Oak Grove Cemetery, Wills Township, Incorporated
50 North 600 East
Mill Creek, Indiana 46365

Contact information please go to http://www.dunelady.com/laporte/

William M Maple - Soldier of 1812 War + Program in Honor of the Civil War Veterans
Presented Memorial Day, 2011 at Oak Grove Cemetery
See Below

Memorial Day, 2011
Today, Oak Grove Cemetery is joining with historical societies and veterans groups across the nation ~~ to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.

Over the next 4 years, in various locales, there will be a continuing focus on commemorating these 2 wars~~Oak Grove hopes to further participate by hosting living history demonstrations and/or special services. That’s in the works...discussions are underway....stay tuned.

Look around you. Each one of these markers represents a person. These are people who may have touched our lives as fathers, mothers, siblings, children...and of course, as soldiers. They might be someone you've known and loved. Someone you’ve valued. And, behind that person, whether young or old, is a story. Their stories have impacted our lives in significant ways and we're here to remember.

It’s so important for us to find ways to remember and honor those who have walked before us. This morning, Oak Grove Cemetery has found its way to remember....by bringing to light one man’s story: that of William Martin Maple. His story is especially poignant as we consider our remembrance of the War of 1812 and the Civil War. William Maple was a veteran of the War of 1812. And the only 1812 soldier buried in Oak Grove Cemetery (right back there.) He was among the earliest settlers in our area and his pioneer life here helped to shape the earliest formation of our community.

Of all that could be said about an event, or a person, what is the most important or most significant? The answer to that question is the gist of history.

Simply put, history is a story well told. In one sense, stories make people. They bring life to a person. William Maple has left us his story...and I’d like to share it with you this morning.

William M. Maple - - Particulars: The Maples were among the earliest colonial families in New Jersey. They were followers of John Calvin. The area they lived in was called ‘Mapletown,’ near Princeton. Along the way, their county was split, and Mapletown became part of Greene County, Pennsylvania.

Enter William M. Maple. He was born on July 26, 1796 in Mapletown. William had 9 brothers and sisters. When William was just 16 years old, he became a soldier in service to the War of 1812.

William became a soldier in the famed “Pittsburgh Blues,” a military outfit with volunteers between the ages of 16 and 22, well trained, well equipped and regarded with much pride. They were paid about $5/mo. for their services and $12/mo. for the use of their horses. The Pittsburgh Blues were immediately ordered into active duty and joined the northwestern troops commanded by William Henry Harrison.

William served in the 1st Regiment of the Pennsylvania Militia...known as “Ferree’s Command,” because his colonel’s name was Joel Ferree. William was mustered into service at Pittsburg for a term of 6 months, primarily served at Fort Meigs, Ohio.

During their time of service, the 1st Regiment suffered greatly from exposure, disease, and lack of supplies. They were also singled out and praised for their courageous conduct during the Battle of Mississinewa (Indiana) and at Fort Meigs (Ohio.)

William survived the war. His father and uncles were Revolutionary War Patriots and as far as I can tell, they received land grants from their services in the war and pioneered their way “West” to Indiana right around 1826. They were among the first settlers in Franklin County, Indiana...the village of Laurel, aka known as the “Jersey Settlement.” Still is. You can hear folks say, “Over in Jersey.” Following William’s service in the War of 1812, he joined his family as they made their way West to Indiana.

What was that like? The travel? I ran across remarks written by a Maple family descendant in the late 1800’s: She wrote that her mother shared with her a Maple family journal of the travel West: There were several two-horse drawn covered wagons. They traveled ruing the day and went as far as weather and “road” conditions allowed. They stopped at night and cooked their food. One Maple pioneer said that she enjoyed the 6 weeks of that journey west because it was “like a continued camping party in a pleasant season.” Women slept in the wagons and men slept under the wagons. Nowadays, that trip would take just one day by car.

An important person whose life intersected William Maple’s is: Henry Van Dalsen. Henry was a Revolutionary War Patriot, a judge in the Court of New York, the Clerk of New York Harbor Customs, and a lawyer. He is also buried in the back corner of this cemetery and is one of only a handful of Revolutionary War soldiers buried in LaPorte County. For his service in the Revolutionary War, Henry received a land grant in Fayette County, Indiana. Fayette is located right on top of Franklin County, where the Maple’s lived. Henry had a daughter named Sarah. Did the VanDalsen’s live near the Maple’s? I don’t know. Where did they cross paths? I don’t know. What I do know is that somehow William Maple met Sarah VanDalsen and they married.

Two of Sarah’s brothers had moved on ahead to the Northwest area of Indiana. Samuel and Abraham VanDalsen were among the earliest pioneer settlers in Wills Township. William Maple, having received a land grant for his service in the War of 1812, decided to pick up stakes, pack up his wife and in-laws, and head to LaPorte County, Indiana...and become a farmer.

This move was between 1830 and 1833. Much of this area wasn’t even settled yet. Pioneer settlers coexisted with Indians from 1826 right up to 1840. Settlers from this period, in this area, had stated that even though there were some hardships, and many things they had to do without, those 10 years of frontier life were years of a rich, delightful experience....enjoyed by a few hundred families where savage life was ending and a new type of civilization was forming. As a more structured life progressed, it became evident that such a frontier life could never be again.

William and Sarah had 3 children here. Sarah’s father, Henry, and her mother, Neesha, died here in Wills Township and are both buried in the back corner. William was one of the signers of an early township petition....requesting a permit for a general store/trading post to serve ‘spirits.’ And, he farmed. In the census of 1850, William is listed as a farmer in LaPorte County, Indiana with an assessed land valuation of $1,400.

In 1855, William passed away. He was 59 years old. His wife, Sarah, took up the pioneer trail again and headed further West to Kansas with her now married daughters. Sarah lived to the wonderful old age of 89 and is buried in Hewins, Kansas.

This is the story of one man, one soldier, one pioneer settler. Imagine William, at age 16, serving his newly formed country in yet another war. Imagine the hardships of that war. Imagine his joy in finding Sarah and marrying her in Indiana. Imagine his sense of adventure and courageous spirit as he broke from his family and pioneered to this part of Indiana....to raise his own family and farm his land....land that he received because of his service in the War.

William’s commanding officer, Joel Ferree, had a nephew named Jacob, who wrote a poem, entitled the Pittsburgh Blues. I think this poem nails the heart of the matter of the War of 1812: the overwhelming sentiment of injustice, tyranny, oppression and a virtuous call to freedom.

The Pittsburgh Blues
Farewell peace! Another crisis
Calls us to the last appeal,
Made when monarchs and their vices
Leave no argument but steel.
When injustice and oppression,
Dare avow the tyrant’s plea
Who would recommend submission?
Virtue bids us to be free.
Sons of freeman have descended
From a race of heroes tried
To preserve our independence
Let all Europe be defied
Let not all the world united
rob us of our sacred right
Every patriot’s heart delighted,
In this country’s call to fight.

William Maple has left us a history. A history of pride in our culture and our land. A history of what it is to value our freedom. A history of courage and adventure. We have his history in our hands; and we continue to carry on where he left off. Let’s remember, with grateful hearts, William Martin Maple and his service in the Pittsburgh Blues in the War of 1812.
The above was assembled and presented by: Mrs. Laurie Dittmar on Memorial Day at the annual Oak Grove Memorial Day Gathering 2011.

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