"He passed away back in 1821 and it's been almost 100 years since anyone’s known where he was buried,” said Brian Atwood.
Brian Atwood is the fifth-generation grandchild of Private Jonathan Waitt. Waitt was born in 1763 and enlisted in 1781, fighting in the last three years of the Revolutionary War; facts that Atwood discovered during three years of research into his own genealogy.
For decades, Waitts' was only the unmarked grave that remained in Porter's Burial Ground on High Street, one of the oldest cemeteries in Danvers.
"He wasn't a Minuteman, he wasn't someone who fought early on in the war, but he was a follow-up man who spent a lot of time in service,” said Richard Trask, Danvers archivist.
Trask worked with Atwood to pinpoint Waitt's final resting place. On Saturday, it was rededicated with full military honors, a ceremony planned by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
"Each time, there's certainly a sense of reverence,” said Libby Potter, with Daughters of the American Revolution.
"So, it's nice to see that flag floating around his grave right now because no one's put one there for almost 80 years now,” Atwood said.
Relatives traveled from several states to attend the ceremony. The U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs donated the new headstone.
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