Monument to service: Baker’s Creek Revolutionary War, 1812 veterans to be remembered

The memory of 11 Revolutionary War veterans and five War of 1812 veterans will be honored Saturday, June 22, as members of the Stephen Holston Chapter, Tennessee Society, Sons of the American Revolution, and Mary Blount Chapter, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, dedicate a monument containing their names at Baker’s Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery near Greenback. In addition, Mary Blount DAR will dedicate or rededicate individual markers the chapter has placed for the Revolutionary War veterans. The public is invited to attend.

The women of Baker’s Creek Presbyterian Church will serve refreshments after the dedication ceremony, and Sandra Kerr Tipton will present a history of Baker’s Creek. The ceremony will be held inside the church in case of rain. Chairs will be provided, but those who wish to bring lawn chairs are welcome to do so.

TNSSAR Color Guard in period dress will present colors, a musket salute and “Taps.” The DAR will make full wreath presentations, and several DAR members and wives of SAR members will be in period dress, as well.

The programs will include biographies of the veterans listed on the monument.

Digging into history

For Mary Blount DAR member Myrtle Miller James, the day will be a culmination of a project she began in 2016 after a conversation with Shirley Hall, now deceased, and Anne Motroni, both DAR members as well as members of Baker’s Creek Presbyterian Church. They knew of five Revolutionary War veterans at Baker’s Creek whose resting places had already been marked and dedicated by the chapter, but James said, “Shirley told me, ‘I know there are more Revolutionary War soldiers buried there; we just don’t know who they are.’ So I said, ‘We need to do something about that.’”

James began researching and found six more veterans in addition to the original five.

“I had to make absolutely sure these men served, and I had to prove it,” she said. “I had to prove they were buried at Baker’s Creek. When you start looking at land grants and pensions, you can figure out pretty much what area they are in.

“(DAR member) Cathy L’Altrelli started helping me with the research. It didn’t take too much longer after Cathy got hold of them. She finalized those last two for me.”

With the help of Jeff Wallace at Maryville Monument, markers were made for each of the newly found veterans. James said Sandra Tipton, a member of Baker’s Creek, assisted in getting the church’s permission to have the stones placed.

“William Blount High School’s ROTC students helped set all of the monuments,” James said. “Those kids were so excited to be a part of this and did such a good job.”

Honored veterans

Mary Blount DAR had planned to dedicate the monuments the chapter recently placed and rededicate the five earlier monuments, but when James invited the Stephen Holston Chapter SAR to be part of the ceremony, TNSSAR State President Joel Davenport had another suggestion, that SAR contribute a large monument listing all 11 Revolutionary War veterans plus the five War of 1812 veterans and include the DAR insignia.

“I said, ‘That’s awesome,’” James said. “They are going to have a big monument, and it’s going to be nice. I’m excited they did that. We will both be dedicating these monuments that day.”

The Revolutionary War veterans to be honored include:

• James Caruthers, 1760-1846

• Samuel Henry, 1762-1824

• Andrew Kennedy, 1751-1834

• William McClung, 1761-1837

• Thomas Montgomery, 1752-1827

• Joseph McConnell, 1745-1823

• John Ryder, 1756-1830

• Samuel Thompson, 1754-1839

• John Wood, 1760-1838

• Magnus Tulloch, 1763-1845

• Andrew Cumming, 1759-1834

War of 1812 veterans:

• Henry Logan, 1777-1834

• Absalom McNabb, 1779-1858

• William Prescott Morton, 1768-1852

• William Marcus Pugh, 1773-1850

• Samuel Thompson, 1752-1839

“All of these soldiers have history,” James said. “Their families are buried there, too, and it’s been interesting to find out about them.

“I think we as American people should pay tribute to our honored dead,” she said. “We need to do that. We’re here because of them, and it means a lot to me. I get excited about their history, what all they went through.”