Read time: 5 min.

For much of its history, Daleville, Indiana, has been the definition of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town. That changed when a nearby interstate exit brought in waves of new commercial growth. Today, little survives of what was once “Historic Daleville,” but one exception is a small, fenced-off plot tucked between a pair of backyards- a hidden reminder of the community’s roots. There lies Alexander Campbell Dale, a Revolutionary War Patriot and the man whose name the town still carries.

To mark the United States’ 250th birthday, the Daughters of the American Revolution has joined forces with America250, the nationwide commemoration of our country’s semiquincentennial, to pay tribute to Revolutionary War Patriots. As part of the celebration, I’ll be sharing the stories of those laid to rest in Delaware County, with help from Kathi Hirons Kesterson -the regent of the Paul Revere Chapter of Muncie’s DAR– over the next several Fridays.

Delaware County, Indiana, may be far removed from the battlefields of the Revolutionary War, but its ties to that struggle live on through the veterans who journeyed west to spend their final years here in pioneer country. Campbell Dale was one of them. Born in 1756 in Worcester, Maryland, Dale took up arms in the Maryland Militia and served under several commanders during the war. His earliest service may have been under his father, Josiah¹. 

Over time, Dale also fought under Captain John Barnard, Captain John Postly, Lieutenant Colonel William Permel, and Brigadier General DeShield². Dale’s years in uniform unfolded during the same period British General Charles Cornwallis made his fateful entry into Chesapeake Bay in a turning point that would set the stage for America’s independence.

After independence was achieved, Dale was denied his pension because he served less than six months in the war. It was finally granted on December 29, 1837⁴, long after Dale made the nine-hundred-mile journey from Worcester to Delaware County. Dale recounted his service in his pension application:

“…from the begining to the ending of the Revolutionary war always as a volunteer Militia man of the state of Maryland and during the whole of the Revolutionary war I was a resident of Worcester County Md. and as the the Militia of that state was then classed I was during the war subject by engagement at all times both when in the Garrison or at home to Military command and always in preparation and readiness to obey the same⁵…” 

Campbell Dale entered Salem Township in 1820. It’s said that he walked from his new homestead to Indianapolis – a trip of about fifty miles- to stake his claim⁶. Dale entered other portions of Salem Township, too, before he died in 1840 at eighty-three or eighty-four. By then, his sons Elisha, John, and William had already laid out the town of Daleville on their father’s land.

In his will, Campbell passed some property, along with a corner lot in the young settlement of “Dalesville,” to his grandson, George Lethers⁷. The remainder of his estate was divided among his sons⁸. It ensured that Dale’s presence and influence continued to shape the story of Salem Township. 

Early residents of Daleville expected the town to boom since it stood on the proposed site of a canal that connected the hamlet to Indianapolis⁹. The waterway never came, though, and the community stood still until the arrival of the railroad in 1852¹⁰.

More than a century and a half later, Daleville is home to 1,600 people and hasn’t forgotten its namesake: just west of its popular splash pad on a paved trail, the fenced plot where Alexander Campbell Dale rests is a reminder that even some of the smallest towns in Indiana can trace their roots back to the very beginning of the American story. 

Remembering Patriots like Campbell Dale is one way of honoring the price they paid to give us the freedoms we enjoy today. In collaboration with America250, the Daughters of the American Revolution is doing just that! This celebration invites us to pause and consider how some ordinary pioneers -Revolutionary Patriots- helped stitch together the fabric of our nation one homestead, one township, and one community at a time. 

Sources Cited
1 Barnet, B. (1976, July 3). Pvt. Polen Watched Redcoats Quit on Grandest Day in World History. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 35. 
2 Beeson, C. (1964). Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried in Delaware County. Daughters of the American Revolution. Paul Revere Chapter [Boston]. Book. 
3 (See footnote 1). 
4 Beeson, C. (1964). Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried in Delaware County. Daughters of the American Revolution. Paul Revere Chapter [Boston]. Book. 
5 Campbell Dale, pension no. R.2,630, Rev. War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, RG 15, NARA; digital image, Fold3, transcription by Kathryn Hirons Kesterson, August 23, 2025. 
6 (See footnote 1). 
7 Campbell Dales Will (1839, July 6). Will Book k1, pp. 34-35. Muncie Public Library. Will Book. 
8 (See footnote 6). 
9 Helm, T. B. (1881). Salem Township. In History of Delaware County, Indiana: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. book, Kingman Brothers.
10 Flook, C. (2019). Lost Towns of Delaware County, Indiana. The History Press [Charleston]. book.