The Revolutionary War..

Good Friday morning!

Today's post are for those who write/want to write about the Revolutionary War and are gathering some tidbits to base bones of your story on, but who are looking for a little different spin on what may first come to mind when writing about the Revolutionary War. This post is about a small town in NY, called Salem.

There is a cemetery in the town that is called the Revolutionary War Cemetery, aka, the Old Salem Burying Ground. The cemetery holds over 1000 graves and about 100 of those are of from the Revolutionary War or veterans. The Battle of Saratoga though was what really made it well-known because it's said that a hundred bodies were placed into one mass grave. It's also believed that there are more war-time deceased buried here than anywhere/another graveyard in Washington County, and even the state.

The headstones during the 18th century mainly faced east. It's quite an experience to walk though, I'll admit, and if you're on vacation and headed towards Salem, I do hope you etch out a little bit of time to walk though/visit. Anyway, back to the burial ground... it's said that in the early to mid 1900's, the count was placed at little over 1000. But in the late 1900's a recount found the total was close to 1100.

There's another tidbit that I found to be fascinating. Though the majority of markers were of headstone, there are 3 made in red sandstone. The material wasn't commonly used at the cemetery during this time.

If I'm not mistaken, the cemetery wasn't founded until around the 1700's, and the first known burial was in 1767, the year the cemetery was formally established. The second, legend has it, was of a local Indian who wandered into the settlement and died.

Another tidbit.. it's said/believed that if all the men who supposedly are buried in a mass grave after the Battle of Saratoga somehow are confirmed, it would make the Old Salem Burying Ground one of the largest burial sites of the Revolutionary War soldiers in the country.

If you're looking for more information on people and whatnot, do a search on James Turner and Joshua Conkey. Both are huge as far as history regarding Salem.

You'll also find there's a lot of room here.. inventing your characters, families, community, their lives, and living in the town during this time period.

Hope this helps :) Happy Writing!