Revolutionary War figures honored at Elk Grove Cemetery

Since it formed in 1889, the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution has been on a mission to locate, record, and identify with a special bronze marker the grave sites of brave men and women who battled for independence during the Revolutionary War.

That mission brought members of the society to Elk Grove Cemetery on Sunday, where they dedicated markers to two Revolutionary war figures, Aaron Miner and Eli Skinner, who are buried there.

"This all started when my wife and I went up to Wisconsin a couple years ago to see a program put on by the Wisconsin SAR," said Franz Herder, chairman of the Illinois Society Sons of the American Revolution Cemetery Marker Program. "We went away realizing that this is something important to take to the state of Illinois."

It's a big undertaking for Herder who's hoping to place markers at the gravesite of every Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the state.

About 45 people, including active duty military, ILSSAR members, American Legion Post 708 members and the public, attended the hourlong program.

The markers are the first dedicated by the group in Illinois. The cemetery is located on the east side of Arlington Heights Road at Cemetery Lane, just south of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway in Elk Grove Village.