The Fisher Family Cemetery is located in the Southwest quadrant (see fig. 1) formed by the junction of Coverdale Road and the Seashore Highway (route 404). Striding approximately 800 feet due west of Jones Dogwood Drive street sign and approximately another 800 feet due south of a green power marker on route 18/404 will take you to a rectangular plot measuring about 575 feet in the North/South axis and 475 feet in the East/West axis in Seaford Hundred, which was split off from the former Northwest Fork Hundred by an Act of the Delaware General Assembly in 1869, in Sussex County, Delaware. Much of the original cast iron fencing (it is assumed that the entire plot was enclosed) is gone. What is left is in sad condition (see photos, #1 and #2).
The headstones face in a westerly direction. The three Fisher homes noted in the Beers Atlas of 1868 no longer exist, and their foundations have disappeared in the seasonal tilling of the acreage, at least since 1954 when James Fisher Morgan sold the property to the current owners. Thus, the orientation of the cemetery to the Fisher home(s) is unknown. All that remains is the run-down fencing, overgrown weeds, numerous groundhog burrows, some trash, and the grave markers.
Through the efforts of Paul Pool, local Civil War buff and Confederate Re-enactor of a Florida unit, the Veterans Administration is willing to replace Lt. Fisher’s marker with a more modern headstone, so that the current one can be preserved in the Seaford Historical Society Museum (SHSM) for protection from weather and acid rain. These conditions are dissolving the inscriptions on Fisher’s headstone (See photos # 3 & 4 & 5 to compare with the original photo #6 in the Fisher collection). Brad Temple’s charcoal rubbing (see photo #7) brings the inscription to life and makes it legible.
Permission by the current owner to proceed with the replacement of the marker has not yet been obtained. The Seaford Historical Society (SHS) has been advised to let the matter rest for the time being as the current owner is fearful of “sightseers†tramping over active farmlands, and rightly so. Of course, if the headstone is preserved in the museum, there will be no need to tramp over growing money crops. No current relative has been found to date to adjudicate the situation.
The cemetery also includes the remains of the following family members: Father & Mother, Isaac Montgomery Fisher and Sarah Jane Fisher; two sisters, Alice Annie Fisher and Eliza Emily Fisher; and a brother Jacob Fisher. Three nephews are also interred there: William M. Morgan, Robert Elmer Fisher, and Francis Callaway Fisher.
The following headstones in the Family Cemetery are inscribed thus:
Isaac Montgomery Fisher, son of James and Bathsheba nee Fisher (no relation) Fisher. Born April 10, 1817. Died May 7, 1878 Sarah Jane Vaughan, daughter of William and Alice nee Bloxom Vaughan and wife of Isaac Montgomery Fisher. Born Feb 23, 1822. Died June 25, 1907. ( The grave contains both parents marked by a single modern granite engraved stone as noted above. See Photo #8.)
William J. Fisher Commissioned Captain Aug 2, 1862. Son of Isaac M. & S. J. Fisher, He was 1st Lieutenant of The 10th U. S. Infantry, Commissioned by Pres. Lincoln Aug 5th, 1861 and showed In all the Battles of the Army of the Potomac til the 2nd of July 1863 When He Fell At Gettysburg, Pa, Aged 19 years, 6 Mons & 4 Days. (The capstone (top of the marker) reads: Wm. James Fisher. A smaller stone, by two/thirds, marks the foot of his grave.)
Alice Annie [Fisher], daughter of Isaac M. and Sarah J. Fisher. Died Nov 7, 1853 in the 5th year of her age. “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.â€
(The passage is from Mark, Chapter 10, verse 14. See photo #9)
Jacob [Fisher], son of Isaac M. & Sarah Fisher. Born & Died April 5th, 1858. (See Photo #10)
Eliza Emily [Fisher], daughter of Isaac M. and Sarah J. Fisher. Born Oct 5th 1860. Died May 9th, 1861.
(The inscription that follows is unfortunately illegible. See photo #11.)
William M. Morgan, son of H.H. & Mary F. Morgan. Born Jun 7, 1874. Died July 6, 1903.
(Mary Frances Morgan was Lt. Fisher’s sister. See photos #12 and #13.)
Francis Callaway [Fisher], son of George R. [Rogers] and Sarah A. [Ann] Fisher. Born Sep 23rd 1875. Died March 7th, 1876. (A footstone reads: F. C. F. George Rogers was Lt. Fisher’s second oldest brother. See photo #14.)
Robert Elmer [Fisher], son of R. [Robert] W. [Welles] & M. [Margaret] T. [Terry] Fisher. Born Dec 10, 1893. Died Aug 12, 1955. (This head stone is a modern granite memorial. A footstone reads: R E F. Robert Welles was Lt. Fisher’s youngest brother whose existence he never knew, as his death in battle preceded the birth of the former. See photo #15.)
The graves occupy the Western half of the cemetery. The Eastern half appears empty of markers, but is piled high with dirt and vegetation. An archaeological dig is necessary to determine what lies beneath, if anything. To date, no graves in the Seaford/Bridgeville/Concord cemeteries have been located for any other family members (Fisher, Morgan, or Morse).
