ROCKLAND — On Monday, March 14, Rockland City Council voted unanimously to support a project team involving Lady Knox Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR members from California and Nevada and a local Vietnam-era veteran in a comprehensive project to restore headstones at Tolman Cemetery on Lake Avenue. The Chapter is serving as an agent for necessary funds and was awarded a $5000 matching funds grant by the City of Rockland. When these funds are matched by the Chapter's fundraising, the Tolman Project will be halfway to a $20,000 overall goal.

The Tolman Cemetery Project is a multiphase project to preserve and restore the graves of Revolutionary War veterans interred at Tolman. The current project is an extension of work begun in the 1930s. In 1947, the Maine State Organization of the DAR, supported by the Chapter, the WPA, the American Legion of Maine, and Judge E.K. Gould, honored 21 Revolutionary War Soldiers buried at Tolman with a bronze plaque at the cemetery entrance.

Lady Knox Chapter DAR is launching a major fundraising campaign to correspond with Rockland City Council's matching funds grant. The Chapter encourages descendants of Isaiah Tolman, descendants of those interred at Tolman Cemetery, area historic and veterans organizations, and all citizens of Rockland and Knox County to donate to this worthy project.

Inquiries can be directed to one of the following: Suzanne Shaub of Union, Chapter Regent; Mary Kay Felton of Camden, Incoming Regent, and Tolman Project Leader; or Joanne Richards of Thomaston, incoming Vice-Regent, and Tolman Project Member by using the email address LadyKnoxDAR@gmail.com or by calling 207-358-0042. Tax deductible donations for the Chapter's Tolman Cemetery Project can be made to Lady Knox Chapter DAR and sent to Lady Knox Treasurer, 1044 Finntown Rd, Warren, ME 04844. Please note Tolman Project on your check.

Current research shows three additional Patriots whose service was either not known or not proven at the time the original plaque was placed. The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution defines a Patriot as " ... a man or woman who, with unfailing loyalty to the cause of American Independence, served as a sailor, or as a soldier or civil officer in one of the Colonies or States, or in the United Colonies or States, or as a recognized patriot, or [one who] rendered material aid thereto ..." These new patriots will be recognized through a second plaque placed at the entrance to Tolman Cemetery. The project includes resetting the base for the original plaque to add stability, recording GPS coordinates for the 208 grave sites, placing flag holders on the graves of the 24 Revolutionary War Veterans, identifying a complete list of War of 1812 Veterans buried at Tolman, and placing flag holders with markers beside the headstones of those Veterans.

Many of the headstones are missing, broken or lying on the ground. Some are overgrown. Before any of the stones could be repaired or restored, Maine law required the consent of the entity owning the cemetery. In this case, the City of Rockland owns the Tolman Cemetery. Therefore their support was the essential first step in the restoration phase of the project. As restorations proceed, the Chapter will publish public notices to satisfy statutory requirements that descendants consent to repair of their deceased family members' headstones. The Chapter plans to apply for the designation of Tolman Cemetery to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places due to the statistically noteworthy number of the nation's earliest veterans as well as the cultural and historical significance of a number of the headstones.

The land, on which the historically significant Tolman Cemetery sits, was part of Thomaston when it was gifted to the town by a local blacksmith, Isaiah Tolman, on September 11, 1783. Tolman had vast land holdings in Knox County, including 500 acres surrounding what was then known as Tolman Pond, and now known as Lake Chickawaukee, in Rockland. Tolman deeded one acre of his land "In the consideration of the necessity propriety and conveniency of having a suitable and convenient Place to bury the dead ... for all ... persons who may have occasion and desire to make use of the same."

The first known burials were Revolutionary War Patriot, Jacob Keen, Sr. and an infant child of Captain William Spear, both buried in 1788. Isaiah Tolman is identified by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution as Patriot Number A11457 for his service as Treasurer, Moderator, Selectman, and Committee of Safety. Though he rendered patriotic service like many of those buried at Tolman Cemetery, his name is not included on the existing plaque or the new plaque Lady Knox DAR intends to install because he is not buried at Tolman Cemetery. Those interred include many of his neighbors, friends and, family, like Constant Rankin, one of the three patriots who will be recognized on the new plaque. Constant Rankin was married to Isaiah's second child, Mary. Three of Isaiah's sons, Jeremiah, Samuel and Curtis, all Revolutionary War Veterans, are also buried there. By the time of his death on Matinicus Isle at the age of 104, Isaiah Tolman had twenty-one children born by three wives over a 53+ year time period, many of whom have descendants living in this area.

Lady Knox Chapter extends its thanks and gratitude to the City of Rockland, Mayor Louise MacLellan-Ruf, Rockland City Council Members Will Clayton, Valli Geiger, and Jim Pritchett, and City Manager, Jim Chaousis for their welcome and support.