Revolutionary War patriot honored in O’Fallon Township

Under an old tree that stands guard in a historic family cemetery in O’Fallon Township, a new grave marker has been placed for a veteran of the American Revolutionary War, George Bridges.

A ceremony dedicating the stone took place Saturday, Nov. 9, with more than 50 people in attendance. Seven members of the Bridges family came from Illinois, New York, Wisconsin and Washington state. About 30 Boy Scouts from O’Fallon Troops 64 and 46 also took part.

Bridges was a soldier and drummer boy in the North Carolina Militia and a British prisoner of war.

He is believed to be the only American Patriot buried in O’Fallon Township, said Thomas Schwarztrauber, vice president of the O’Fallon Historical Society and chair of the Cemetery Detectives whose work it is to reclaim and restore historic gravesites.

The cemetery is on his son’s property, William Bridges, a Rock Spring deacon, on Hagemann Road.

The Shiloh Valley Cemetery includes six American patriots, Schwarztrauber said.

Much work went into the planning and dedication of the gravestone, which was started year before.

The memorial cenotaph was prepared by Tisch Monument Company in Belleville, and the Bridges family donated funds to the O’Fallon Historical Society’s Cemetery Detectives to make this happen.

The Bridges family is grateful for all the work the OHS Cemetery Detectives has done to honor their ancestor, Schwarztrauber said.

He said the Rev. James Bridges from Washington State, the family spokesperson, had allowed them to continue the work in the cemetery, which Schwarztrauber first visited in 2015.

“Our researchers finally found the key document showing that George had sold his farm and died at his son’s home in O’Fallon. He had been living in Madison County (Troy) until 1832 and died in 1834. Incorrect DAR claims (Alton Chapter) that he was buried in Madison County and a plaque in Edwardsville had caused the errors,” Schwarztrauber said.

“We were able to locate the only four remaining grave stones — two heavily damaged grave stones required use of our special stainless steel brace-brackets,” he said.

The brackets cost $150 each.

“That is why we ask for donations to the OHS Cemetery Fund, to help cover our expenses in our reclamation work in these old forgotten cemeteries,” he said.

The Lewis and Clark chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution — SAR — arranged the ceremony.

The O’Fallon Looking Glass Prairie Chapter of the DAR will hold their own dedication and installation of their NSDAR Plaque on June 20 for Bridges.

About George Bridges

Bridges was born Feb. 12, 1762, near Elizabethtown, North Carolina, and enlisted in the Salisbury militia March 10, 1777. He served 19 months and in 1780 and 1781, he served four three-month terms.

Schwarztrauber said being a drummer boy was a dangerous assignment because the drummer was vital to battlefield communications.

The Rev. James Bridges, who is George’s fourth great-grandson, said his ancestor trained as a blacksmith. George and his wife, Nancy, had William, their first child, in 1789. The family later moved to Kentucky, and William married Margaret “Peggy” Armstrong, then they moved to Madison County about 1811.

The Cemetery Detectives discovered George died in O’Fallon because of information in a land transfer document found in 2018.

Schwarztrauber said George and his wife Nancy sold their Madison County farm and moved in with their son before George’s death in 1834.

The Lewis and Clark SAR chapter honored the Cemetery Detectives with a community service award earlier this year.

This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 1:06 PM.