MORRISTOWN — Each year on July 4, America celebrates its Declaration of Independence from Great Britain – but area residents may not realize that while the war was not waged in Ohio, Belmont County eventually became home to many of the soldiers who fought for our freedom.

According to Ohio History Connection, Fort Laurens in what is now Tuscarawas County was the only Revolutionary War fort in the territory that became Ohio. It was besieged in 1779 by the British and their Native American allies, much like Ft. Henry at the site of modern-day Wheeling was attached. Service in the Revolutionary War resulted in land grants across the Ohio Country to pay officers and soldiers for their war service.

That is likely the reason that several men who served in the American military are now buried in cemeteries across the local region, especially in the Pioneer Cemetery at Morristown. Belmont County, Ohio Genealogy and History lists 48 Revolutionary War veterans buried in Ohio.

Among those buried at the Pioneer Cemetery, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and dates to 1801, are: John Perry, Continental Line, 1757-1825; William Beard, Recruiting Service, Maryland LIne, 1762-1835; surveyor John Israel, Cadet 12 Virginia Regiment, 1749-1822; and Duncan Morrison, the village’s founder.

He was a major in the 1st and 7th Pennsylvania Foot Regiment and served at Valley Forge. He built the still-standing Black Horse Inn, which will one day be home to the Underground Railroad Museum. He died in 1827.

Revolutionary War graves at the site are marked with bronze stars that feature the date 1776.

Outside of Morristown, the graves of some well-known Revolutionary War soldiers and of at least one heroine can be found at Walnut Grove Cemetery in Martins Ferry.

Elizabeth “Betty” Zane, 1765-1823, was at Ft. Henry in the wilderness of what was then western Virginia when the fort came under siege by the British and their Native American allies.

Lore surrounding the siege says that as Betty was loading a rifle, her father was wounded and fell from the top of the fort in front of her. At that point, the captain of the fort called for more gunpowder, which was being stored at the Zane family home about 50 yards away.

When Betty dashed for the house, it is said the natives firing upon the fort laughed and pointed as she ran. She made it safely back to the fort, replenishing the soldiers’ supply. The men inside the fort were able to hold off the attackers and survive the siege.

The Zane family, including brothers Ebenezer, Silas and Jonathan, later settled in what became Martins Ferry on the opposite side of the Ohio River. The family played an important role in blazing trails and settling the Ohio territory.

The city of St. Clairsville is named for another major figure in the war, Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair. Born in Scotland in 1737, St. Clair first served in the British Army, then in the Continental Army and, eventually in the U.S. Army. Along the way he also was seventh president of the Continental Congress. He later became the first governor of the Northwest Territory – the area from which the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were formed.