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. Being a precocious and imaginative child, she continued her search for the truth of that night, wondering if the generations old ancestor journals can unveil any connection to that night. Accounts were written of the oppressive European times the ancestors left behind, and their brave voyages across the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean. Accounts are written of their dangerous involvements in the Revolutionary War, their relationship with the local Indians and their settling on a nearly barren island, called Long Beach, inhabited only by early whalers.

Read of the ancestors' treks 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 all truths are revealed and a long hidden family secret is finally exposed.