Honoring a Revolutionary War soldier

For more than 175 years, Revolutionary War veteran William Ballenger’s grave was a fieldstone with crude engravings. His descendant Margaret Currie and her husband, Randy, discovered it while searching Williamsburg (Indiana) Cemetery. She recently learned of her Ballenger lineage and that William Ballenger is her great-great-great-grandfather.

Family members believed Ballenger was buried in the cemetery, but they could not locate his grave. Finding it inspired a family reunion of more than 100 descendants from at least eight of his 12 known children. The family decided Ballenger deserved a more prominent marker and they requested one from the Veterans Administration.

William Ballenger served from January 10, 1777 to January 10, 1780, as a sergeant in the 10th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Line Army. He participated in the Battle of Stony Point July 16, 1779, which is why Ballenger’s descendants chose July 16 to gather to honor him.

A Sons of the American Revolution color guard performed taps and fired muskets as part of the commemoration of a new grave marker.

From a story by Rachel E. Sheeley in the Palladium-Item, Richmond, Indiana.