Mark Bennett: War of 1812 descendants work to place remembrances beside soldiers' graves

Jul. 23—It takes effort to preserve a person's legacy.

Otherwise, personal mottoes, anecdotes, writings, pictures and mementos get lost. Memories fade. Family histories dissipate.

1812 was a long time ago — 210 years to be exact. Literary and history buffs might recognize a few names of the "famous" people born in 1812, but average folks wouldn't recognize many beyond novelist Charles Dickens or poet Robert Browning.

Augustus Pugin, for example, designed the "Big Ben" clock tower in London, but isn't exactly a household name nearly two centuries later.

So, reminders of what happened during the War of 1812 and those who fought in that conflict are crucial to keep dust off its historical record. That war (which actually continued into 1815) changed the nation in profound ways. It became known as the "second war of independence" against British forces; elevated the careers of future presidents William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor and Andrew Jackson; altered the destiny of Native American tribes; and brought a national political party, the Federalists, to an end, among many other consequences.

Fort Harrison, built near the Wabash River bank in 1811, became the first hub of European settlers among the existing Wea Native American tribe, leading to the development of the city of Terre Haute. And, historians regard the Siege of Fort Harrison in September 1812 as the first major U.S. land victory in the War of 1812.

It's an era of American history worthy of remembrance.

That's the motivation for a project by the local Julia Lambert Martin Chapter of the National Society of United States Daughters of 1812 — a national volunteer service organization made up of female descendants of that war's veterans. The Terre Haute chapter is working to place stake markers beside the grave sites of War of 1812 veterans buried in Vigo County, indicating their service in the war. Similar efforts are ongoing around Indiana.

"Too often the War of 1812 is forgotten. Not only is the war itself passed over, but also those who served. The burial places of our 1812 patriots are often unmarked or the locations unknown," said Janice Bolinger, state president of the United States Daughters of 1812.

Marking those forgotten graves is a priority project for the state organization, Bolinger said, and local chapters like Terre Haute are being encouraged to take on the task. "If our organizations don't continue to research grave locations of our 1812 soldiers and then mark the graves, these patriots will be totally forgotten," Bolinger said Wednesday.

To share history...

—Anyone with information about War of 1812 veterans buried in Vigo County can contact Peggy Salitros by phone at 406-740-0077.

The passing of centuries complicates the effort.

"Due to the time evolved since the War of 1812, some graves are hard to find as some were on farms, at cemeteries that have grown over or there are incomplete records of burial. Our organization is working on finding these worthy veterans and honoring them," said Catherine Reedy, past state president of the Daughters of 1812.

The Society's Terre Haute chapter has identified 23 veterans of the war interred in Vigo County, so far. Four markers were placed next to veterans' graves in the rural Brown and Union Baptist cemeteries in ceremonies on June 11. Eight more markers will be placed beside War of 1812 veterans' final resting places during a ceremony at 11 a.m. Sept. 10 in Woodlawn Cemetery on North Third Street in Terre Haute. Nearly a dozen other veterans' graves are located separately in small cemeteries throughout the county.

"I'm not saying this is an all-inclusive list. It's a start," said Peggy Salitros, president of the Julia Lambert Martin chapter. "There may be more out there."

The group hopes to place markers beside all of the War of 1812 veterans' graves in the county — except for those in a couple cemeteries that declined the offer — by June 2023, Salitros said.

"It's honoring what they did. The War of 1812 is significant in Indiana, because of what took place," Salitros said. "And it's a part of our Terre Haute history."

The mission involves research. The chapter identifies the war veterans through the Society's burial rosters, county records and the veterans' service records, Salitros explained. The volunteers also find as much historical data about the soldiers as possible. The findings are verified by the Society's national office in Washington, D.C. The local chapter's members — about 20 — raised the funds for the grave markers.

The September ceremony at Woodlawn will include a reading of the names of the War of 1812 veterans buried there, along with a brief biography of each, Salitros said. Research by chapter volunteers reveals interesting backgrounds of the war's veterans buried in Woodlawn.

Those veterans hailed from places such as Duchess County, New York; Calvert County, Maryland; Scotland; Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; Saratoga County, New York; Bennington County, Vermont; Greenbriar, Virginia; and Chester, Pennsylvania. They included a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, merchant, state legislator, lawyer, gunsmith and contractor.

Thomas Blake later served in President John Tyler's administration. Landon Cochran received the Congressional Medal for Bravery. William Linton served as Vigo County's first commissioner, commissioner of the county courthouse's construction, and fund commissioner of the Wabash & Erie Canal.

Some 1812 veterans' graves remain uncertain. Peter Allen is assumed to have been buried in Indiana Orchard Cemetery near the Wabash River bank, but many of those graves were moved to Woodlawn when the Wabash & Erie Canal was being built, according to the Society's Terre Haute chapter. A memorial stone was placed next to a grandson's grave in Woodlawn in 2016. Wherever Allen's remains rest, his local impact was great. He was one of two contractors chosen to build the county courthouse, and owned the property where Terre Haute North High School now stands and where the first Rose Polytechnic Institute once stood.

The star-shaped stake markers feature a receptacle for a small flag, and include letters and symbols — F, C and L for the Society's motto of "Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty," crossed muskets representing the U.S. Army and militia units, and an anchor representing the Navy.

Those markers were placed last month beside the graves of War of 1812 veterans Justus Denton, Joseph Liston and Levi Wellman in Brown Cemetery, that of John Thomas — also a Revolutionary War veteran — in Union Baptist Cemetery, caretaker B.J. Campbell explained as she walked through Brown Cemetery on Tuesday.

Salitros, who discovered she had a War of 1812 veteran ancestor in Kansas, grew up in Terre Haute, graduated from Wiley High School and Indiana State University. She moved away to work as a nurse, retired and returned to the Wabash Valley, and lives with her husband in Clay County. Eight War of 1812 veterans are known to have graves in that county, according to research, so far.

"I'm not done," Salitros said.

Highlighting the lives of those veterans inspires her. "It's a joy to honor these men and tell their stories," Salitros said.

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.