Glover Monument Unveiled Next Month

Revolutionary War General John Glover, one of Marblehead's most famous residents, will finally have a commemorative marker honoring his memory in town.

The bronze plaque, paid for with funding provided by The Society of the Cincinnati, will be unveiled at a ceremony at next month. The commemorative celebration is scheduled to take place while members of Glover's Marblehead Regiment will be encamped at the fort. The plaque will honor Glover and the 18th Revolutionary Marblehead Regiment.

At their meeting Wednesday night, the town's Board of Selectmen sat down with members of the Fort Sewall Oversight Committee to discuss plans for the evening ceremony, which will be held on Saturday, July 9 at 6 p.m.

According to a release handed out at the meeting, Glover led the Marblehead Regiment during the early years of the Revolutionary War, beginning in May 1775 after the death of the regiment's superior officer, Colonel Jeremiah Lee. Glover was promoted to Brigadier General in February 1777 in honor of his exceptional leadership skills. After returning to civilian life in 1782, he participated in rebuilding Marblehead's economy and served in local and state government until his death in 1797.

"It is surprising, with all of the recognition, awareness, admiration and respect General Glover gets from local residents, he still doesn’t have a plaque or monument in Marblehead,” said committee member Judy Anderson.

The plaque will feature a picture of Glover as well as information about his life and his many accomplishments. It will also honor the nearly 600 Marblehead men and boys who fought in Glover's regiment in 1775 and 1776, one of only a few regiments from a single town, as well as the many others who served on privateer vessels and in other capacities.

After echoing Anderson's enthusiasm for the ceremony, board member Judith Jacobi said she recently told a group of eighth graders that it was historic residents like Glover that contributed to making Marblehead such a special place.

"When the eighth graders came through here we emphasized the Glover’s portrait is right over there and that Glover's regiment was the one that rowed Washington across the Delaware," Jacobi said "And of course there is the Spirit of '76. So, of two of the most famous pictures in United States history, we own one and are the main characters in the other."

The Society of the Cinicnnati was founded in 1783 by officers of the Continental Army "to perpetuate the friendships forged in war and to preserve the memory of the American Revolution."