Discovering Our Revolutionary Soldier

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We like to do geneological research in my family. The kids have inherited the bug and are researching their fathers line. I had done some but they have taken it farther. This week my daughter found that her 5x great grandfather was buried here in the Dayton area, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. He has a bronze star on his grave and a marker placed by the VA. It was hot, but not muggy and we set out. It was in a remote wilderness spot in a park but there was a pathway to it. We assumed it was paved. However it was not and we found a rutted pathway leading 800 feet back into the wilderness, an old horse trail still used. The cemetery was overgrown of course and all the grave stones we saw were so washed out we could't take etchings. But the VA had put a marker, a star and flags at the foot of my children's ancestor's grave. Incredibly outside the cemetery there was a sign with his history and it told of a nearby house that he built on land that was awarded to him for his service in the Revolutionary War, the ship he sailed on to get here with his parents at age 19 and more details of his life. The house was located not far from the cemetery and we found it. There is a marker there as well. The owner was outside and we spoke to him. He is not a family member but is restoring the home and has a great interest in it's history. He loved meeting descendants of the original owner. Incredibly, my son's high school best friend bought a home 20 years ago that is located on the original acreage! It is located only 18 miles from my sons home as well. It's really a small world. This information is usually dug out step by painful step from dusty old books and hours of research but was handed to us on a silver platter yesterday. We were all very excited. That is my son and my daughter in the photos. We three and my daughters husband made the trek back to the grave site. Their 5x great grandmother is also buried there along with other family members.