Silas Martin whose tall obelisk stands beside the small rustic log monument bearing just the name “Nance” was a lumber merchant. He was partnered with another gentleman in Wilmington exporting lumber to the Caribbean Islands. One of the bigger ports that was used in the 1850s was located in Cardenas Cuba. Mr. Martin’s son was a Captain of one of his vessels making the usual voyages to the Islands and bringing back other goods such as spices and liquor. In May of 1857, Nance Martin, Silas daughter accompanied her brother on one of these trips. Unfortunately she fell very ill during the trip and died at their destination in Cardenas Cuba. Her brother John had to make a decision to bring her back home to Wilmington and decided to empty one of the kegs of alcohol and place his sister Nance within for the journey back. After a five day sail back to Wilmington it was decided not to remove Nance from this keg and a grave was constructed of brick and stone to accompany the keg and she was buried accordingly.
Now the story does not end there. Nearly four months after the death of Nance, John the brother continued the sailing to the Caribbean ports exporting lumber. On September 10, 1857 he set sail from Wilmington not knowing what was awaiting him in the Atlantic. A horrific category 2 to3 hurricane had approached the East Coast from the Caribbean Islands wreaking havoc along the way to many vessels including the sinking of the SS Central America. The sinking of the SS Central America compounded the financial distress the US was facing at the time known as The Panic of 1857. The SS Central America was carrying a large cache of gold valued at nearly $2 million USD coming from California’s Gold Rush. Many financial institutions and individuals were dependent of this shipment. There were approximately 425 who lost their lives on the SS Central America calling it one of the largest disasters in American history. Mr. John Martin and his crew also fell victim to this storm and were never seen from again. It was not until nearly two months later that the vessel Mr. Martin was crewing was found adrift in the Atlantic. For nearly two months there were several accounts of rescue and discovery of ships adrift with broken masts and failed steam engines floating until found.
On the side of the large Martin obelisk you will find the birth and death information of these two children of Silas, Nance and John Martin.