Claymont High School - Clay Tablet Yearbook (Claymont, DE)

Page 15 text:

We can save no more, sard Captarn Montgomery to the frrst mate He boxxed hrs head He brt hrs lrp Yes Lrght the fuse noxx He sxxept a xxrld eye ox er the deck from stem to stern He rarsed hrs head and looked after the mate No Wart' I ll do rt He rushed rnto the hold and lrt the fuse For an rnstant there xx as a dead srlenee rn xx hrch not a board creaked and not a waxe xxashed agamst the hull Lnrble at the moment to realr e xxhat he had done, he made hrs way calmly thouvh not sadly to the deck Together the captarn and the mate clrmbed doxxn rnto the xx artrng boat The seamen bent to therr oars and roxxed xx rth mrxfht Qnce on the shore the refu-'ees huddled together axxartrnxf xxrth horror the nex-it move of the frrvates Suddenly John Hancock Cnot the most famous onej crred, My country s flag' The attentron ofthe group turned from the frrvates to ohn He plunged rnto the yxater Wrth masterful strokes he ploxx ed through the xx ax es He reached the boat and clrmbed over the srde tc the deck Nrmbly he mounted the rrtlrnes From both land and sea came srlence The enemy forces D D xy xxere spellbound Hancock tore the flax' from the mast, rolled rt and sxvrngrng from rope to rope, descended He plunged from the deck and sxx am toxx ard shore Upon hrs landrng a cry arose The Brrtrsh xxere srtrsfred xx rth therr xretory Had not the Amerre rns hauled down the flag7 Was that not surrender The Amerrcans, not thrnkrnv of surrender xxere Joyous The flag vxas safe from rnjury and protected from rnsult as the boatload of Uloatrnv' ofhcers ne rred the brr f a terrrfrc cxplosron occurred The flame of the fuse had reached the poxxder After the rumblrng ceased the spectators of both natrons vafed horrr fred The frrgates xxere unharmed but the xx recka e of the Brrtrsh grg and the Nancy was strewn ox er the bay Captarn Montgomery shuddered and dropped hrs head rnto hrs hands Not a man xx as mrssrnfv and part of the cargo xx as sax ed The enterprrse xxas not a total loss but the brrg Nancy the first shrp to fly the Amerrcan flag rn a forervn port xxas lost a martyr rn the cause of freedom EPITAPHS IN THE IMMANUEL CHURCHYARD Henrz Pate, 1940 PITAPHS should be bestoxxed upon a person durrng hrs lrfe trme, but they are xx rthheld untrl after death xx hen the subject cannot enjoy them Thex are lrke lrfe rnsurrnee polreres Une nex er gets the benefrt untrl death, but one must pax for rt durrng Irfe If you are polrte, courteous, and humble, and pay all your debts you may get a krnd eprtaph on your Uraxestone On the other hand, rf you make one remark xx hrch you should not haxe made or leaxe one cent of your debts unpard, see xx hat krnd of an eprtaph you vet People gather rn lrttle groups and say to each other malrcrously See rf he vets an eprtaph IfI could haxe my xx ay, hrs tombstone vxould be as bald as my grandfather s pate He ll pay for hrs compliments or he ll not get them And you dre and are burred Folks xxrll pass your grave, stop to look at the slab and see only a name Prtyrngly they murmur somethrng about lack of money These bare tombstones leaxe much to the rmagrnatron but I xx ould rather read a xerbose eprtaph and burld a story on that As I xx andered through Immanuel Churehyard I found sex eral rnterestrnv eprtaphs Here are deposrted the mortal remarns of joseph Israel, Esq , who departed thrs lrfe unrxersally regretted December 13 A D 1801 rn Hrs 34th year of Lrfe LITERARY fl 2 I1 ' ' V V ' ,B . . . . . ' KK I h 1 v ll I 'L V. V1 Y x I ' . . I X X X H , . , . ,, . L . Q r r . Q . . . n ' s. L ' K 1 e -t - x ' 1 As ' 1 ' - - V ' I ' 2 V .lv A I 7 B Q Z , C , , M, , C V Y I h' ' l D ' U x 3 . Y . , D . , . D . . v ' ,K s s ,' . Y 3 . D . 7 V . ,L V. , as ' ' s , ' s s Q ' , ' Q -f ' . 'A Z ' h X . V D . D , . I ' 5 x 5' r w V I' . . g e . . . s ' ' -.x 1 -l 's V' I I- I f '-2 ' , 1 L . L x . ' I 'I rx ' x 1 V Vx 4 V . L K v 3 ' I L Xlxlrth more lusty' cheers the Brrtrsh put over a small boat and started toxx ard the Nancy. lust I - C' 1 ' H - r As .2 x s 'B' x ' sl- 4 - - s . 1 ' r ' I Y ' M -A 1 W - - L D B . Y 5 Y . Y Y . . . Y D, v 1 ' ' r Y , E Y B ' 3 S 1 1: r x - ' 'f ' x ' . x y' .x o I X l ' x I 1 1 I , c ' x e ' . - . . Y V v A I V 1 . D g . Y ' I Q v l-jx ' , . . I ., . . Y Z ' - v x ' . 1 1 - . ' , 1 rv - A A I c T I. sk- sk Y - ' ' ' y V , . 4 ' V 1 x 1 N Q C L u 5 I Y Y . ,- D , Q an 2 3 - X x - V I . . . C 1 Y i . - . . - . s s I K v

