Planned Du Quoin monument will reach back to the Revolutionary War
In its early history, Perry County was mainly an inland pioneer outpost. Early settlers, including some Revolutionary War veterans bearing land grants, moved here from the Eastern United States.
You won't know these names, but their stories are at the heart of our freedom as Americans and there is a proposal to fully honor them with twin monuments that will be paid for by the Sons of the American Revolution and be installed in both Keyes City Park in Du Quoin and on the courthouse square in Pinckneyville.
John Murphy, namesake for the City of Murphysboro, is buried in Perry County.
Murphy was born in the North of Ireland. Coming to America, he entered the war and was in the battle of King's Mountain, probably with North Carolina troops. He came to Perry County, Illinois, in 1818, settling near Lost Prairie, where he died. Murphysboro, Jackson county, was named in his honor. ("Illinois Revolutionary War Veteran Burials", 1917)
John Barnes was born in Virginia. He enlisted at Mecklenburg in 1779, serving five times for three months each and the sixth time for six months, with Capt. Peter Bennett, and George Ferringot, and Cols. William Moore, Ambrose Ramsey, Joseph Taylor, and Major Joel Lewis. He was in the battle of Camden. He removed to Sumner county, Tennessee, and then to Perry county, Illinois, where he died September 2, 1840. He served in the North Carolina troops. He was pensioned. ("Illinois Revolutionary War Veteran Burials", 1917).
Leonard Lipe was from South Carolina, where he was born about 1755. He served in the troops from that state. After the war he came to Perry County, and settled in Tamaroa township, where he died. He was pensioned. ("Illinois Revolutionary War Veteran Burials", 1917).
Then, there is Lewis Wells, perhaps the most recognizable local name associated with the Revolutionary War. He is buried in McElvain Cemetery west of Du Quoin. In recent years the Beaucoup Creek Chapter of the American Revolution installed a new plaque at his grave site alongside his original weather-worn head stone.
A biography of Wells by Bonnie Ward Williamson tells the story of his life.
Most older biographies of Lewis Wells state that he was born in South Carolina. Evidence exists that Lewis was born in Virginia, the only child of Thomas and Susannah Cole Wells. On the 1880 US Census, his son, Giles gave his father's birthplace as Maryland, mother's as Virginia. Possibly these were reversed?
At age three, Lewis' maternal grandfather, John Cole, deeded him land in Lunenburg Co., VA. After his father's death, his mother, Susannah, was remarried to William Gamblin and they moved, with Lewis, from Virginia, to Chatham Co., NC., Lewis later lived in Union Co., SC (where he married Elizabeth Bates), and in Greenville, Co., SC. In the 1790 and 1800 US Censuses in Greenville County, the family of William Gamblin, his step-father, was in close proximity.
Lewis served in Colonel Brandon's South Carolina Militia Regiment after the fall of Charleston on May 12, 1780. Their most famous battle was The Battle of the Cowpens, 17 Jan 1781: Col. Andrew Pickens led a force of militia units under the command of Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan and his Continentals at The Battle of Cowpens. Four militia battalions formed the first line and central core of the militia formation. The Fair Forest Regiment of Col. Thomas Brandon, along with Hayes' Little River Regiment, Thomas' Spartanburg Regiment, and Roebuck's Spartanburg Battalion met the initial onslaught of the British under the hated Banastre Tarleton.
According to eyewitness accounts, Brandon's Fair Forest soldiers were the first ones to fire on the advancing British, and the only ones who had sufficient time to reload and to take a second shot. They then, according to plan, made a quick retreat behind Morgan's Continentals, drawing the British into their range. The militia regiments then reformed and rejoined the fight. Many accounts exist of Fair Forest soldiers wounded in hand-to-hand fighting. Local tradition says that Thomas Brandon set the example for his men by killing three British dragoons with his sword.
The defeat of the British at Cowpens finally drove Cornwallis and his army out of the Carolinas.
The movie, "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson is a fictionalized version of that battle.
In 1786, Lewis received "6 Pounds, 17S/1D1/2 Sterling For Duty Done In Brandon's Regiment After The Fall Of Charleston And Anderson's Return.A.A.8351;X3181."
Tradition has it that, in 1803, Lewis Wells, Thomas Taylor, the three Pyle brothers, Robert McElvain and possibly others came to Illinois to assess the land and the Indian situation. They returned to Christian County, Kentucky because of Indian hostility. In 1812, some of the group moved into Illinois with their families, settling first near a fort about four miles east of Carbondale, on Crab Orchard Creek, then, later in Perry Co. The 1812 date which is sometimes cited may be a little early for Wells. In 1817, Lewis and Elizabeth sold 514 acres of land in Christian County, Kentucky, part of which they had purchased from Abner Pyle in 1812. This might indicate that the Pyles moved first, and the Wells family followed a few years later.
Lewis and Elizabeth were the parents of Lewis Jr., Thomas Bates, Susan, Elijah, Martha Ann (Williams), Sarah (Pyle), Kiziah (McElvain), Mary (Pyle), Elizabeth Bates (Winters), Joseph and Giles.
Many of the burials in McElvain Cemetery are early pioneers of Perry County, and they include many descendants and in-laws of the Wells.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Plans for a New Monument</span>
Joe Stephens is a member of the Du Quoin Park Board who in a short time has done a great deal for this community. Most notably, he authored the plan to install the Civil War Memorial in Keyes City Park and has done a great deal of work with respect to effecting repairs and restorations at the Du Quoin Municipal Swimming Pool.
At a recent meeting of the Du Quoin City Council he passed along information about the new Revolutionary War memorial in Keyes Park.
He said during a recent Concert in Keyes Park he was approached by a representative of the Sons of the American Revolution with the idea for the monument.
"There may be--I think--seven men buried in Perry County who served in the American Revolution. Most are buried in little plots in the middle of nowhere--an obscure little graveyard. Stephens said he is suggesting a granite monument that would match those already in the veterans plaza in Keyes Park. The Revolutionary War Memorial would probably be a two-sided monument similar to the Civil War memorial on the opposite side of the mound where the World War I, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam Conflict memorial is located. A twin marker would be placed in the veterans plaza at the courthouse square in Pinckneyville. Stephens said the design work and construction of the new memorial are probably a year away.