Chris Cannon posted on July 08, 2010 10:17
History buffs from across the Southeast will turn the clock back almost 180 years during rare ceremonies in the Rush Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery on July 17.
A tombstone marking the grave of Creek Indian War veteran Richard Boswell will be dedicated at 11:30 a.m. along with a companion tombstone for his wife, Rhoda Boswell.
The couple moved to Floyd County in the 1840s and both died in 1850. Their graves were unmarked until a descendant applied to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Family research indicated that Richard Boswell served as a private with the Georgia Mounted Volunteers in the Creek Indian War of 1836-37.
The unit distinguished itself on March 25, 1837, in the Battle of Pea River Swamp near Hobdy Bridge, spanning the Tallapoosa River between Pike and Barbour counties in Alabama. It was the last major battle during the portion of the conflict in Georgia and Alabama.
A large party of Creeks had fled into the swamp after their removal camps had been overrun by militia units. The skirmish lasted about four hours and involved hand-to-hand combat with the militia forces losing close to a dozen casualties. About 50 Creeks were killed.
Boswell and his wife later moved to an area approximately six miles north of Rome. Their cabin was relocated to the area near the Rome Civic Center on Jackson Hill in Rome in 1973.
The Rev. Larry Russell at Rush Chapel United Methodist Church said he has been working with Ann Boswell of Rome, a member of the Xavier Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, to locate the gravesites.
The Daughters of the Creek Indian War will officiate at the ceremony July 17. Ann Boswell, who is not related to the Boswells buried at Rush Chapel, has learned that she had a great-great-grandfather, William Talley, who also participated in the Creek Indian War.
For more information call the Rome Visitor Center at 706-295-5576.