STORIES IN STONE
Capt. Michael Huntley’s Voyage to Martinique
Capt. Michael Huntley (1777-1818), one of many Lyme mariners engaged in the West Indies trade, died on January 23, 1818, at age 40, on a return voyage from Martinique to New York.
Nothing is known of his maritime career, but he married in 1806 Mercy Higgins, whose grandfather Capt. Joseph Higgins was extensively involved in coastal and West Indies trade, importing sugar, molasses, and rum in exchange for New England products. Higgins Wharf on today’s Neck Road later became a steamship dock, a coal dock, and today is the site of a boat yard.
Michael and Mercy’s infant daughter Loisa Maria, who died on March 25, 1818, two months after her father, at age 18 months, is buried nearby.
— Carolyn Wakeman
Gravestones in Duck River Cemetery have stories to tell about the lives of those who passed before us in the Lyme region and the events that shaped the development of a Connecticut town, distinguished by its prominent lawyers and ministers, its shipbuilding and maritime trade, its architecture and scenic landscape, and its contributions to education, conservation, and the arts.
