Evening star., 1942-05-01
unknown SuiIors' Rest
At Cape HenIopen
Writer Tells Of Graveyard
For the Dead Of the SEQ
At lewes, in Delaware
By Mary-Cdrter Roberts.

At lewes, in Delaware
BY Mary-Carter Roberts.
The American public is aware of the
numerous monuments which have been
erected in memory of the Unknown
Soldier, but 1t probably does not know
that there exists, in honor Of certain
obscure unknown sailors, 4 historical
monument which is among the oldest
of such memorials in the country.
This is cemetery which lies, forlorn
and pathetic, on the sandy shore Of
Cape Henlopen, almost down to the
point where the waters OF the Atlantic
Ocean and those of Delaware Bay flow
together The word monument" Is an
ambitious name for it, for no stone or
other enduring form of marker dis
tinguishes the place to the eye OF the
searcher There are not even any
graves to be seen in the plot; the drift
ing sands of the cape have long ago
obliterated the customary mounds. But
the cemetery is a monument in the
technical sense at least, for the Delaware
Society for the Preservation of Antiq-
uities has set the ground aside in
memory of the dead who lie buried
there, and weather-worn stakes mark its
boundaries against too careless tres
passing.
Some day a real monument may be
set upon the little plot. Until then the
people of the nearby town OF Lewes
know the place simply as the first Of
long series of burying grounds which
have existed in the neighborhood for the
interrment of the bodies of seamen who
lost their lives battling the shoals and
storms OF the cape, the sad and never
ceasing harvest of the sea-
Lewes was founded in 1888 and almost
from it's first day it has had to deal
with the problem of disposing of the
dead who have come ashore" on its
beaches, as the local phrase has it, In
the beginning, these were mainly bodies
washed in from wrecks. For more than
two centuries of the towns history, there
vas no organized life-saving service
and the constantly shifting shoals of
Henlopen were only crudely mapped.
Every northeaster took It's toll of the
sailing ships caught in the neighborhood
and the townspeople assumed the duty
of giving the last rites to the bodies Of
the unknown sailormen cast up on
their shores Thus the little cemetery
had its inception. Today. nobody knows
how many men were laid to rest in it's
boundaries. No records were kept, for
few of the bodies could be identified.
Often 1t was impossible to determine
even what ship they had belonged to.
The tradition thus established took
root and still is alive in the Lewes
communal mores. After a time-nobody
knows just when-the custom of bury
ing the dead from the sea out on the
cape fell into disuse and the various
churches took over the responsibility.
Today it is in the Methodist Cemetery
that burial is given.
To be sure, there now are fewer bodies
to be cared for. The coastal waters
are mapped. buoys and hghtships long
have been established and the Coast
Guard service is alert and eficient. But
still. occasionally, there is an unknown
sailor" to be laid to rest in the little
town. As late as February of the present
year two men met death in . collision
of1shore and no claim was made for
their bodies With full religious rites
they were given burial in the special
plot which the Methodist Church has
set aside for such occasions where the
two fresh graves make a total now of
Is. Markers were set up, giving the
names OF the men and their ship and 4
number of townspeople attended the
funerals, as they usually do, for SYM
pathy with those who follow the sea
is a strong part of Lewes tradition On
Memorial Day the graves of these
strangers will be decorated by the school
children with those Of the one time
residepts.
All through Lewes, indeed, one finds
tokens OF the towns voluntary steward
ship over the sea dead Under the nave
OF the present ST. Peters Protestant
Episcopal Church lie the bodies OF 4
number OF sailors Of the Revolutionary
War who lost their lives in an explosion
as they were transporting munitions
from the shore to their ship. Farther
down on the cape there used to be 4
marine hospital, 4 quarantine station
where all cases Of infectious diseases
were detained from incoming vessels
Those who died were buried in 4 plot
nearby. Foreign seamen, they often
were. speaking little or no English, and
their names sometimes had to be
guessed at. Today nobody knows for
sure just how many were given burial
there or exactly what the limits of the
old graveyard we're.
There Is combination of common
sense and piety in the attitude of the
Lewes people. The town always has
sent some of its men to- sea and many
of the old families have in their his
tories the case Of an uncle or cousin or
grandfather who sailed away and never
was heard from again. One thinks of
this as one talks to the townspeople
today. There is nothing sentimental in
their discussion of the custom of caring
of-fact about it. But they do it. The
ministers give their services, the graves
are well-kept and no matter how in
clement the weather on the day Of a
funeral there is always a little group
to stand in the churchyard while
another .'unkpowp sailOr' reverepfIy is