Jeanette H. Fusco

Seagate House: Legacies of Long Beach Island Jeanette H. Fusco

Ella treasured her childhood summers at Seagate House, her beloved ancestral home on the shores of Long Beach Island. As a child, Ella experienced a frightening incident at Seagate one dark, October night that would mark her emotionally. She wonders if the generations old ancestor journals could unveil any connection to that night. The journals hold accounts of the oppressive European times her ancestors left behind, their brave voyages across the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean and their settling on a barren island, called Long Beach, inhabited only by early whalers. Read of the ancestors' dangerous involvements in the Revolutionary War, and their relationship with the farming Lenape and the sometimes fierce Iroquoisl Indians. Trek along old Indian trails inland; to Trenton, New Jersey where Washington is busy routing the Hessians. Cross the Delaware River into Bucks County, Pennsylvania and meet General George Washington at a Council of war. Sail vicariously north to Mannahatta Island and continue to Boston, a hotbed of the war. Turn south and navigate through hazardous ocean waters, rife with pirates. Follow the explorers, Mey and Hudson then come back to present time and the descendants' reunion where Ella's dark childhood event is uncovered and a long hidden family secret is finally exposed.