UNION TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Clermont County unveiled a new granite monument Tuesday honoring more than 150 Revolutionary War veterans who later settled in the county, the culmination of a multiyear research effort by two local historical organizations.
The monument was dedicated during a public ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park as part of the county’s America 250 commemoration, marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, according to the county.
The granite marker honors Patriots who served in the American Revolution from 1775 to 1783 and later settled and were laid to rest in Clermont County. The Clermont County Genealogical Society and the Clermont County Historical Society spent years researching pension records and other documents to identify more than 150 veterans with ties to the county, according to the county.
Clermont County commissioners attended Tuesday’s dedication, joining genealogical and historical society members and other residents in recognizing the veterans’ service and sacrifice, the county said.
Hundreds of Revolutionary War veterans moved to what became Clermont County after the 1795 Treaty of Greenville opened the Ohio Territory to settlement. New Richmond genealogist Aileen Whit has spent years researching veterans’ pension applications and other court records tied to the county, compiling her findings into a three-volume set, according to Discover Clermont, the county’s tourism bureau. Roughly 300 of the more than 80,000 Revolutionary War pension applications filed nationally came from Clermont County residents, Discover Clermont said.
The monument was crafted by Georgetown Marble & Granite, a Brown County monument business founded in 1908 that is now owned by a fourth generation of the same family, according to the company.
The monument is sponsored in part by Clermont County, the county’s Convention and Visitors Bureau through its Discover Clermont program, and the Duke Energy Foundation, according to the county.
Veterans Memorial Park has been one of Union Township’s main gathering places for veteran tributes since the early 1990s. The Vietnam Veterans of America’s Clermont County Chapter 649 broke ground on the park’s original memorial, which includes a retired Huey helicopter, in September 1992, according to the chapter.
County officials thanked those who helped fund and build the new monument and everyone who attended Tuesday’s dedication, according to the post.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Clermont County.