Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Monday 30 april 2018
Where’s Capt. Molly? Search on for Revolutionary hero grave

By MICHAEL HILL remains belonged to a
Associated Press male, probably one who
Where is the body of Cap- lived in the 19th century.
tain Molly? Corbin’s missing remains
Revolutionary War hero are not stopping the DAR
Margaret “Captain Molly” from hosting a West Point
Corbin was long thought rededication ceremony at
to be buried beneath her the monument on Tuesday.
granite monument at the It will be a larger version of
U.S. Military Academy at the annual ceremonies Mi-
West Point, New York. The nus attended as a cadet.
Daughters of the American The Virginia resident said
Revolution moved her re- she hopes to research pos-
mains there in 1926 from an sible grave sites with DAR
unmarked grave nearby. director of public relations
But it’s now clear they re- Bren Landon when they’re
moved the wrong remains. in the area for the ceremo-
The mystery lingers as West ny.
Point plans Tuesday to Were DAR’s diggers 92
honor the largely forgotten years ago off by a few feet
woman who stepped in to or miles? The women have
fire a cannon after her hus- little to go on so far beyond
band was killed in battle. the information their fore-
And that bothers Corbin’s bears relied on nine de-
admirers in the DAR. Mem- cades ago. One old photo
bers of the history and ge- shows a sweeping land-
nealogy-minded group are scape with an arrow point-
leading an effort to find ing to the grave — an indis-
Corbin’s grave — for real This 1926 photo provided by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) shows a casket that tinct point in the distance.
this time — as they shine was exhumed by the DAR on the estate of banker J.P. Morgan in Highland Falls, N.Y., with two “The mystery, I stay up
new light on the hero. women who were DAR researchers, right, and two Army officers, left, to serve as pall bearers. nights thinking about it
Associated Press
“Nineteen-twenty-six was sometimes,” Landon said.
kind of unfinished business. with old uniform items to gone. etery in West Point and a Landon thinks a reburial at
new monument depicting
Relying in part on passed-
wear. The uniforms appar-
And so we want to make Corbin’s monument would
sure that we close that,” ently earned her the “Cap- down information from lo- Corbin beside her cannon. be appropriate, but they
tain Molly” nickname.
cals, the DAR pinpointed End of story. Until October
said Jennifer Minus, a DAR are nowhere near propos-
official who was a West Corbin died in 1800 at the Corbin’s grave a few miles 2016. ing that. Even if they find a
age of 48 and was buried south of West Point near a Excavators working near
Point cadet in the early likely site, it may no longer
‘90s when she first learned in a modest grave, likely cedar stump on the old riv- the monument acciden- be accessible since the old
near West Point. By the time erside estate of banker J.P. tally disturbed the grave,
about Corbin. estate is now home to a
In 1776, Corbin was 24 the DAR decided to honor Morgan. The disinterred re- starting a chain of events housing development and
that led to high-tech tests
Corbin with a reburial in mains were placed in a silk-
years old and following a sewer plant. And it would
her husband’s military unit, 1926, any marker on the lined casket and driven by on the exhumed remains. be hard to verify remains
126-year-old grave was hearse to the storied cem-
Tests showed the skeletal
likely cooking and clean- through DNA, since Corbin
ing for the soldiers. She took had no known children.
an artillery position after her Just as important to Land-
husband was killed during on is the crowdsourcing
the Battle of Fort Washing- project to find more infor-
ton in Manhattan and was mation about Corbin. DAR
hit by grapeshot. She was members and historical re-
left with a grievous shoulder searchers are being asked
wound. to tackle dozens of ques-
Corbin’s exploits may have tions. Can they confirm
been an inspiration for the Corbin’s birth in Pennsylva-
legend of Molly Pitcher, nia? What do they know
who gave water to the sol- about the Indian raid that
diers in battle. But Pitcher allegedly left her father
also could have been an- killed and her mother was
other woman or a compos- captured when she was 5?
ite of multiple women. Landon concedes the
Corbin traveled upriver to multi-front effort could take
West Point with the “corps years, but feels it’s worth it
of invalids” and spent the for a woman who fought
latter part of her life as a for her country and died in
boarder. Military officials obscurity.
fretted about finding living “Especially because she
arrangements for someone didn’t have children, she
described as infirm and didn’t have any family,”
troublesome. She became Landon said, “I think over
the first woman to earn a This May 2015 photo provided by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) shows the the years DAR has kind of
pension from the military, gravesite honoring Revolutionary War hero Margaret “Captain Molly” Corbin at the U.S. Military embraced her as we’re her
which also supplied her Academy in West Point, N.Y. family.”q
Associated Press