The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1939-07-06
Revolutionary War
Hero
Continued from Page ~

three miles south of town not far
from Gratz crossing. Enclosed by
a rude board fence, it lies in the Sc
clusion of an old family burial plot.
Two smaller unmarked graves in
the enclosure are believed to be
those of other members of the
Hubbell family.
The simple inscription on the
headstone reads: "HeZekiah B.
Hubbell, died Oct. u, 1855, aged
100 years and one month. Served
in the Revolution under Washington
for seven years."
The Hubbell burial plot is located
but a short distance from the Dixie
highway. Today hundreds of cars
flash hourly over the road that as
an Indian trail he painstakingly
travelled in an OK cart when he first
came to this area.
Efforts made in recent years to
confirm Hubbell's record of service
in the war of independence have been
fruitless. Official records at the
state house in Columbus do not bear
the name of HubbelI among the
Ohioans listed as members of the
Revolutionary forces.
Probably Irregular Soldier
While it is possible the musty
files of the war department at
Washington may list Hubbell's name,
it is now believed that he probably
was one of the irregular soldiers,
hardy backwoodsmen who came and
went largely as they pleased, caring
little for military discipline and less
for honor and glory, but whose long
rifles with uneering aim more than
once turned the tide of victory for
Washington's ragged continentals.
Chatting under the limitations of
army regulations, the backwoods-
mans name possibly never appeared
on the muster roll of Washington's
| troops, yet the service that he rem
dered must have borne its own salts
| faction in the life of this man who
as a youth cast his lot with the
barefoot continental army which the
British disparagingly referred to as
''rabble in arms.
Following the close of the Revolu-
ton, life in the East likely became
tedious for the hardy backwoods
spirit and Hubbell set out across the
mountains seeking adventure in a
land of wild beasts and still wilder
men.
1t was soon after Joseph Deford,
pioneer settler of Bluffton, had
erected his cabin and cleared a plot
of farmland along the Big Riley that
the Hubbell family made its appear
ance in this area. Deford settled
here in 1882 and the Hubbells ar
rived about six years later.
The emigrants undoubtedly passed
by hundreds of desirable farm spots
on their journey westward but the
quiet woodland slopes and pleasant
surroundings in this part of the
country must have struck a respon-
sive chord in the heart of the rugged
old pioneer, and it was here that
the command to halt was given.
Settle Near Bluffton
The family settled on what is
known as the old Benedict Andrews
farm about three miles southwest of
town on the Schifferly road, on Jan.
Is, 1889. The land was purchased
from John Swain and the deed
drawn up to Hezekiah Hubbell.
| For many years the several log
cabins erected on the farm resembled
a small village. Other pioneers call
ed the cluster of dwellings ''Hubbell-
town" and that name clung to the
section for many years following
Hubbell's death.
| Ailuo Well over oV years o1 age
when he settled in his new home
here, Hubbell was unfagging in his
battle to wrest the HOMESTEAD from
the wilderness. He was active in
work about the farm until within a
few years of his death, and so de-
voted was he to the environs that he