South Bend’s Buried Revolutionary War History

_{City Cemetery, undated | Louis Sabo Collection}

_{Photo by Paul on Find a Grave. | Nov. 11, 2022}

An Early Pioneer with Revolutionary Roots

The year 1783 marked the end of America’s war for Independence but the beginning of a new chapter for many who participated in it. Revolutionary War soldier Peter Roof, born January 6th in Hagerstown, Maryland, ended up settling in the St. Joseph County region on land he was given by the government as payment for his time in the war. He lived until 1831 (though some records say he lived until 1834), and was buried in the first cemetery built in South Bend.

_{Record of Peter Roof from the U.S., Revolutionary War Burial Index, 1775-1875 from Ancestry.com}

A Place of Peace After War

South Bend founders Alexis Coquillard and Lathrop Taylor drew up plans for the city, including the cemetery, in 1831, though the cemetery wasn’t officially opened until the following year in 1832. The grave of a second Revolutionary War soldier, Isaac Ross, born May 7th, 1760 in Westfield, New Jersey, can also be found here. Ross lived 12 years longer than Roof and was ultimately laid to rest in City Cemetery in 1843. Both Roof & Ross “lived to a ripe old age,” finding respite from their earlier years of battling by settling in the emerging town of South Bend to move forward with their lives after conflict.

_{1875 map of Portage Township, South Bend with the location of City Cemetery highlighted.}

_{Photo by Casey Martin on Find a Grave. | July 18, 2024}

“SOUTH BEND IN THE EARLY WARS.

Among those who silently rest in the beautiful grounds of the City Cemetery, are the heroes who participated in every great American war from the Revolution to the recent war with Spain.

Of the revolutionary heroes are Peter Roof, Sr., and Isaac Ross, both of whom lived to a ripe old age” (South Bend and the Men Who Made It, 1901, p. 47).