The Silas McDowell Chapter, serving the western mountain region of North Carolina, hosted its first Patriot grave dedication and marking ceremony today in Sylva, NC, for Revolutionary War Patriot Samuel Monteith. (In the photos below, the SAR grave marker is installed at the grave of Patriot Samuel Monteith. And in the photo at right, Silas McDowell Chapter genealogist John Ruble, at left, and chapter president Tom Long, at right, pose with a participant at the ceremony.)

Nearly 75 people attended the ceremony to honor Patriot Samuel Monteith (1756-1840), who served under General Griffith Rutherford in this area and who is buried in Sylva. In addition to the members of the Sons of the American Revolution, the color guard of American Legion Post 104 from Sylva participated in the ceremony. Samuel Monteith was a Scotsman and Jean Hayes of Franklin played the bagpipes to open and close the ceremony.