Dubois County DAR pays respects to Revolutionary War Soldiers

Dubois County DAR member Pat Riley, chapter regent Buffy Keeley, and member Angie McDonald (left to right), along with event organizer and chapter registrar Paula Book (not pictured) paid their respects at the grave of Revolutionary War soldier James Harbison at the Divine Cemetery in Haysville on November 10. The foursome also visited five other such sites in Dubois County throughout the afternoon. (Photo courtesy of Paula Book, Dubois County DAR.) Photo submitted.

Morning gloom gave way to beautiful sunshine on Sunday, November 10, as several members of the Dubois County Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, visited the six known graves of Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Dubois County.

Chapter Registrar Paula Book organized the pilgrimage, inviting any chapter members and guests to join her in laying flowers at the graves. She and the three other chapter members who attended conducted a short memorial service at each grave. The service included prayer, remembrance of the soldier’s service, and affirmation of one’s duty as American patriots and citizens.

The group visited six different cemeteries located in Haysville, Jasper, Ireland, and south Dubois County between Huntingburg and Holland. The six soldiers with confirmed burial locations are Luther Adams, William Anderson, James Harbison, Lewis Powers, Hugh Rodman, and Richard Stilwell. Two other soldiers, John Hill and Zedekiah Wood, are also buried in Dubois County in unconfirmed locations.

The effort to locate and mark the graves dates back to the Dubois County DAR’s inaugural year. On the chapter’s first anniversary, October 13, 1923, charter chapter members marked the first of these, James Harbison, located in the Divine Cemetery on State Road 56 east of Haysville. Other graves were also marked in succeeding years, including that of Richard Stilwell south of Huntingburg on May 29, 1929. In 1935, the Chapter mounted a commemorative plaque listing the eight soldiers’ names at the Dubois County Courthouse.