A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Our Rich History: Now, may we introduce you to the first patriots of Kenton and Campbell counties


By Rhonda Burgess Warren
Special to NKyTribune

The Rebecca Bryan Boone(RBB) Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) of Kenton County, Kentucky is preparing to celebrate the placing of a memorial at Highland Cemetery in July 2026. The memorial text will include the names of 38 Patriots who were veterans of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783. Soon after the war, some of these Patriots brought their families on horses and in wagons, from the 13 original colonies, to settle in a sparsely populated land of plenty and promise with more hopes and dreams than material items. With RBB’s hopes and dreams, this project began in 2019, led by its Historic Preservation Committee.

Proposed Text of Memorial

The DAR, founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington D.C., is a non-profit, non-political volunteer woman’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future for children. DAR members volunteer millions of service hours annually in their local communities, including supporting active-duty military personnel, assisting veteran patients, awarding thousands of dollars in scholarships and financial aid each year to students, and supporting schools for underserved children with annual donations exceeding one million dollars.

As one of the most inclusive genealogical societies in the country, DAR boasts 190,000 members in 3,000 chapters across the US and internationally. The website dar.org is free to the public for searching Patriots at GRS. DAR volunteers work at the grassroots level in local chapters. The DAR mission promotes Historic Preservation, Education and Patriotism through a variety of Committees. DAR members participate in projects such as restoring historical sites, locating, restoring, and marking Revolutionary War patriots’ grave sites and headstones, organizing, and contributing to major restorations, commemorations and memorials, and preserving genealogical records, artifacts, and historical documents. They make these items available to the public at DAR Headquarters.

“Boone’s Monument,” Lexington Herald Leader, July 4, 1897, p. 12.

In January 1897, the Rebecca Bryan Boone Chapter was established in Campbell County by Mrs. Josephine Adelaide Tibbatts Crozet, who was the granddaughter of Col. James Taylor, founder of the city of Newport, Kentucky. The second Regent, Mrs. Eleanor Arnold, was the descendant of Governor James Garrard, the second Governor of Kentucky and of Col. Thomas Hart, one of the proprietors of the Transylvania Company. That summer, under the leadership of Mrs. Arnold, the group began their project to repair the grave marker of Daniel Boone at Frankfort, which had been vandalized during the Civil War. They involved the children all over the state of Kentucky to contribute 1 cent and to participate in a celebration, Boone Day, on October 21, 1906. The children learned about the reason for the memorial and about Daniel Boone’s activities in Kentucky history. The Kentucky General Assembly contributed $2,000, and RBB contributed $500 for the project. With determination, the 13-year project was completed in 1910.

In 2019 RBB’s Historic Preservation committee began another monument project, estimated to cost $8,000 to $10,000. The committee began to gather names of our local patriots through dar.org, familysearch.org, fold3.com, ancestry.com, Google, findagrave.com, books at libraries, historical newspapers, historical societies, anywhere and everywhere we could think of. We discovered nearly 80 names of Revolutionary War Soldiers. To our pleasant surprise we learned that these Patriots names were already on many streets of Northern Kentucky, like Kyle’s Lane for Robert Kyle, DeCoursey Avenue for William DeCoursey, and Winston Avenue for John Winston. The town of Grant’s Lick in Campbell County was named for John and Squire Boone Grant, the nephews of Daniel Boone. In 1775 Daniel Boone carved the Wilderness Road out of the forest and founded Fort Boonesborough. The roads were extremely important for that generation, along with the Ohio and Licking Rivers for transportation.

“Boone Day,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 26, 1898, p. 8.

This project has been a big eye opener for how I see my little town of Erlanger. I discovered that the family of John and Squire Boone Grant married into the family of Major Bartlett Graves of the War of 1812. Those streets, Bartlett, and Graves, are what I walked on to my elementary and high schools from 1960 to 1968. Now we look up and see the planes flying into and out of CVG International Airport. The airport was designated as CVG for Covington since that was the largest city in Northern Kentucky in 1947. The city of Covington came about due to the help of a Revolutionary War soldier, Thomas Kennedy, who sold 150 acres to establish the town, in 1815. What would Mr. Thomas Kennedy think now, about the area he rode a horse to? We’ve come from the horse and buggy travelers to the jet setters.

As the committee collected the military and family information on the Patriots, we were more determined and inspired to share their heroic stories to a grateful community. Since cemeteries were not established in the years of this generation, these patriots were buried on their farms in very small family plots or in churchyards. As their communities became populated and housing engulfed farms, the graves were lost in many cases. To honor the Patriots, we wanted to place a nice granite memorial marker that would be long lasting, at a spot that would be noticed easily by the community.

