In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the creation of the United States of America, the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society has commissioned five new memorial stones that soon will be placed in five Tazewell County cemeteries that are, or are close to, the locations of five Revolutionary War veterans.
Previously these five locations have been overlooked by the public, but these new stone monuments will be placed near the entrance of the cemeteries to attract the public’s attention. TCGHS has invited the public to a Dedication Event on Saturday, 30 May 2026, at 10 a.m. at Antioch Cemetery, located at the intersection of Townline Road and Antioch Road, south of Tremont in rural Tazewell County.
At the event, remarks will be presented by two Tazewell County students who are descendants of Revolutionary War veterans. Also on the program for the event will be remarks from various Revolutionary War veterans social organizations and public officials. In addition, Susan Rynerson of the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society will tell the life stories and Revolutionary War service of these five Patriots that she researched. 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 lives and service written by Rynerson.
The five Revolutionary War veterans and the cemeteries where their memorials will be placed are:
- David Shipman (1765-1845) – Antioch Cemetery, south of Tremont
- Elliot Gray (1755-1841) – Deacon Cemetery, about midway between Groveland and Morton
- James Broyhill (1761-1842) – Tennessee Point 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
The graves of Gray and Hoskins have long had stone markers, but the exact gravesites of Shipman, Broyhill, and McClintock are unknown. Shipman lived near Antioch Cemetery and has long been said to have been buried in that cemetery. Broyhill is believed to have been buried on the old Broyhill home place in a small family cemetery in Section 22 of Tremont Township, a few miles to the southeast of Tennessee Point Cemetery (in Section 17), which was established on land that Broyhill himself owned. Many members of James Broyhill’s family are buried in both Tennessee Point and in the old Broyhill family cemetery. Similarly, McClintock lived near Woodrow Cemetery and there are many McClintock/McClintick family burials there.
We have already planned for remarks from two Tazewell County students that are descendants of Revolutionary War Veterans, remarks from various Revolutionary War Veterans Social Organizations and public officials, and veteran biographies by Susan Rynerson of the Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society.
As we have previously discussed here at “From the History Room,” during the time of the Revolutionary War there were not many American soldiers living in the future state of Illinois, but after the War a large number of Revolutionary War veterans subsequently settled in Illinois and are buried in this state. Some of those veterans lived for a while in Tazewell County but moved on to other parts of the state, or to other states, but a number of them settled here and are buried in Tazewell County.
An old volume in the Pekin Public Library’s Local History Room collection, entitled “Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in Illinois,” was published by the Illinois State Genealogical Society as a part of the nation’s Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. That volume listed all Revolutionary War veterans who were then known or believed to be buried in the state, include eight men who are listed as having been buried in Tazewell County.
However, that volume is very out-of-date. More recent research, particularly the extensive research of Susan Rynerson, has shown that several of those eight men don’t belong on the list, while two other Patriots who are in fact buried in Tazewell County are not listed in that 1976 index at all. Following are the eight men whom the 1976 index claimed to have been Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Tazewell County, listed in alphabetical order of their surnames. The three names that are bolded are confirmed to be Revolutionary War veterans buried in our county, while the names in italics have been shown not to belong on the list or are in doubt:
• Pvt. James Campbell, died 1832, claimed to be listed on Tazewell County pension rolls. In fact, Campbell wasn’t a Revolutionary War soldier at all. He served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812, and he died in 1823, not 1832 — and he never lived in Tazewell County. Campbell was apparently misidentified as a Revolutionary War soldier buried in Tazewell County due to an early researcher’s misreading of the Pension Roll of 1835.
• Pvt. Isaac Fletcher, born 26 Oct. 1763, in Westford, Mass., died Feb. 1838, married Ruth Pierce; served in Massachusetts as a substitute for his brother Levi who was ill; wounded and honorably discharged in 1782. While Fletcher was indeed a Revolutionary War soldier, he never lived in Tazewell County, but came to be misidentified as a Tazewell County resident because he had to file pension paperwork in our county.
• Pvt. Elliot Gray, born 17 Sept. 1755 in Pelham, Mass., died March 1841, buried in Deacon Cemetery, Groveland Township, married Hannah Crawford; served in Massachusetts in the company of Capt. Elijah Dwight.
• Pvt. George Henline Sr., probably born in Virginia, died 1850, buried near son in Gilbert Cemetery near Armington; came to Hittle’s Grove, Tazewell County in 1828; fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, Ky., on 19 Aug. 1782. Unfortunately, Henline’s status as a Revolutionary War soldier and Tazewell County settler is difficult to ascertain, because there was more than one George Henline (or Hainline) and it is not at all certain whether the settler buried near Armington was the one who fought at Blue Licks.
• Pvt. Samuel McClintock (or McClintick), born 1763 in Augusta County, Va., died 1845, buried in Woodrow Cemetery near South Pekin; served three times in 1781 in three different companies, was present at the Siege of Yorktown.
• Pvt. Norman Newell, born 28 Aug. 1760, died 6 April 1850, married firstly to Rosetta, secondly to Lucy Frisbee; lived in Tazewell County for several years but went back East; served in the Connecticut Continental, in Capt. Ezekiel Curtis’ company, for eight months in 1777. While Newell certainly served in the Revolutionary War, and certainly lived for a few years in Tazewell County, he did not remain here, but instead went back East and is buried in the state of Ohio.
• Pvt. Levin H. Powell, born 1763 in Loudoun County, Va., died 28 Nov. 1836 at or near the Peoria Narrows of the Illinois River, second wife named Elizabeth Cohagan, who purportedly lived in Tremont, Ill., after Levin’s death; Levin served in Virginia and South Carolina 1780-1783, discharged in Richmond, Va. Levin Powell was certainly a Revolutionary War Patriot, and he did come to Central Illinois, evidently with the intention of settling in Washington Township in Tazewell County. However, he died just a few weeks after arriving in Peoria and his burial place is unknown. We cannot tell whether whether he is buried on the Peoria County side of the Narrows, or rather died and is buried on the Tazewell County side of the Narrows. Susan Rynerson believes he is more likely buried in Tazewell County. His widow and children did immediately proceed to Washington Township after his death, though. Levin’s widow Elizabeth never lived in Tremont, but instead filed a widow’s pension application at the county courthouse there.
• Pvt. David Shipman, born 15 Aug. 1765, in Virginia, died 11 Aug. 1845, buried in Antioch Cemetery near Tremont; served in 1780 in Capt. Robert Craven’s Rifle Company.
