Group aims to add soldiers' names to war monument

From The Tennessean: Group aims to add soldiers' names to war monument For the first time since the monument was erected in 1976, the Gideon Carr chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is adding names of 12 Revolutionary War soldiers on the monument to patriots on the old courthouse lawn in Charlotte. The cost: $100 per name. The chapter is working to raise funds to add the names and will host a pancake breakfast for $6 at Applebee's Saturday 7-9 a.m. to raise the funds. The chapter is also seeking descendents of the men whose names will be added. They are: Henry Bibb; Francis Balthrop; Barnabas Bledsoe; Moses Fussell; Henry Grimes; Reuben Gunn; David McAdoo; James Moore; Jordin Richardson; Solomon Rye; William Stone Sr. and Daniel Sullivan. Martha Gerdemen, registrar for the Gideon Carr chapter, says new names generally come up when a relative is applying to join one of the associations. “Actually most of these came from the Christopher Strong Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution,” Gerdeman said. “What happens is when people research their ancestry to join one of the societies, and then it’s under a name that nobody had realized was a Revolutionary soldier before.” The Christopher Strong Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution was formed in Charlotte in 2005. The Gideon Carr chapter has had the names for a few years, said Gerdeman, but had held off because of the cost to carve the names into granite. Gerdeman said she hopes the breakfast is successful as the list is lengthy. As well, the chapter plans a dedication when and if the funds are acquired for the engravings. “We are hoping to find descendents because when we get the names on there we are going to want to have a dedication ceremony, and we would hope to contact as many descendents as possible,” Gerdeman said. Gideon Carr, a Revolutionary War soldier from Virginia who served as a private in Colonel T. Taylor's Virginia Regiment, came to Dickson County around 1810 in his Seventies because he had been given a Revolutionary War land grant in this area. At the time Tennessee was a part of North Carolina. “His son had apparently moved here, so he came here to join him, and they named the chapter after him when it was formed 50 years ago,” Gerdeman said. “We are celebrating our fiftieth anniversary in April. It [the Revolutionary War] was the birth of our country, and people who are interested in genealogy are interested to find out their ancestors did.” Descendents of any of the 12 newly discovered patriots should contact Karen Wery at davekaren83@yahoo.com or Martha Gerdeman at marthagerdeman@att.net or call (615) 446-1760. Breakfast tickets available at the door.