A couple of weekends ago I drove across the nearby Ohio River to Marietta, Ohio. It is only about a forty-five minute drive from where I live. While there I visited the Conus Mound at the center of Mound Cemetery. This mound is said to have been built between 800BC and 100AD. When you begin to realize it more than likely was built before the birth of Christ it becomes a little overwhelming as you stand in its presence. This mound was supposedly built to be the burial place of Chieftains. It is encircled by a dry moat that seperates it from the surrounding cemetery.
This is a Revolutionary War Soldiers' Memorial near the foot of the mound. The soldiers are noted with Memorial Metal Stars. There are more than 25 Revolutionary War Soldiers buried in Mound Cemetery which is reportedly home to the largest number of American Revolutionary War officers buried in one location. The earliest of these soldiers was buried in 1739. One soldier buried was Commodore Abraham Whipple - an American revolutionary naval commander. He sunk the first British ship of the American Revolution, the British schooner HMS Gaspee. After the war, it was Whipple who, as a merchant marine commander, first unfurled our American flag in London.
There is also a monument erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in honor of those unknown soldiers buried in the cemetery.
There is also a monument erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in honor of those unknown soldiers buried in the cemetery. Ancient Indians, pioneers, and modern Americans rest peacefully side-by-side.
