Rufus Carver (1755-1840) was born December 13, 1755, in Montague, Massachusetts. While a resident of Northfield, Massachusetts, 19-year old Carver belonged to Captain Ebenezer Jones' company of minutemen and marched with that unit to Cambridge, Massachusetts, following the battle of Lexington in 1775. While stationed in Cambridge he re-enlisted as a private in Captain Eliakim Smith's Company of Colonel (later General) Artemus Ward's Massachusetts Regiment. Rufus was at the battle of Bunker Hill and retreated with General Israel Putnam to Prospect Hill. Here Carver assisted in constructing the redoubt. Completing his 8-month enlistment, he was discharged on January 1, 1776. Carver later responded to the "Bennington alarm" and served in Captain Wright's Company, which marched to Bennington, but arrived after the battle. Carver enlisted again in 1777, and served three months in Colonel Bigelow's Massachusetts Regiment. Carver was discharged at Danbury, Connecticut at the end of November 1777. Rufus Carver received a pension for his service.

Rufus Carver later moved to New York, and sometime after 1838, accompanied by his wife, Pricilla Cummings, and family moved to East Troy, Wisconsin, where he died, on March 20, 1840, at the age of 85.

Rufus Carver is buried in 17E, Section 8 of the City of Racine's Mound Cemetery. The Mound Cemetery is located at 1147 West Blvd., at Washington, Racine. His grave, near the bridge entrance, has an upright stone and a bronze government marker. Buried nearby is patriot Lot Search. Elsewhere in this cemetery rest Eliasha Raymond, and an "In Memory Of" marker to Ebenezer Whiting. There is also a State of Wisconsin Historical Marker near the cemetery entrance dedicated to these four patriots.

GPS coordinates -- N42.71993°; W087.81461°

(Portions reprinted from Solders of the American Revolution Buried in Wisconsin by Robert G. Carroon, who was Curator of Research Collections for the Milwaukee Country Historical Society in 1975.)