It seems like almost yesterday that three veterans of the American Revolution were honored with appropriate markers at Old Bethel Cemetery south of Jackson, Missouri.
The three patriots participated in the Revolutionary War and between 1797 and 1806 moved to the Jackson area, acquired land, and joined what is now called “Old Bethel Baptist Church.”
“Old Bethel” has been restored, the cemetery refurbished, and the site made accessible for interpreting the early history of Southeast Missouri.
Ithamar Hubbel was born in Connecticut in 1762 and at the age of 17 joined the New York militia but he contracted small pox and was incapacitated until 1780 when he re-enlisted and fought with General Phillip Schuyler’s private guards.
In 1797 Hubbel came to Cape Girardeau County and built a water mill on a stream that was soon known as Hubbel creek and around which the community of Gordonville grew.
Enos Randol came to the Cape County area in 1797 received a land grant and built a grist mill. Randol’s mill was one of the first in the region and the waterway on which it was located became Randol Creek in Randol Township.
In 1806 Robert Wicker and his family moved to Cape Girardeau County by wagon train from South Carolina. Wicker had participated in the fiercely contested 1781 battle of Eutaw Springs.
All three patriots came to the Jackson area, contributed to the growth and development of the region, and joined Old Bethel Baptist Church. But over the years their grave sites were lost.
As of August 31, 2008 thanks to the Daughters of the American Revolution all three of these American patriots now have prominent monuments, in a well maintained cemetery where their significant contributions can be clearly remembered. It seems like almost yesterday.
