Civil War cannon sits in Founders’ Park at the edge of Wesley Lake facing north. Paul Goldfinger photo.© 2013. Click once to enlarge.
Paul Goldfinger photo. 2016. Founders’ Park, Ocean Grove ©
By Paul Goldfinger, M.D. Editor @Blogfinger (Re-posted from 2013)
In the early 1860’s, Lt. Col. Richard Delafield developed a new cannon for the army artillery which had some technical advances and which fired a 13 pound shell. It’s not clear if those Delafield cannons actually saw action in the Civil War, but an Ocean Grover, 1st Lt. George Potts, managed to acquire one, probably as war surplus, and he brought it back to the Grove .
He had a small house on the shore of Wesley Lake, and, c. 1880, he placed the cannon there as an Ocean Grove Civil War Memorial. The cannon was in a “strategic location” (all quotes are by Phil May) because when tourists got off the train in Asbury Park, they took a ferry ride costing one cent to cross the Lake, and when they got to the other side, they saw the cannon.
The cannon remained in that location for about 120 years. It was neglected, and no one paid much attention to it after tourists found more convenient ways to get across the Lake. Lt. Tubbs had died, and others owned the little house, and it still exists.
One day, c. 1999, Phil May received a call from a woman who lived near the cannon. She reported that the cannon had been wrapped.
Phil, who was one of the original organizers of the HSOG, knew little about the cannon, so he made some calls and could find nothing out about the situation. The next day, the woman called back and said, “The cannon is gone. ” Phil suddenly found himself having to deal with a missing cannon.
He decided that this was a “bizarre situation” and that the OGCMA (Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association) needed to get involved because the cannon probably belonged to them, since they owned the land. Dave Shotwell Sr. of the OGCMA agreed that the cannon belonged to them.
For one year Phil “pestered” Dave to get the cannon back, but nothing happened. In the meanwhile, somehow Phil and Dave learned that a neighbor had taken the cannon to his uptown house in Long Branch. “He just took it. It was illegal.” The cannon was held hostage in a garage just a short distance north of the Grove.
There was reason to believe that the cannon was valuable, and the Long Brancher planned to sell it. The identity of that man is currently under wraps.
Phil and Dave also learned that a Civil War museum in Pennsylvania was interested in it, so Phil, who was President of the HSOG, became more worried and more persistent, and finally Dave had enough after the CMA was getting nowhere pursuing a law suit for one year.
Dave offered to give the cannon to the HSOG if they took over the fight to get it back. The CMA board agreed, and now, the HSOG, which was a fledgling organization at the time, had the ball in their court.
A lawyer from OG, Bill Jeremiah, agreed to do the legal work pro bono. The struggle to get the cannon back stretched over the next two years. A second lawyer, Mark Blunda, took over. Meanwhile, some State civil war groups were “chewing me out” for not doing enough to regain the cannon. Phil, never a shy person, asked them why they don’t come to the Grove to help, but they never did.
Then, in 2002, just when the cannon was at risk of being sold to a group in California for $50,000-$75,000, the case was scheduled in the Freehold Court House. Phil organized a vocal group of Grovers to create an intimidating presence in court, and that tactic worked, because the Branchers caved in, and we got our cannon back on April 15, 2002.
After that, Phil and his fellow OG historians had the cannon restored and refinished at no cost by metal workers in Neptune (Joe Troppoli Co.). Phil also mentioned Joe Shafto who volunteered to make sure that the cannon was transported home.
Money was raised for the permanent installation, and finally the cannon was paraded through town in the 4th of July Parade in 2002. The sign said, “The Eagle has landed in Ocean Grove.” Phil says that it was a “community effort.”
July 4, 2002. Main Avenue, OG. HSOG photo.
The cannon was placed permanently in Founders Park along the edge of Wesley Lake. It was aimed toward Asbury Park, because “that was the only solution that made sense,” according to Phil. He smiled slightly as he said that he takes “full responsibility ” for that decision.
There are two plaques. One tells a bit about the cannon’s early history, while the other names all those who took part in bringing this historic treasure back where it belongs.
That same year, Phil May was named “Man of the Year” by a New Jersey Civil War association.
Phil May. Ocean Grove, NJ. September 2013. Paul Goldfinger photo taken on our porch on Mt. Hermon Way where he agreed to be interviewed by Blogfinger.
Editor’s Note: Phil May was an important figure in the Grove.
He lived in Ocean Grove on and off for over 50 years. He had been a school teacher, a union official, a hotel owner, a property owner, and the proprietor of an antique shop. But his intimate knowledge of all the important events in the Grove for at least 40 years made him a valuable historical asset.
He had been at the center of the formation of the Chamber of Commerce and the HSOG. He also was witness to many significant changes in town including the opening of the gates in 1979, the town’s deterioration and then its restoration through the ’80’s and 90’s.
—PG
TOM GLAZER from his Treasury of Civil War Songs. This is “Tenting on the Old Camp Ground.” This song is ironic, because there used to be a yearly re-enactment of a famous Civil War battle, and the Union soldiers would set up tents on Ocean Pathway. It’s a shame that this wonderful event was cancelled because the soldiers would set up small campfires, and visitors could walk through that “village”.
Evidently the Fire Department felt that the campfires were dangerous, but now the CMA sets up bonfires on the beach each summer, and flying sparks could also be risky.
Here is a link:
Civil War reenactment in OG on the beach and Pathway