Volunteers with the nonprofit organization U.S. Lighthouse Society and its Chesapeake Chapter will honor six Chesapeake Bay lighthouse keepers in special ceremonies beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7, at three cemeteries in Mathews County. The ceremonies are open to the public.
In the ceremonies, each keeper will be honored with the unveiling of a United States Lighthouse Service grave marker, according to a press release. The chapter will conduct the first 30-minute tribute to William Edward Davis at 9:30 a.m. at H.C. Smither Memorial Cemetery in Hudgins.The event, rain or shine, then moves to Mathews Baptist Church Cemetery, also in Hudgins, where at 10:45 a.m. keeper Robert Franklin Powell will be honored.
After a lunch break, the ceremonies will continue at St. Paul United Methodist Church Cemetery in Susan as keeper John William Thomas is honored at 1:30 p.m., followed by a 2:15 p.m. ceremony recognizing keeper James Temple Ripley. At 3:30 p.m., keeper Oliver R. Hudgins wi...