Shiloh Cemetery gathering to dedicate Revolutionary War memorial plaque

A new Revolutionary War Soldiers Memorial Plaque will be dedicated outside the Shiloh Meeting House on Saturday as the annual Shiloh Cemetery Gathering brings descendants, historians and neighbors to 4060 Shiloh Road in Jasper. The public is invited, and the plaque dedication will open the day’s activities.

The gathering is set for 1 p.m. and will include the Celebration Singers, the Kearby Family Reunion and the memorial plaque dedication. The program also adds a VFW Color Guard, Gerald Wendholt as bugler, and figures dressed as Paul Revere and Betsy Ross, giving the afternoon a patriotic tone as Dubois County marks its place in America’s 250th commemoration.

The setting itself carries deep local history. The Shiloh Meeting House was erected in 1849 and the Shiloh Meeting House and Cemetery were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The site is known as one of the finest pioneer churches in southern Indiana, with original pews and floors still inside, and Visit Indiana notes that the cemetery grounds include one of the few pet cemeteries in the state, separated from the main burial area by Shiloh Road.

The new plaque adds another layer to a long-running effort to keep Revolutionary War service visible in Dubois County. A county historical marker lists seven men buried here: Luther Adams, Lewis Powers, John Hills, William Anderson, Richard Stillwell, Hugh Rodman and James Harbison. A 2024 Dubois County DAR account said there are six known graves of Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the county, and a previous Shiloh Cemetery veterans event identified Luther Adams as one of the few Revolutionary War veterans buried at Shiloh.

For local families and descendants, the plaque does more than add another marker to the grounds. It ties those names to a public place where they can be remembered together, instead of scattered across family memory, cemetery records and roadside markers. For preservationists, it strengthens the historical record at a site already recognized for its architecture, its burial grounds and its role in county history.

The dedication also shows how Shiloh Cemetery continues to serve as more than a burial ground. It remains a gathering place where the county’s older stories are not only preserved, but actively named and honored in front of the community.