Black Revolutionary War soldier honored

ZEBULON - When Virginia genealogist Joseph Dooley visited Pike County last weekend, he brought along a print of the famous painting, "Washington Crossing the Delaware," by Emanuel Leutze.

The print was placed on an easel that stood near a podium situated beside two ancient graves located on a tract of hunting land on the outskirts of Zebulon.

The image of Washington standing in a crowded rowboat and staring ahead resolutely is an icon of American history. The actual painting hangs in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Dooley, who serves as Genealogist General of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, explained the purpose of the picture to the 200 or so people gathered before him.

"Look at the man sitting right in front of George Washington," Dooley said. "He's black."

The point Dooley was making was that the contributions of black Americans to the Revolutionary War often are overlooked.

It was this point that had brought so many people together on such a remote spot on such a cold Saturday morning.

One of the graves behind Dooley belonged to Austin Dabney, a former slave who served in the Georgia militia during the Revolutionary War. The other belonged to William Harris, a younger man befriended by Dabney. The two graves, marked by rough mounds of rocks, have been maintained by Harris' family and their descendants since the 1830s.

The dedication ceremony celebrated the unveiling of a new set of tombstones for the graves and the opening of the site to the public.

"To our knowledge, it's the first time tha

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