The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: VA
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
Photos displayed courtesy of James C. Arnold, Daniel Guthrie Chapter, INSSAR
GPS provided by Ed Hitchcock, Daniel Guthrie Chapter, INSSAR
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
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Author: Jan Ley
By Jan Ley
H-T Staff Writer
The Brewster sisters were just young girls when the colonies entered the American Revolution. Elinor, age 22, Jennette, age 14, and Agnes, only 13 years old, lived with their family in Rockingham County in Virginia when they heard "the shot heard 'round the world."
Today, the women are buried in tiny Dunn Cemetery, next to Beck Chapel, in the middle of the Indiana University campus. How did these young ladies become verified Patriots of the American Revolution and eventually find themselves in Bloomington?
Daughters of the American Revolution member Dorothy J. Taylor said, "We've known about these brave women for some time. But it was important for us to highlight their lives so people know the DAR is more than just women marching and wearing white gloves. These teen-age girls worked very hard."
As staunch supporters of the cause of freedom, the family devoted much of their time, property and food to the American militia men.
The family owned a large heard of sheep. The girls continued to shearwool throughout the winter. They carded and spun it into yarn, used their looms to weave the wool into cloth and cut and sewed clothing for the soldiers.
When the militia camped on their property, the girls cooked, baked and then carried food to the men.
After the Revolution, the family moved to Kentucky. Agnes married William Alexander, Jennette wed Samuel Irvin and Elinor married Samuel Dunn.
"It's been said that Dunn objected to the idea of slavery and moved further north in the territory," said Taylor. The family settled near Bloomington.
Dunn bought a large farm east of what is now Dunn Street. He perpetuated in hi will that a plot of land be used for the burial grounds of the three sisters and their descendants and those they marry.
There's been speculation that Agnes and Jennette lost their husbands and then moved here to be near their older sister, Elinor Dunn," Taylor said.
In 1883, after a fire destroyed much of Indiana University at its former location at what is now Seminary Square, Dunn sold part of his farm to the university trustees, who were searching for a new spot for the university that would allow for growth.
The university did grow, but the deeded land and the cemetery remained, eventually becoming surrounded by the campus.
In April, members of the Bloomington Chapter and state DAR officers met at the sisters' grave site and placed a memorial plaque on their monument.
There are 48 interments in Dunn Cemetery. Local descendants of the sisters, Charles Barnhill, Herman Young, Marilyn Warden and Darlene Easton, were at the dedication ceremony. They may choose to be buried at Dunn Cemetery."
In the 1950s, Dr. Frank O. Beck told Curtis D. Aiken, a past caretaker of the cemetery, that he wished to "build a nondenominational, nonsectarian chapel on campus, but that because of the country's church-and-state rule, he was forbidden."
After further study of the cemetery property, it was assessed that there was, in fact, more land available from the cemetery plot with which to build a chapel that would not be on IU's property.
Beck Chapel was built in 1956 with the intent to complement the cemetery.
"They wanted it to look old-world, like a church and graveyard one would find in Europe," Taylor said.
Over the years, the church has been the site of thousands of weddings, services and private meditations.
For more information on the Brewer sisters, Dunn Cemetery or the history of Indiana University, call the Monroe County Historical Museum at 332-2517 or the IU Archives at 855-1127.
Reporter Jan Ley can be reaced by phone at 331-4380, or by e-mail at jkl@heraldt.com.
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Sisters Elinor, Agnes and Jennette Brewster, buried in Dunn Cemetery, are verified Patriots of the American Revolution. They were remembered in April with a dedication plaque on their monument. At the ceremony were DAR mebers; Polly Tilford, Anne Bailey, Kathleen Bauer, Janice Bolinger, Sonna Rayburn, Karen Loy and Dora Brown.
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.
