Marker #1603, Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried in New Providence Presbyterian Church Cemetery

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New Providence Presbyterian Church, established ca. 1784 by the McAfee Company, is one of the oldest Presbyterian churches west of the Allegheny Mountains. It lies along U.S. Highway 127 / Louisville Road about halfway between Salvisa and Harrodsburg. While the current edifice dates to the 1860s, the congregation of New Providence had met near this location ever since the earliest years of Anglo-American settlement.

The veterans memorialized on the historical marker and their families were early members of New Providence. These eight men are buried in the New Providence Presbyterian Church Cemetery, which lies one mile due west along Providence Road. It was near here that the McAfee Company established its permanent settlement, McAfee Station, in 1779.

Marker #1603 was erected in 1977 to coincide with the bicentennial festivities sweeping the nation . It serves chiefly to honor the eight Revolutionary War veterans and also as a genealogical guidepost to descendants and others who are interested in visiting their graves. Unfortunately, historical records provide us with few details of their lives and their military service beyond basic outlines.

The brief biographical sketches that follow are based upon assorted secondary-source documentation that was provided to the Kentucky Historical Society’s Historical Marker Program Office around 1976. Historians and genealogical researchers working today are encouraged to consult archival collections and more recent secondary scholarship to confirm any details outlined below.

JAMES CARDWELL
October 9, 1761 – November 29, 1806.

ROBERT COLEMAN
1748 – January 9, 1834. Born in Spotsylvania County, Va. Married Catharine Robinson in February 1774. Private, Virginia, with unspecified military service in the same region, 1776 – 1781. He came to Kentucky from Virginia ca. 1800 before returning. He settled in Mercer County in 1804, bringing his wife, eight children, and an unnamed number of people he enslaved to his property about four miles east of Harrodsburg.

ISAAC COOVERT
December 1, 1755 – September 14, 1825. Married Anna Vanarsdell. Private, New Jersey, 1775 – 1776.

RICHARD HOLMAN
1762 – March 25, 1837. Born in London, England. Private, Virginia, 1780 – 1781. Fought at the Battle of Cowpens, S.C., and near Jamestown, Va..

GEORGE McAFEE
April 13, 1740 – April 14, 1803. Married Susan Curry. Private, Virginia. One of the McAfee Brothers who scouted the Salt River area in 1773 and then returned in 1779 to establish McAfee Station near Harrodsburg.

SAMUEL McAFEE
October 1748 – June 8, 1801. Married Hannah McCormick. Captain, Virginia. One of the McAfee Brothers who scouted the Salt River area in 1773 and then returned in 1779 to establish McAfee Station near Harrodsburg.

JOHN McGEE
January 1, 1730 – 1810. Married Mary CcCoun. Private, Virginia. One of the founders of McAfee Station. For more information on John McGee and his descendants, see John J. McGee, “The McGee Family,” Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society vol. 38, no. 125 (October 1940): 314-322.

THOMAS SMITHEY
1752 – 1833. Private, Virginia.

The marker reads:

REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS BURIED IN NEW PROVIDENCE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CEMETERY  1 MILE

James Cardwell George McAfee

Robert Coleman Samuel McAfee

Isaac Coovert John McGee

Richard Holman Thomas Smithey