10/26/2026
Revolutionary War Gravestone Restoration 🇺🇸
Late last month, the Pembroke Historical Society and friends gathered for a day of Revolutionary War gravestone restoration and cleaning.
We had previously shared the story of the Fish family, six of whose members marched to Rhode Island in December 1776. A few of us were honored to restore three of their gravestones, and along the way, we discovered a fourth grave that wasn’t listed on Find a Grave.
Two of our volunteers, Dianne Sterling and Beth Hoyt, are descendants of the Fish soldiers. Dianne was joined by her grandson, Finn. We were also fortunate to have our dear past president, loyal supporter, and gravestone restoration mentor, June Gillette, join us for the restoration work.
Isaac Fish (July 23, 1753 – September 11, 1838)
Dianne Sterling and her grandson, Finn, volunteered to restore Isaac’s gravestone. Dianne is Isaac’s fifth-great-granddaughter, and Finn is his seventh-great-grandson. They also restored the gravestone of Deborah Fish (August 10, 1776 – March 25, 1851), a descendant of Isaac’s wife.
Elnathan Fish (December 22, 1740 – November 5, 1777)
Beth Hoyt volunteered to restore Elnathan’s gravestone. She is a descendant of the Elnathan branch of the Fish family.
Joseph Fish (1741 – February 21, 1778)
Our restoration leader and mentor, June Gillette, helped restore Joseph’s gravestone.
It was a beautiful, sunny day, and, as you might expect with members of the same family, several of the graves were located side by side.
One of the gravestones we restored was a tiny one bearing a Revolutionary War marker. The stone had no name, only an inscription identifying the child as the son of John Fish and Olive Cushing. At just 12 years old, he would not have served as a soldier himself.
Through further research, we identified him as Stephen Cushing Fish (May 26, 1767 – May 28, 1779).
This little grave led us to another interesting piece of local history! Stephen’s grandfather, Ignacius Cushing, was the first town clerk of Halifax in the late 1730s. Before that, this part of Halifax had been part of Pembroke.
While investigating the misplaced Revolutionary War flag at Stephen’s grave, Dianne Sterling made another important discovery: the grave of Thaddeus Fish (May 22, 1743 – May 12, 1794), another member of the Fish family who marched to Rhode Island in December 1776.
Thaddeus was the brother of Isaac Fish, Dianne Sterling’s fifth-great-grandfather, whose gravestone was restored that day.
Our work is never done! We’ll need to return to restore Thaddeus’s gravestone, along with many others that still need attention.
We’re grateful to all our dedicated volunteers for helping preserve these gravestones and the stories of the people who came before us. We’d also like to recognize Finn, our youngest helper, who thoughtfully placed a white carnation at each gravestone that was cleaned.
Each restoration offers an opportunity to uncover another piece of Pembroke’s rich history.
