Buried in Lot 81 in Oak Hill Cemetery is a “True Daughter” a title given by the Daughters of the American Revolution to someone whose father fought in the American Revolutionary War.

At 11:00 on September 14, 2024 this plaque will be dedicated on the grave of Elizabeth Hartwell Rich by the Downers Grove Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. All are welcomed to attend.

Elizabeth Hartwell was born in Lincoln, Massachusetts on March 15, 1777, one of nine children born to Samuel and Mary Flint Hartwell. Elizabeth married Thomas Weeks Rich in 1806 in Lincoln, Massachusetts and they had a family of 6 children before Thomas died in 1826. After Thomas died Elizabeth went to live with her daughter Louisa Rich Peet. When Elizabeth died in 1866 she was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in the Peet plot along with other members of the Peet family.

Both of Elizabeth’s parents played a part in the American Revolution according to local historians. On April 19, 1775 Samuel Hartwell (1742-1829) a clockmaker by trade was a Sergeant in the Lincoln, Mass. Minute Man company of Captain Smith under Col. Adijah Pierce. He served from 1776-1778 as quartermaster and participated in the Battle of White Plains. The Rich home was on the Bay Road and when British troops came to their home in 1775 Mary Flint Hartwell (1747-1846) Elizabeth’s mother ran down the road to alert the neighbors that the British were coming. The Hartwell Tavern in Lincoln is today an historic American Revolutionary site operated by the National Park Service as part of the Minute Man National Historical Park. Opened to the public it is staffed with park rangers in historic colonial attire. Mary Flint Hartwell died in 1846. When Samuel Hartwell died in 1829 he was buried in the old Lincoln Burial Ground in Lincoln, Massachusetts. His name appears on a plaque there.

Downers Grove is pleased to have Elizabeth Hartwell Rich now identified as a True Daughter and honored with this plaque.