Bolingbrook Dedicates Grave Marker for Revolutionary Daughter

When Polly Emery Royce moved with her husband, Jonathon, to DuPage Township in the 1830s, land could be purchased at $1.25 for 160 acres.

The Royces, taking advantage of the deal, bought 3,000 acres in the areas now known as Naperville and Bolingbrook.

Mrs. Royce's father, Joshua Emery, was a Revolutionary War patriot and served as a minuteman in Frye's Regiment out of Haverhill, Mass.

On Saturday, the Ft. Payne Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Village of Bolingbrook and the Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Committee dedicated a new grave marker at Boardman Cemetery off of Paxson Drive and Royce Road to honor Mrs. Royce's memory.

Bolingbrook Deputy Mayor Leroy Brown spoke at the dedication and said the Royce history is something unique for Bolingbrook to hang its hat on.

"It gives you a feel of what America really is," he said to the audience attending the ceremony.

According to Jane Haldeman, president of the Fox Valley Genealogical Society and DAR member, Joshua Emery lived in New England until he died, but his daughter and her husband moved to the area when it was just starting to open up.

"They came here and they had numerous children, and those children helped make this community what it is," Haldeman said.

Haldeman also attributed the establishment of animal husbandry in the area to the Royce family. The Royces raised Aberdeen Angus cattle on their acreage.

Jeanette Richmond, regent of the Fort Payne Chapter of the DAR, described the organization as being, "dedicated to promoting patriotism." At the event, she called upon descendants of the Royce family to stand and be recognized.

"It's a beautiful congregation out here to celebrate today," said Naperville Mayor George Pradel. Pradel also said Mrs. Royce seemed to have inherited her father's spirit of patriotism by supporting the cause during the Civil War.

The Invocation was led by Rev. Mark Hughey of First Presbyterian Church of DuPage in Bolingbrook. The church was established in 1833, only a week after the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, the oldest Protestant church in northern Illinois.

The keynote speaker was Arthur Ray Taylor, veteran of both the Marine Corps and Army Reserves. He remarked on the vital significance of minutemen in the Revolutionary War, and presented a posthumous military award to Joshua Emery.

Bolingbrook V.F.A. post 5917 and American Legion Post 1288 conducted the ceremonial procession and posting of colors, and Bolingbrook Girl Scouts and Boy Scout Troop 75 led the pledge of allegiance on the chilly fall morning.

Participants from the V.F.A. and the American Legion also fired a  three-volley rifle salute in honor of the soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War.

Brian Parro, 14, of Boy Scout Troop 75, performed the playing of Taps immediately following the salute, as the American flag whipped nearby in a sunny gale.

DuPage Township Supervisor William Mayer, who emceed the ceremony, said, "This is a wonderful event for DuPage Township, to remember someone who goes back to the 1800s. We wouldn't be here today but for that."

DuPage Township Trustee Faisal Rashid said that he thought it was good to bring up the history, and interesting to see the descendents of the Royce family in the audience.

"Let's remember all of the veterans; from the American Revolution to now, every day, for the sacrifice they made. It should always be in the back of our minds, not only on Memorial Day," Rashid said.