With volunteers from Henry Hudson Regional High school student members of the Leos, the youth group of the Lions Club, MAST cadets at the Academy of Science and Technology at Sandy Hook, and Rumson Fair Haven High School members of their Veterans Appreciation Club volunteering Saturday with members of American Legion Post 141 of Atlantic Highlands in placing hundreds of American flags on the tombs of veterans of veterans of all wars from the 19th century to the present at Bayview Cemetery, it is a good time to repeat the story of the cemetery, the people who founded it, and the Medal of Honor recipient who is buried there. This is one of the stories in one book I co-authored, “Hidden History of Monmouth County” which was first published in the Atlantic Highlands Herald in 2016.
Heroes Are Buried Here
By Muriel J. Smith
Especially around Memorial Day, perhaps after the parade or before the back-yard barbecue. Or maybe in the evening before the sun sets. At any time, you want to take a step back in history and see first had reasons for appreciating our military men and women, it might be a nice idea to take a stroll through Bay View Cemetery. There are more than 300 souls buried there who joined whatever forces were helping defend the United States at that time in their lives. Perhaps it’s time to give special recognition to names that are still familiar in Monmouth County, like Stryker and Cassone, Luke and Swan, as well as those not so familiar, like Rekzregel or Sory, or Hay.
Hay. That’s Fred Stewart Hay, aka, as his tombstone says, Frederick H. Schwabe. That’s his small, plain white stone just beneath the American flag as you enter the cemetery. By either name, Fred Hay or Frederick Schwabe is a hero. Our hero. More than that, he is a Medal of Honor recipient, one of just over 3500 or so in the nation since it first honored heroism and bravery in the Civil War, one of only 426 who earned the honor during the Indian Wars, that series of conflicts that lasted from King Phillips’ War at the start of the 19th century for almost the next 100 years.
He served with Company I of the 5th US Infantry and rose to the rank of Sergeant while serving. According to Medal of Honor records, Fred was born in 1850 in Stirlingshire, Scotland, and entered the US Army at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. At some point after his enlistment, Fred was in a small cavalry unit escorting a supply train to Battle Creek where they were to meet up with General Nelson Mile’s forces camped there. Miles, who himself also received a Medal of Honor for earlier action in the Civil War, was in desperate need of supplies and anxiously awaiting the train at Battle Creek. On Sept. 9, 1874, as the train came out of a canyon on the Upper Wachita River in what was then Texas, now Oklahoma, it was attacked by a large war party of Kiowa and Comanche warriors. Heavily outnumbered, according to reports, the American soldiers fought valiantly for an entire day and the train successfully moved towards its destination. Hay, as a sergeant, was one of six soldiers cited for their gallantry that day, the commendation simply statin “for gallantry,” absent of all detail.
The battle continued for another two days, and in addition to Hay and the other five who earned honors on the first day, another seven soldiers were also cited for their continuing efforts before the train finally reached the 650-man force and General Miles.
Sgt. Hay lived through the Civil War and for many years after, dying Jan. 14, 1914, at age 64. When he came to Monmouth County, where he lived here, or why his family chose this serene, locally significant cemetery for his final resting place, still remain mysteries. Medal of Honor records show the Medal was issued to him at Upper |Wichita, Texas Sept. 9, 1874.
In fact, within the confines of Bay View Cemetery, it is still unknown the site of his actual remains. Because of that, the Cemetery Association, wanting to be certain his memory is honored, thought it important every visitor to Bay View knew about the Medal of Honor recipient. So, they placed his stone at the entrance. The tall American flag that waves behind it is tended by the Atlantic Highlands American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts.
Capt. George Porter is also buried at Bay View Cemetery. Capt. Porter fought at the Battle of Mobile under Admiral Farragut during the Civil War and had begun his career in the Navy as a signal boy, a title considered so important that it is engraved on his tombstone. Right up there with his rank of Captain, he the notation, “the only signal boy in the US Navy.”
William Sory is probably not the only Confederate soldier buried at Bay View Cemetery. Born in Virginia, Sory was a private in the CSA, CO. G, part of the Virginia Infantry. One wonders what brought a Confederate to the North to finish out the rest of his life after battling those who live here. Retired Cemetery manager, Walter Curry, said it is believed there are some other Confederate military members who fought for the South also interred at Bay View.
The list goes on, and each veteran’s story is important, whether known or committed to the ages.
The cemetery itself has a fascinating history, a well-cared for, beloved resting place for generations of families from the Highlands, Atlantic Highlands, Leonardo, Navesink, Belford, and Chapel Hill areas. It started, according to author Thomas Leonard, in his ancestor’s law office in 1889 when a group of residents saw the need for a burial ground and formed a company to purchase the land. Attorney Leonard became the secretary of the first company y, with former Judge Sickles the chairman of the new Bay View Land Improvement Company, LTD. The cemetery association was organized, and 52 acres of land carved from R.A. Leonard’s farm were purchased for $13, 300. Each of the partners agreed to purchase a lot in the cemetery, and that was the first money raised towards maintaining and improving the land.
A quiet, thoughtful visit the cemetery gives time and opportunity to think about the men and women buried there, not only the veterans but other ancestors of families who still take pride in calling the Bayshore home. Take a good look at the names on the gravestones, names that still resonate. Look for the final resting place of Mayor Everett Curry who tended this cemetery for so many years before his son Walter took up the mantle. Both Currys seemed to be on a first name basis with all who are buried there, Everett lovingly tendering the graves for 20 years, until 1994, then son and also a former Atlantic Highlands council member Walter Curry, coming on board as assistant in 1978, then assuming the position full time in 2000.
– From The Atlantic Highlands Herald, May 26, 2016
