About 80 people gathered at Antioch Cemetery in rural Tazewell County on Saturday morning, 30 May 2026 — traditional Memorial Day — for an American Semiquicentennial event honoring five Revolutionary War soldiers who are buried in Tazewell County.
The event was organized by the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society, with the participation of Peoria’s Capt. Zeally Moss Chapter Sons of the American Revolution, the Peoria Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Zeally Moss Chapter Children of the American Revolution, the Tazewell County Veterans Assistance Commission, the Tazewell Area Ceremonial Team honor guard, and other area veterans groups.
Speakers at the program included John C. Ackerman, president of the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society, Susan Rynerson, immediate past TCGHS president, and Thomas Ashby of the Peoria Chapter SAR (and past of the Illinois Society SAR). Among those present were descendants of the five Patriots whose service during the Revolutionary War was honored. At the end of the event was a musket and rifle volley by the SAR and TACT honor guards in salute to the Patriots, concluding with a bugler playing “Taps.”
In anticipation of the 250th anniversary of the creation of the United States of America, TCGHS commissioned five new memorial stones that were placed last month in five Tazewell County cemeteries that are, or are close to, the locations of five Revolutionary War veterans’ burial places. Previously these five locations had been overlooked by the public, but these new stone monuments have been placed near the entrance of the cemeteries to attract the public’s attention. Two of the soldiers — Elliot Gray and Moses Hoskins — have long had grave markers, and Hoskins also has an SAR marker, but the other three soldiers — David Shipman, James Broyhill, and Samuel McClintock (or McClintick) — probably only ever had pioneer-era wooden grave markers that decayed long ago.
The life stories and military service of the five Revolutionary War Patriots were researched by Susan Rynerson. The five stone memorials, which have been prepared by Abel Vault & Monument of Pekin, all bear the official “America 250” Semiquincentennial logo, and have been engraved with summaries of their war service written by Rynerson.
The five Revolutionary War veterans and the cemeteries where their memorials now stand are:
- David Shipman (1765-1845) – Antioch Cemetery, south of Tremont
- Elliot Gray (1755-1841) – Deacon Cemetery, rural Morton several miles east of Groveland
- James Broyhill (1761-1842) – Tennessee Point & Walnut Cemetery, just east of Tremont
- Moses Hoskins (1763-1839) – Dillon Cemetery, just north of Dillon
- Samuel McClintock (1763-1845) – Woodrow Cemetery, a mile east of South Pekin