Page 14 text:

LITERARY The orlglnal bnck walls are covered wrth plaster The eelllng has been renewed recently and the beams above haxe been treated to k1ll termltes The outer walls of thts old church are partly covered wlth Engllsh lvy whlch was brought from England by Mrs Bayard mother of the Hon Thomas FIHDCIS Bayard lt grew from a slrp brought from Stoke Poges ID England the scene of Gray s lmmortal Elegy Wrltten IH a Country Church yard The IX y was planted about seventy five years ago The churchyard surroundrng the church IS the burlal place of many of the early settlers and rherr descendants Old Swedes Church lS one of the shrmes of Delaware and IS vrslted every year by trax elers from far and near but there are stlll many persons ID Delaware who have never seen lf A MARTYR FOR FREEDOM Marcza Sanders, 1938 OWN wlth the Unrcorn' Up wrth the Stars and Strlpesl shouted the crew The colorful crowds standlng on the quay took up the cheer They waved handkerchlefs and threw hats lnto the a1r Captarn Montgomery stepped forward He handed a small bundle to a young sallor The boy started to cllmb the ratlrnes Up up he cl1mbed Now and then he was almost hldden by the rxggrng The shoutmg ceased A breathless sllence fell over the throng The flag the Amerlcan flag w as flylng from the masthead It wax ed majestlcally agalnst the cerulean background The lad smiled and descended After a moment of srlence wlld cheers broke over the spectators l1ke waves on a stormy sea The crowd was rn a frenzy Thomas Mendlnhall standlng apart from the other sarlors was smrlmg Thxs moment meant more to h1m than any other had ever meant Hts country had a flag He had had a part rn maklng rng but hls thoughts wandered elsewhere He wanted to thrnk th1ngs over from the frrst The brlg Nancy: had salled from W1lmlUgtOH under the Brxtlsh flag even though lf was backed by the new Contlnental Congress She had come to Puerto Rrco to take on a cargo Crum and sugar by day ammumtron by nrghtj The vessel had been ready to sa1l for home when the news had come The Deelaratlon of Independence had been srgnedl There was a new flag' Down wlth the UHlCOfDl Up wlth the Stars and Stnpes' Another surge of warmth came over htm He had followed the descrlptron of the flag He Thomas Mendlnhall had cut out and sewed together that Amerlcan flag whreh was to be the fxrst to fly rn a forelgn port The CTICS and shouts were recedlng The crowd dlssolx ed The Nancy haxlng completed her task rn the Islands of the Carrbbean set sa1l for Delaware The xox, age dld not pass as one 111 a story book There were no rnutrnres no storms and no advent ures The adxenturc howex er was just over the horrzon When the bng was off the Delaware Bay capes a small fleet was seen approachrng Belrevrng If to be the closer the The Nancy: The than to let one whreh Con ress was reported to haxe f1tted out the Nancy halled If But as she drew hornfled crew beheld the Lnron jack HOHUIIE from the masthead of the nearest frlgate was a fast sa1ler but she was not a man o war officers of the Nancy made thelr plans hurrledly lt was much better to lose the powder lt fall lnto the hands of the enemy They would save as much as posslble and the rest A long fuse was to be prepared but II should not be l1t yet Qulckly they anchored loaded the gigs and landed the preclous cargo on the beach Back and forth the men rowed The Brrtlsh prepared to attack 1 7 1 1 ' 1 ' s - c , . ' 1 ' E . , . ., . . Y Y T ,na - 7 V I f . i Q . 1 . . xl 1 T 1 tu 1 1 1- T - ' ' 1 ' ' ' 1 1 y 1 L , ' I Y Y X 3 l I . I as ,' ' V- - ay 1 ' . g ' ' . 1 , . 1 g . at - - Y . 7 . . . , . Y Y I y , Y . . D . that flag. A warm feeling surged through his veins. He looked about him. The crowd was fascinat- . 9 . 7 . V . I -' . v . . . . . t xx . . K. . . .' ' 77 ' . ' ' 1. , 1 Y y 1 v, rl y 0 .L Y y I I 1 . 1 1 y1 ' . - ' , , ' ' ' ' Y Y . v 1 1Y v y Y ' 1 ' ' . y .- g Y Y 7 I . . n y V 1 A - v 1 l ' - ' y 1 1 ' . Y . Y Y , . L A l I 1 Y s Y ' , ' ' U 1 I ' ' 1 . Q A , . y . D

