July 4 celebration to pay tribute to local Revolutionary War patriots

Four Yalies who played a role in the War of Independence will be honored at a ceremony on Wednesday, July 4 at New Haven’s Grove Street Cemetery.

The annual celebration, organized by the General David Humphreys Branch of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, will honor all 56 signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and local veterans of the Revolutionary War. It will take place at 9 a.m. All are welcome to attend.

Now in its 67th year, the annual ceremony begins at the grave of Roger Sherman, former treasurer of Yale College and the only person to sign all four major documents that established the United States and its government: the 1774 Articles of Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation of 1777, and the Constitution. After the war, Sherman was elected the first mayor of the newly incorporated City of New Haven, a position he held until his death. A local historian will tell a brief story about Sherman’s life and legacy during the ceremony.

This year’s event includes a grave-marking commemoration of two veterans of the Revolutionary War who are buried near Sherman. James Hillhouse and Simeon Baldwin, both graduates of Yale College, fought in the Battle of New Haven in 1779. At the time, Hillhouse was a captain in the Governor’s Foot Guard and Baldwin was a student who took a break from his studies and volunteered to protect his city. Both went on to represent Connecticut in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Finally, the July 4 event will celebrate David Humphreys, another patriot and graduate of Yale College. In 1776, Humphreys enlisted as a volunteer in the Continental Army, where he was later promoted to captain and major. In 1780, he served beside George Washington as his aide-de-camp. Besides becoming an accomplished poet and author, Humphreys held the distinction of being selected as the first person appointed under the Constitution as an ambassador to a foreign country.

The ceremony, which will last for about an hour, will feature the participation of the Second Company Governor’s Foot Guard and its Field Music Unit — the same company in which Hillhouse had served. Other participants include the Mary Clap Wooster Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Children of the American Revolution, local Boy Scouts, and the 6th Connecticut Regiment, Company of Light Infantry.

The Grove Street Cemetery, located at 227 Grove St., is open to the public every day of the year. For more information about the cemetery, visit its website.