The Patriots

• The three Revolutionary War patriots who are memorialized by the monument are sisters known as the Brewster sisters. Agness, Jennet and Ellenor Brewster were born in Virginia in the mid-1700s. They still lived in Virginia during the Revolutionary War. After the war, they married and all three of them moved to Indiana with their families. They came to live on land that is now in Bloomington. When each of them died, they were buried in what was then their family plot on the family farm. Now it is known as the Dunn Cemetery, and is surrounded by the Indiana University campus.
  
  

Their Acts of Patriotism

• General George Washington's army spent six weeks in an encampment near the home of the Brewster sisters in Virginia. According to an account published in 1915 in the annual Report of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the three sisters worked around the clock to help the army. They melted their silverware and kitchen utensils for bullets and molded all the bullets they had material for. They spent the rest of their time spinning, weaving and sewing clothing for the soldiers, as well as cooking for them.
  
  

The Monument

• The monument is located in the stacked rock wall that encloses Dunn Cemetery where all three sisters are buried with their families and other descendants. The memorial is a tall hexagonal cylinder of limestone with a brass plaque attached to the top half. The plaque has the words "Revolutionary War Patriots" at the top, then lists the sisters' names, their dates of birth and their dates of death. The plaque also states "Marker placed by Bloomington Chapter NSDAR April 1, 2000." The bottom half of the monument is carved with the married names of each of the sisters and their birth and death dates.There is no mention of their acts of patriotism.
  
  

More information

• The Brewster sisters' married names were Jennet Irvin, Ellenor Dunn and Agness Alexander. Volume 17 of the Report of the National Society of the Daughter of the American Revolution, which covers October 1913 to October 1914, stated that the Bloomington chapter wanted to find a way to honor the women and would spend the next year reclaiming the cemetery. The report stated that when the land on which Indiana University was built was bought by the state, a descendant of one of the sisters, Moses Dunn, refused to sell the family cemetery plot. The university campus built up around it and it remained uncared for until the DAR took over its maintenance. The monument was not erected and dedicated until April 1, 2000.