Page 16 text:

UTERARY Thrs marble cannot delrneate hrs many vrrtues of Whrch the Hearts of hrs Affectronate Wrdow and chrldren retarn an rndelrble record Nor the Benevolence whrch rn the Breasts of Hrs Numerous Frrends and Acquarntances wrll long be Remembered Lodged rn the grand Lodge of the Sky He lrves wrth God no more to dre I am sure that hrs wrfe wrote that She could not wrthhold the fact that he was a lodge member Hrs wrfe loved hrm but no matter how great her love to acqurre such a frne eprtaph the poor fellow led a lrfe of comparatrve poverty so that the affectronate wrdow mrght have everythrng she wrshed Had he neglected a srngle request for money hrs memorral mrght have read Joseph Israel B 1753 D 1807 May he sleep forever So goes lrfe and death Another eprtaph that I noted read as follows Elrzabeth Harrrs B 1762 D 1784 An Amrable and Vrrtuous Woman She poor grrl spent her young lrfe rn slavrng for her devoted husband She washed hrs clothes sewed patches on hrs trousers and baked pres for hrm And thus rt goes forever There are thrngs rn thrs world whrch can be bought for a song but not an eprtaph TWO HISTORIC LANDMARKS Walter Lxlly and George johnson, 1940 HILE lookrng through a Delaware Tercentenary publrcatron we ran across two rnterestrng old burldrngs the Calahara house afterwards the Practrcal Farmer Hotel and the old Grubb s homestead One afternoon we set out wrth brcycles and a camera to rnvestrgate these landmarks We frrst went to the Calahara house whrch rs located at the rntersection of Harvey Road and the Phrladelphra Prke Srnce we were unable to get rn we asked the attendant of furnrture of thrs hotel have remarned untouched They are there today rn therr orrgrnal state It rs sard that durrng the War of 1812 an Englrsh vessel came up the Delaware Rrver and a cannon ball shot from one of rts guns fell through the roof of the hotel We were rnterested rn the archrtecture of the old burldrng and took several snap shots of rt before we re mounted our brkes We headed for Grubb s homestead located just the other srde of Grubb s Corner The brown stone house surrounded by locust trees rs set about four hundred yards from the road As we rode up the lane we saw a pleasant lookrng gentleman standrng at the door We approached hrm told hrm who we were and why we had come Much to our surprrse we learned that he was Newton Grubb We explarned that we were rn search of hrstorrcal materral for the CLAY TABLET Srnce hrs home rs one of the oldest rn the state we thought that he mrght have somethrng of rnterest to tell us about rt Well boys he sard seemrng very much pleased to talk wrth us thrs rs one of the oldest farm houses rn Delaware It has been rn our famrly ex er srnce rt was burlt How old rs rt? George rnqurred The marn part the stone burldrng was burlt rn 1777 but the date of the burldrng of the other part formerly a log cabrn rs unknown He awarted our next questron What rs that house? Walter rnqurred as we looked at a whrte washed stone burldrng apart from the mam burldrng . . . , . , . . . ,, , . . . . y Y . . y . 1 . . . - ll 33 Cl ' ' ' ' YU , . y . . . 0 . Y , . - . . . . . U , x . . . . . . x ' 1 X , . . ' . . . . . . y the garage next door about the historic building. We learned that the bar, the glass ware, and the . . . . . . H H ' n C5 ' Y! Y ' ' Y , . . . . . y ! ' 1 Y cc. 77 ' ' ' CK ' ' l Y Y Y ,, Y . . ,, . . ,, . . . . . . . Y 1 7 - - rr 7 D ' at 4 11 7 1 n V Y a , n 1