More Than 200 Years After His Death, Somers Point Keeps Richard Somers' Story Alive

SOMERS POINT — More than two centuries after Richard Somers died thousands of miles from the South Jersey community that would carry his family name, a group of local residents and public officials gathered again Friday to make sure his story isn't forgotten.

About 50 people attended the annual Richard Somers remembrance ceremony Sept. 4 at Richard Somers Park, according to Brian Fitzherbert, who attended the event before appearing on Talking with Anne on WOND.

The ceremony marked the 222nd anniversary of Somers' death during a daring U.S. Navy mission in the harbor of Tripoli in 1804.

“We try to remember what Richard Somers did and the life,” Fitzherbert told host Anne Baker, noting that Liberty and Prosperity has continued holding the annual observance.

Among those attending this year, Fitzherbert said, were Atlantic County Sheriff Joe O'Donoghue, Atlantic County Commissioner John Risley, Assemblyman Don Guardian, Assemblyman Paul Kanitra and Somers Point officials.

But for Fitzherbert, the ceremony was about more than honoring a hometown historical figure.

It was about keeping his story alive.

“Those people that were there at the ceremony are the reason that the story is kept alive,” Fitzherbert said.

A Somers Point Native Goes to War

Born in 1778, Somers grew up in the prominent South Jersey family for which Somers Point was named.

He joined the newly reestablished U.S. Navy as a young man and became one of the officers fighting in America's war against the Barbary states of North Africa.

By 1804, the United States was fighting Tripoli, whose forces had attacked American commerce and seized ships and sailors.

Somers volunteered for an extraordinarily dangerous mission.

A captured vessel renamed the USS Intrepid was loaded with explosives. Somers and a small crew planned to sail it into Tripoli's heavily defended harbor and use it against the enemy fleet.

On the night of Sept. 4, 1804, the Intrepid exploded before the mission could be completed. Somers and his entire crew were killed. He was just 25 years old.

The mission failed to destroy its intended targets, but Somers' death became part of the early history and mythology of the U.S. Navy. His name was subsequently given to multiple Navy vessels.

Remembered at Home

More than 200 years later, Somers remains particularly visible in his hometown.

Richard Somers Park sits along Shore Road next to the Somers Point branch of the Atlantic County Library. The park includes a statue of Somers and a memorial recognizing the men who died with him aboard the Intrepid. A mural facing the park also depicts the story.

An even older monument to Somers stands near the former New York Avenue School. Historical accounts date that memorial to 1850, demonstrating that Somers Point was commemorating its naval hero less than half a century after his death.

Liberty and Prosperity has continued the modern Sept. 4 ceremony annually since 2005, according to previous reporting. The tradition followed a major Somers Point commemoration in 2004 marking the bicentennial of Somers' death.

‘The Story Is Kept Alive’

Fitzherbert worries that Somers' name is becoming less familiar outside the community that bears his family's name.

He told Baker that there was a time when Somers' story was much more widely known and taught.

“This isn't taught in schools anymore,” Fitzherbert said. “It used to be that any random kid in the middle of Kansas or Minnesota or Texas knew the story of Richard Somers.”

Whether Somers was actually as universally taught as Fitzherbert remembers is difficult to establish, but his larger point was clear: preserving local history requires people to continue telling it.

That's what Friday's gathering was intended to do.

The ceremony itself has now lasted more than two decades. The oldest local monument has stood for roughly 176 years. And Somers Point still carries the family name.

For Fitzherbert, the people who continue showing up every Sept. 4 are the link between those pieces of history and the next generation.

“They're the reason that the story is kept alive,” he said.