reed of https://shorelocalnews.com/. That song from the 1840s seems to describe the achievements of Richard Somers and the other young men who rebuilt the United States Navy in 1798 and who then sailed to “the shores of Tripoli”.
O Columbia! The gem of the ocean
The home of the brave and the free
The shrine of each patriot’s devotion
A world offers homage to thee;
They mandates make heroes assemble,
When Liberty’s form stands in view;
They banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white, and blue. . .
Seth Grossman then led the group in reciting both the pledge of allegiance and these “sentiments” of our Declaration of Independence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident:
That we are all created equal
And are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.
That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
And that to secure these rights, we institute governments
Exercising those powers with the consent of the governed.
Grossman then explained how Quakers came to Atlantic County to escape persecution in England. They included John Somers, the great-grandfather of Richard Somers. They also included others with names like Smith, Leeds, Conover, Risley, Steelman, Lake and Scull whose names are still common in this area. They organized a new society built on individual liberty and responsibility.
Each of them was free to go into any business or trade he or she wanted, without needing permits from the government. Taxes were low, and people kept most of what they earned. Americans also built ships and sold what we produced all over the world. When England found out how prosperous Americans had become, they tried control our economy and tax our wealth. Those early American rebelled and declared our independence.
In 1776, they made “Liberty and Prosperity” the motto of New Jersey.
When we won our independence, Americans got rid of most of our army and all of our navy. We believed that since we had no desire to attack or threaten people in any other nation, nobody else would attack or threaten us. However, we were wrong.
As soon as our ships were no longer protected by the navy, diplomacy and bribes of the British navy, they were attacked by sea fighters from four North African kingdoms. Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. They seized our ships and their cargo. They sold every passenger and crew member into slavery–or held them for ransom. The sea-fighters who attacked us were not pirates. They were lawfully working for countries that had declared war on us.
In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, our ambassadors to Europe met with the ambassador from Tripoli and asked why these four nations were at war with us. They were told:
“It is written in our Koran that all nations which do not acknowledge the Prophet Muhamad are sinners. It is the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave them”.
For ten years, America had no navy and no money to pay for one. However, in 1798, America had a new Constitution and a strong President. Americans said, “Millions for defense! Not one cent for tribute!” We built a navy. Richard Somers , then 20 years old, was one of the first to join.
Above Image: Sally and Kirk Hastings. Photo by Brian Reed of https://shorelocalnews.com/.
Seth Grossman then thanked Sally Hastings for keeping the memory of Richard Somers alive. For years, Sally Hastings was president of the Somers Point Historical Society. Sally and the Historical Society worked with Liberty and Prosperity to hold ceremonies to remember Richard Somers every September since 2004. Sally Hastings had navy historian Chipp Reid, author of Intrepid Sailors, speak in Somers Point every year for many years. She was also instrumental in commissioning the statute of Richard Somers that was put in the park by the library at New Jersey Avenue and Shore Road. She also obtained funding and an artist to paint the mural on the wall of that library that tells the Richard Somers story. Sally Hastings also maintained ties with the village of Somers, New York, which is also named after Richard Somers, and which also has an identical statue of him.
Above Image: Grossman then introduced George Somers III and John Risley. George Somers III is part of the Somers family that now lives in Gloucester County. Until 1837, Somers Point and all of Atlantic County were part of Gloucester County. People from this area often went to and from Woodbury, the county seat of Gloucester County. Richard Somers’ father commanded the Gloucester County militia in Woodbury during America’s War for Independence. Photo by Brian Reed of https://shorelocalnews.com/.
Grossman also introduced Freeholder John Risley. Risley is also descended from the Quaker families who came to this part of South Jersey during the late 1600s. Grossman then explained how in 2020, Governor Murphy and the Legislature “cancelled” the word “freeholder” as the title of county legislators in New Jersey and replaced it with the word “commissioner”. “Freeholder” is the old English legal word for landowner. Until 1804, only “freeholders” or landowners paid taxes, and only freeholders were qualified to vote or hold office to determine how much in taxes the government needed, and how that tax money would be spent.
Above Image: John Risley then told of the Quaker families who settled and built up this area during the 1600s and 1700s. John Risley is descended from Richard Somers. Photo by Brian Reed of https://shorelocalnews.com/.
The program concluded with the presentation of a 20 minute dramatic reading telling the life of Richard Somners. That reading was written by Egg Harbor Township resident Linda Severt, and Atlantic City retired attorney Seth Grossman.
Above Image: Local residents tell the story of Richard Somers through several historical characters who lived at the time. From left to right: Paul Klepacki as Commodore John Barry, Robert Protesto as Richard Somers, Despina Protesto as Grandmother Somers, George Somers III as Grandfather Somers, David Goloff as Thomas Jefferson, Jan Knepper and Charles Shayman as Narrators, and Gerald Harrigan as Captain Edward Preble. Photo by Brian Reed of https://shorelocalnews.com/.
Click Here For Link To Full Text Of The Dramatic Reading. If you like it, please contact us and help us have it read in enrichment programs and special events and assemblies at public and private schools throughout South Jersey. Thanks!
Above Image: Part of the audience at Richard Somers Park in Somers Point at the beginning of the program on September 4, 2024. Photo by Brian Reed of https://shorelocalnews.com/.
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