Volunteers spruce up historic Lewes cemetery

Susan Lytle and Deanna Poling spent the morning of Sept. 28 cleaning up a historic part of Lewes.

They were among the volunteers from the Daughters of the American Revolution, Col. David Hall Chapter, who sprayed and scrubbed grave makers at the Lewes Presbyterian Church cemetery on Kings Highway.

“We’re giving back to the community and helping to preserve history,” Lytle said.

The DAR group chose the historic burial grounds as a project for their annual day of service.

Patricia Haas, Col. David Hall Chapter regent, said they always learn something new when they clean the markers.

“We found a couple of soldiers we didn’t know were here. It’s fun to be able to read [a marker] after you can’t read it,” Haas said.

Granville Reed, the cemetery caretaker, gave the group a tour of the burial ground, which has about 2,000 graves.

He pointed out the oldest known grave that dates to 1763, and his personal favorite, a marker carved with ivy and vines on the grave of Asa Haines.

Reed had placed small red flags on about 35 markers that were ready for cleaning. Others had either recently been cleaned or were too fragile to be touched.

Volunteers used an environmentally friendly chemical called D2, the only chemical approved to clean graves at Arlington National Cemetery. They used toothbrushes to gently reach the nooks and crannies.

“You never want to use a wire brush. The rule of thumb is, if you’re not willing to drag the brush across your face, don’t use it on a stone. And try not to lean on the stone,” Reed said.

Col. David Hall was born in Lewes and is the namesake of the local DAR chapter. He is buried at Lewes Presbyterian. He and his family lived on Kings Highway and were church members.

Hall was a lawyer and a staunch revolutionary who organized militias, including Delaware Regiment Number One, the famous Blue Hens.

He later became a judge and governor of Delaware.

Anne Born came from South Carolina after her husband learned Col. Hall was his fifth great grandfather.

“During COVID, we got interested in genealogy. The biggest surprise was David Hall. We learned about him from the [Sons of the Revolution] chapter in Rehoboth. This is a jewel. I love this. If it hadn’t been for that, I never would have met anybody up here,” Born said while standing by the graves of Col. Hall and his wife.

The Borns and other family members gathered to lay a wreath at Hall’s gravesite Sept. 28.