Boone Monument of DAR, Cincinnati Enquirer, March 27, 1920, P. 51

We discussed several options, like various cemeteries in Kenton County, courthouses or libraries and finally decided that the Highland Cemetery would be our best choice. Due to being centrally located in the county, it seemed to be a perfect location. It is very tranquil and beautiful — with trees, shrubs, and gardens, bird watching, and walking tails. In accordance with the DAR guidelines, obtaining a location for the memorial marker was the first step of the project. We sent a letter to the cemetery. After the Highland Cemetery board of directors met to discuss and approve our project, we were given permission to proceed in August 2022.

“FOR SALE,” tract of land by John Grant, Kentucky Gazette, July 18, 1789, p. 1.

The next step of the project was to have the exact text of the marker monument approved by two historian experts. The first expert, Jan Lester, Campbell County Historical and Genealogical Society responded immediately and graciously. After months of trying to enlist one more expert, we were getting very discouraged. So, we widened our search and after four months in this phase, asked Dr. Paul Tenkotte, Professor of History at NKU, to help us, which he enthusiastically did. With the two experts’ approval of our text, we could move on to the next phase. Our group was thrilled and honored to obtain the tremendous help of these two experts. Without their help, this project could have never progressed. On December 15, 2022, we mailed the first packet of 10 soldiers, with approximately 150 documents, to our national office for reviewing.

Among our many sources, we utilized Fold3.com, which holds the military pension records listing the vital information of dates of births, deaths, sometimes names for wife and children, residences when they entered the war, what battles they marched to, their officers and commanders, and sad details—like needing to eat burnt corn to survive. Reading the handwritten pension files from the early 1800s is not easy, with the use of the letter “f” in place of the letter “s” and other old stylistic practices. Most of the soldiers had died in Campbell County, since Kenton County was not formed until 1840. These Patriots (our grandfathers x 7 generations back) first started traveling to Kentucky when it was the state of Virginia and Kentucky County. In 1792 Kentucky became a state, and thereafter, the counties formed and changed over time for this Northern Kentucky area.

Grant’s Lick Kentucky Historical Society Marker.

We discovered that the 1820 Census listed Kentucky with Campbell County and the city of Covington or Newport. This was very helpful in discovering the city of residences for the Patriots. This information enabled us to choose many Patriots who were the residents of Covington. DAR national headquarters has limits of mailing 10 soldiers per year, and so for this project, we decided as a group to limit the number of names to 38. Having 38 soldiers calculates to a 4-year project that requires a thorough investigation. This will also give plenty of time to plan for the celebration to coincide with the United States’ 250th Anniversary in 2026. Each soldier requires about fifteen pages of records to verify his military service and residence with dates. Since these names will be etched into granite, it has to be perfectly correct. Holian Monument is collaborating with us for the granite stone that will come from the state of Georgia.

There are more phases to the project, as we send in our packets, that will include fund-raising, inviting the descendants of the Patriots and preparing for the actual service, that will take place in July 2026. Just recently we have contacted descendants of the Grant family, who are thrilled to be a part of the celebration. Some families are local, and some are spread over the USA. With computers and the speed of information, we look forward to getting the word out. It has been so long ago that most have forgotten what these men sacrificed for us. We are their hopes and dreams. We cannot thank them enough, if it took ten times the work to get this done, it would be worth it all. In 2025 as we get closer to July 2026, there will be additional articles with information about the celebration. We are planning to invite our DAR State Regent, Sons of The American Revolution, Color Guard, Musical talents, local communities, descendants, and other distinguished speakers. There are many skillful hands contributing to this grand project for our grandfathers. It is all about honoring those grandfathers who suffered in battles for our freedoms.

“For Sale or Rent,” by Thomas Kennedy, Western Spy and Literary Cadet, December 5, 1812, p. 4.

Rhonda Burgess Warren is the daughter and wife of veterans, mother of three daughters, grandmother of six, and member of the Rebecca Bryan Boone Chapter NSDAR since 2012. A graduate of Lloyd High School and NKU (1987), she is a retired Psychiatric RN. A resident of Northern KY since 1956, she is passionate about the DAR, genealogy and helping adoptees discover their biological families through DNA. Her email is nkunurse1987@yahoo.com. For more information please contact: rebeccabryanboonedar@gmail.com.

We want to learn more about the history of your business, church, school, or organization in our region (Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and along the Ohio River). If you would like to share your rich history with others, please contact the editor of “Our Rich History,” Paul A. Tenkotte, at tenkottep@nku.edu. Paul A. Tenkotte, PhD is Professor of History and Gender Studies at Northern Kentucky University (NKU) and the author of many books and articles.

This article is part of the ORVILLE (Ohio River Valley Initiatives for Lifelong Learning), a project of Dr. Tenkotte’s to document the history and activities of organizations in the Ohio River Valley Region (from Pittsburg to Cairo). If you want to submit an article on behalf of your organization please contact him at tenkottep@nku.edu

Pioneer Trails Map, courtesy of John E. Kleber, ed., The Kentucky Encyclopedia.


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