Capt. Sam Greeley’s Untimely Death

While we were out for on our drive we came across this small gated obelisk that we first thought was a small grave yard.

This was out on an unmaintained road and seemed a bit out of place. We turned around to check it out. There was a small spot next to the marker that could hold about two cars although I don’t think this road sees much traffic.

I got out and took a few photos of the plot and the marker. The obelisk said this is the spot where Capt. Sam Greele was killed by a falling tree. While this is where he was killed it is not where he is buried.

It turns out that Sam Greele was a Revolutionary War hero and a member of the Nottinghamshire Minute Men who fought in the Battle of Lexington MA. Perhaps this explains why there is an obelisk marking the spot where he died.

The inscription on the marker is starting to fade a bit but it is still readable. It reads:

KILLED

On this spot

By the fall of a tree

25 September 1798

Capt. Sam Greele(y)

Aged 46 years old

“A monument of filial piety to paternal affection”