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REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER ELISHA HEADLEE



BURIAL SITE:

Old Salem Cemetery, 10 miles north of Springfield, on Fruitland Road, Greene County, Missouri.

From the intersection of Glenstone (County Road H) and Valley Water Mill Road, go 6.1 miles north on H and stay to the right when the road forks at Crystal Cave.

Then turn west (left) on Farm Road 173 (Fruitland Road) and go 1.1 miles. There is a grove of trees and a house on the north (right) side of the highway and then immediately after this you will see a little gate that leads to the cemetery which is in the back part of a field on the north side of the highway.

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TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTION: ELISHA / HEADLEE / PVT / NJ MILITIA / REV WAR / MAY 18 1760 / OCT 8 1845

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Elisha Headlee was born in Morris County, New Jersey in 1760. During the Revolutionary War he served as a private in the Morris County Militia while but a lad of 16 or 17. He was the son of John and Jerusha (Mann) Headlee.

After the war, Elisha Headlee married Mary "Mollie" Fairchild in New Jersey about 1787. She was the daughter of Caleb and Phoebe (Gard) Fairchild. Their first child, Caleb, was born there in 1788. In 1791 the Headlees moved to Burke County, North Carolina where 10 more children were born. Family tradition says that they were neighbors and close friends of Samuel and Jane Steele and their children. Five of Elisha's sons married five of Samuel Steele's daughters. Samuel Steele also was a Revolutionary War Soldier and moved his family to Greene County, Missouri. Steele is buried nearby in the Mount Comfort Cemetery (see his record for further information).

In 1823 Elisha Headlee moved to Maury County, Tennessee, where the Samuel Steele family was already living. His wife, Mary, died there on January 23, 1833. Families from Maury County, Tennessee were among the first settlers in the Springfield, Missouri area. In the fall of 1836 Elisha joined them in Greene County.

Elisha Headlee died at age 85 and is buried at the Old Salem Cemetery in northern Greene County. The government marker which you see over his grave was set in place on October 13, 1987 by Compatriots Bill Wood, Richard L. Yohe, Carl Dernehl, and Jean Tillman of the Ozark Mountain Chapter SAR and Compatriot Robert G. Tucker of the Sgt. Ariel Nims Chapter SAR of Joplin. Compatriot Robert Tucker is a descendant of Elisha Headlee and was instrumental in getting this government marker placed over his grave. The SAR bronze marker at Elisha Headlee's grave is believed to have been placed there in the early 1970s by the Ozarks-Hougendobler Chapter SAR

The Ozark Mountain Chapter SAR held a joint memorial service for David Bedell and Elisha Headlee (who were brothers-in-law and are buried almost side by side) on Armed Forces Day, May 16, 1992. Dr. M. Graham Clark, a former President General of the National Society SAR participated. Also members of the Bedell and Headlee families were present for the event. Dr. Katherine Lederer of SMSU, a noted historian on blacks in the Springfield area was a speaker as well as one of the descendants of slaves owned by David Bedell. Bette Nelson, the regent, and other members of the Rachel Donelson Chapter DAR also participated. More than 50 people took part in this event.


(c) Copyright 1998-2005.

Last updated May 15, 2005.


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