SAR SETS FIRST CEREMONY TO MARK GRAVE OF SOLDIER

The Sons of the American Revolution chapter, formed in Cape Girardeau less than a year ago, will hold a grave-marking ceremony Saturday beginning just after 10 a.m.

The public is invited to attend. Members will meet at 10 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Convention Center front parking lot and then drive to the grave site, situated beyond Bloomfield Road and Interstate 55.

Wendell Miller, a member of SAR, said it's the first time a member of the group has discovered a local grave site of an ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War.

The member is Richard Slinkard of Whitewater. His ancestor, Thomas English Sr., died May 16, 1829, near Cape Girardeau. He resided during the revolution in Georgia, and was a private in a regiment designated at different times at the 8th, 4th and 12th Virginia Regiment.

Miller said the chapter has about 15 members and each one has an ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War.

This is the first grave-marking ceremony the group has held locally, he said.

"We're inviting anyone who is interested in the war or our organization," Miller said. "We thought it was good timing with it being right around the Fourth of July."

Miller said the ceremony will be brief.