Historic sign re-dedicated, new one mentions namesake

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Members of the Isaac Van Wart Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution gathered Tuesday morning to re-dedicate the historic city limit sign along U.S. 127 on the south side of town.

The state-sponsored sign, which has been in place since the early 1950s, reads “Van Wert named for a captor of Major Andre British spy” but it makes no mention of city/county namesake Isaac Van Wart. A new local DAR sign that was unveiled during a brief ceremony recognizing Van Wart as a Revolutionary War hero.

Debra Hardeman, Regent, and Isaac Van Wart DAR member Sheila Baltzell-Linn delivered brief remarks during Tuesday’s ceremony. Van Wert Mayor Ken Markward also shared brief remarks and along with Van Wert County Commissioner Thad Lichtensteiger, helped unveil the new sign.

Van Wart John Paulding and David Williams were part of a citizen army or militia comprised of farmers, tradesmen and labors during the American Revolutionary War.

On September 23, 1780, the three young militia men captured the British spy Major John Andre near Tarrytown, New York. Andre had just left West Point New York Colony, where he had conspired with American General Benedict Arnold to commit treason and hand over Fort West Point to the British. Andre was forced to travel by land in civilian clothes rather than his uniform and carried incriminating documents hidden in his boots.

Van Wart, Paulding and Williams made Andre strip down and found, in his boot, the papers documenting West Point’s defenses. Andre tried to bribe the three with gold and other rewards but was unsuccessful.

Six days later, Andre was tried and convicted of espionage, then three days after that, on October 2, 1780, he was hung as a spy.

General Arnold got away on a British ship and served the British for the rest of his life, but his name went down in infamy.

Paulding, Van Wart and Williams were each rewarded with a farm, a $200 stipend yearly for life, and had a county named after each of them in the wild state of Ohio – Williams, Paulding and Van Wert counties. They each received the first every silver Fidelity Medal of Honor from the second Continental Congress and General George Washington himself. The Fidelity Medallion is the oldest decoration of the United States military.

An important note – it’s believed that Van Wert and Van Wert County are spelled as such, not Van Wart, due to a historical typo. Official Congressional documents misspelled Van Wart, replacing the “a” with an “e”, and the name stuck.

DAR members can prove their lineage back 250 years to a family member who fought or otherwise served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.