Recognizing Private Elijah Stites' Commendation By the Daughters of the American Revolution

Floor Speech

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Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to commend to the House the important work of the Lima Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. On November 6, the chapter will rededicate a historical marker in honor of Private Elijah Stites, Lima's sole veteran of the Revolutionary War.

Elijah Stites was born in Essex, New Jersey, in 1758. During the American Revolution, he fought for the Essex County Militia, serving as color bearer at the Battle of Yorktown. In 1788, he and two of his brothers took part in an expedition along the Ohio River, helping to found the settlement of Columbia (modern-day Cincinnati). Later, he settled in Warren County with his wife, Rhoda, and their fourteen children.

Following his death in 1843, Stites was buried in Old Lima Cemetery in Allen County. Seventy years ago, the Lima DAR erected a plaque at the site of the cemetery recognizing him as the city's only Revolutionary War veteran. The organization will rededicate this plaque at a special ceremony on November 6.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of Ohio's Fourth Congressional District, I thank the women of Lima's DAR Chapter for putting together this rededication ceremony and for all they do to promote civic education. They are true examples of the DAR's high calling to ``cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of American freedom.''

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