American Revolution Soldiers Marker

On Memorial Day, 1999, the collaborative efforts of the Bedford Historical Society, the Bedford Minutemen, and the Bedford Public Works Department culminated in the dedication of an historical marker acknowledging the Revolutionary War heroes interred at the town’s Old Burying Ground.

The street-facing plaque stands prominently by the cemetery’s entrance on Springs Road. At the top of the marker is an embossed image of the “Bedford Flag." Underneath the battle flag, three lines announce the marker’s reason for being:

OLD BURYING GROUND
FORTY THREE BEDFORD SOLDIERS OF THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION

BEDFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY, MINUTEMEN, AND BEDFORD PUBLIC WORKS
MAY 31, 1999

The names of the forty-three Patriots buried at the site are listed in two columns. The marker draws attention to three of the names with an asterisk: Caesar Jones, Cambridge Moore, and Caesar Prescott. As the plaque notes, these Patriots were former slaves. Jones, Moore, and Prescott were laid to rest in unmarked graves in the “African Reservation,” a segregated section of the cemetery. A monument honoring their service was erected in 1896.

The headstones, footstones, and memorials belonging to the other named soldiers are located throughout the burying ground.