EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a weekly series on our region’s history coordinated by the Trumbull County Historical Society.

Kinsman Presbyterian Cemetery, at the heart of Kinsman Township, is the final resting place for eight honored Revolutionary War veterans.

Kinsman has a proud and consistent history of military service. The aptly nicknamed “Old Cemetery” on the west side of the Presbyterian Church holds the oldest gravesites, including those of all eight Revolutionary War veterans, as well as numerous Civil War, War of 1812 and World War I veterans.

As our nation celebrates its 250th anniversary this week, we recognize these early patriots: John Kinsman, Martin Tidd, Ebenezer Reeve, Jedediah Burnham, William Mathews, John Allen, Lovel Parker and Peter Lossee.

Notably, the namesake of Kinsman was a Revolutionary veteran. Born into a farming family in Lisbon, Connecticut, Kinsman was only 23 years old in August 1776 when he joined the Connecticut militia and fought in the Battle of Long Island. The militia, vastly outnumbered by British forces, was defeated, and Kinsman was captured. He was imprisoned aboard ships in New York Harbor, where harsh conditions brought many prisoners close to death.

Eventually he was paroled and allowed to stay in a room in New York City before being released in a prisoner exchange. In 1797, he was elected to the Connecticut Legislature, where he became acquainted with the Connecticut Land Company and purchased land from it.

Those investments led him to the area that would become Kinsman, which he first visited in 1799. He later returned to Connecticut before bringing his family to settle there permanently in 1804.

Two of the township’s earliest permanent settlers, Martin Tidd and Ebenezer Reeve, were among those whose fortunes had been diminished by the Revolutionary War. A native New Englander, Tidd had previously invested considerable effort in developing land in the Wyoming Valley, only to see his claim invalidated when Connecticut relinquished its rights to the region. Tidd and his extended family settled in the area in the spring of 1802.

To escape an area with a heavy British presence, Ebenezer Reeve sold his farm and was paid in Continental currency, which became almost worthless. He was living in Norwich, Connecticut, when Kinsman hired him to come west and work with him in the summer of 1801. Arriving with his two teenage daughters, one exclaimed, “I have heard of going to the ends of the earth, but now I think we are there!”

In 1805, Jedediah Burnham, another native of Connecticut, was encouraged to come to Ohio by John Kinsman, who went so far as to loan him his horse for the journey. Although unconfirmed, it is possible that Burnham served in the French and Indian War as well as the American Revolution.

William Mathews served for three years, from 1776 to 1779, as a private in the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment. Encountering mass illness, numerous engagements with the enemy, and starvation under siege, this regiment faced many hardships during the war. Arriving in Kinsman in 1804, he conducted worship services when there were no clergy present, later serving as deacon of the church.

Born in 1762, John Allen served a term in the Continental Army in Groton, Connecticut. Here he met and married his wife before following the trail of Norwich natives to Kinsman in 1806.

Little is known about Lovel Parker’s military service. He is buried with his wife Hannah.

After purchasing 104 acres from John Kinsman in 1808, New Jersey native Peter Lossee and his wife built a legacy that endured for 11 generations, with family members occupying the home continuously for over 200 years.

The passing centuries have taken a toll on the grave markers in the cemetery. One local volunteer has taken it upon himself to save these weathered and damaged tombstones. Focusing on veterans’ and children’s gravesites, a total of 60 restorations have been completed. Some require only cleaning and straightening, but more than half have needed extensive repairs to piece the broken stones back together. The oldest stone he has worked on belongs to the aforementioned Jedediah Burnham, who died in 1810.

Through this careful restoration work, these historic grave markers can continue to honor and preserve the memories of those buried beneath them. History lives on not only in textbooks and monuments, but also in the quiet cemetery at the heart of Kinsman Township, where service and sacrifice continue to be remembered.

Kinsman Free Public Library is located at 6420 Church St., Kinsman, Ohio. For more information, visit www.kinsmanlibrary.org.