Local DAR chapter holds a pair of America250! events

VW independent staff/submitted information

In an America250! Isaac Van Wart Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) patriotic ceremony held last Thursday, May 21, 11 DAR members and one guest attended the re-dedication of the only American Revolutionary War connection buried in Van Wert County. In October of 1950, the Isaac Van Wert DAR Chapter placed a new USA flag and dedicated it in the current bronze DAR marker at her grave in Woodland Cemetery. Members and family members attended the ceremony.
 
Regent Debra Hardeman went on to pay tribute to her and reading her name, Jane Briggs Gilliland to the membership. Jane was the wife of American Revolutionary War soldier John Gilliland. Jane was born on May 1, 1775 in Montgomery County, Maryland, and died on November 2, 1858, in Delphos. Her father, William Briggs, served in the Continental troops in Maryland. She met and married John Gilliland and they moved to Pennsylvania, and had 10 children. Gilliland served in with the Pennsylvania troops with a rank of Patriot Service and fought at Yorktown, where General Charles Cornwallis surrendered.

According to Hardeman’s research, John Gilliland was killed in an explosion in 1826 and he was buried in Maryland but their dream of moving further west to Ohio did not die. The entire family had heard friend Anthony Wayne’s talk of the fertile land that was going to go up for sale in the Ohio wilderness. Jane and several of her children decided to move west in a covered wagon, taking all possessions and settling in Delphos. She lived out her life with her family, died in 1858, was buried in Delphos, and was later moved in 1898 to a family plot at Woodland Cemetery.

Hardeman read the words of the original dedication in 1950, “And so we stand today at the grave of Jane Briggs Gilliland. We pay tribute to the pioneer spirit of a 60 year old woman who left a comfortable home in a settled community near the largest cities in the land to spend the remaining years of her long life sharing with her youthful family the hardships and dangers of a wild new country. Such a life we consider worthy in courage and endurance to be honored with that of her Revolutionary soldier husband.”

Hardeman concluded, “We honor you today, Jane Briggs Gilliland, and re-dedicate your flag this 21st day of May, 2026. We thank you for your service, John Gillilandm and your part in our freedom this 21st day of May, 2026. May God Bless your descendants.”

Hardeman thanked the members who attended and placed well over 140 flags on the DAR member graves, at Woodland and around the area cemeteries. She also thanked Mickey McConahay for doing such a fantastic job of cleaning-up Jane’s stone.  
 
Following the ceremony, the ladies made a social stop at the Sycamore Van Wert.

The event was the second one held within three weeks. On April 29, the Isaac Van Wart Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution hosted a Sounds of Liberty music event and a dramatic presentation by Tom Mosier as Isaac Van Wart.

The special America250! show was held at the First Presbyterian Church in Van Wert. Gregory Pysh, the church’s music director, researched, planned and presented the program of Revolutionary War music (and New England-style singing schools) featuring three composers of the era: Oliver Holden; Frances Hopkinson (who signed the Declaration of Independence), and William Billings. Pysh also sang a solo, “Beneath a Weeping Willow’s Shade” by Hopkinson.

Mosier, a Van Wert County Historical Society trustee, researched, planned and presented a dramatic accounting by Revolutionary War hero Isaac Van Wart. The audience enjoyed the educational and entertaining moments from a by-gone era. Harriet Schaadt accompanied on piano. Mosier brought Revolutionary War memorabilia and a soldier’s uniform. He even brought replicas of Van Wart’s .75 caliber rifle (used in the capture of British Spy John Andre) and the first Fidelity Medal of Honor awarded by General George Washington for heroism.