The memorial was unveiled on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2015. The memorial consists of a large rock with a brass plaque attached to it. The plaque reads:
In Honor of
American Revolutionary War Patriots
Who Settled in Nassau County, Florida
Burroughs Higginbotham, Soldier
Amos Latham, Soldier
John Tolson Lowe, Lieutenant
James Pelot, Patriot,
John Daniel Vaughan, Private
For freedom, we pledge
"our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor"
Marker Placed by
The Amelia Island Chapter, NSDAR
2015
The following information about the memorial was published in The Florida Times-Union three days before the monument's unveiling:
"They were Nassau County soldiers or patriots, battling for freedom during the Revolutionary War in what would become the United States.
Now their names and deeds during those battles from 1776 to 1783 will be remembered with a new monument erected by the Amelia Island chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The veterans are soldiers Burroughs Higginbotham and Amos Latham, Lt. John Tolson Lowe, patriot James Pelot and Pvt. John Daniel Vaughn. Their names are on a monument to be dedicated at noon Veterans Day in Fernandina Beach’s Veterans Memorial in Central Park.
Daughters of the American Revolution chapter member Cara Curtin said the monument was born after members talked on another holiday that remembers veterans.
“This entire project came about as the result of a casual remark several years ago after the Memorial Day service at the foot of Centre Street,” Curtin said. “… Someone wished that our Revolutionary War veterans were mentioned now and then. After all, they started it all. Without them we’d still be British subjects.”
Chapter regent at the time, Marie Santry joined historian JoAnn Welker to begin researching the Nassau County men who fought during the American Revolution. Current regent Cindy Glenn and historian Claudia Naugle will join Santry at Wednesday’s ceremony at the Veterans Memorial.
Those being honored are:
- Higginbotham, who served in Georgia in the Lower Richmond Battalion, then came to Florida in 1791, settling on 700 acres on the south side of the St. Marys River. He is buried in Evergreen, east of Hilliard.
- Latham, who enlisted as a corporal in 1777 in the 1st Connecticut Regiment and wintered in Valley Forge with George Washington’s troops. He also served in the Continental Navy and is buried in Fernandina Beach’s Bosque Bello Cemetery.
- Lowe, who enlisted in 1778 as a sergeant in the 2nd Maryland Regiment. He moved to Nassau County in 1804 and died at his Fernandina Beach plantation 20 years later.
- Pelot, who served in the Revolutionary War civil government of South Carolina and helped feed Colonial troops. After the war, he got 640 acres near today’s Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport. He died in 1824 and was buried on his plantation.
- Vaughan, who enlisted as a private in 1777 at age 14 with the 8th Regiment of the Massachusetts Line, fighting in one of Washington’s units. He is buried in Vaughan-Scott Cemetery on Amelia Island.
The dedication will include members of the Amelia Island and Florida chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution, with music from the Nassau Community Band."