Read time: 5 min.

Not every Revolutionary War Patriot shouldered a musket. In fact, many never did! Thousands of supporters of the cause never enlisted, never appeared on a muster roll, and left behind no record of military service at all. Today, their names surface only in county claims, supply accounts, or long-forgotten paperwork. Joshua Howell was one of those Patriots. He served the Revolution not on the battlefield, but in quieter ways that kept the war effort alive.

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.

Joshua Howell was born in Botetourt County, Virginia, in 1745¹. By 1780, the Revolutionary War had ground on for five exhausting years. Currency had collapsed, food was scarce, and county governments were scrambling to keep forces fed. Still, at thirty-five, Howell was firmly established: he owned cattle, maintained a household, and lived squarely within a critical supply corridor. In a war increasingly won or lost by logistics, Howell’s standing made him far more valuable at home than he ever would have been in the ranks.

Although Virginia’s militia statutes generally required service from free men between roughly sixteen and fifty, participation was neither universal nor continuous. Enrollment was mandatory on paper, but in practice, local courts and militia officers exercised broad discretion and exempted men from active duty because of a variety of circumstances². That’s the situation Joshua Howell found himself in. 

In 1781, the Botetourt County Court approved a payment to Joshua Howell for beef he supplied to Continental Army troops of the Pennsylvania Line, valuing the provision as cash in the amount of three pounds, two shillings, and six pence³. The goods he provided were almost certain fresh beef, salted beef, or “beef on the hoof,” live cattle butchered for troops. 

Howell’s claim makes it clear that his support went to the Continental Line, not the local militia. It places Pennsylvania Line troops in or near Botetourt County, reveals the civilian supply networks that kept the war effort moving, and confirms Howell’s role as a wartime public supplier. Taken together, those details firmly establish Joshua Howell as a Revolutionary War Patriot, one whose service happened off the battlefield, but mattered all the same.

After the war, Joshua Howell, his wife Mary, and eight of their children left Christiansburg, Virginia, and headed west to Champaign County, Ohio. There, Howell went on to found the village of Christiansburg⁴. Eventually, at least part of the family relocated again and settled in Darke County⁵. By about 1834, Howell’s son John moved on to Delaware County⁶. Joshua and Mary followed.

John, Joshua, and Mary eventually put down roots in rural Mount Pleasant Township, where John acquired land spanning the White River⁷. Soon after the Howells arrived in Delaware County, Mary died in 1835. Joshua followed on July 2, 1836, at the age of ninety or ninety-one. Today, both rest in Collins Cemetery, not far from the place where they spent their final days⁸. There, Howell’s marker memorializes a life that bridged the Revolutionary era and the Indiana frontier.

Joshua Howell’s story is a reminder that the American Revolution was won by far more than the men whose names appear on muster rolls. It depended just as heavily on farmers, suppliers, and civilians who kept the army fed when the system was strained to its breaking point. Howell’s service never carried a rank or a uniform, but it carried weight! In recognizing him as a Patriot, we broaden our understanding of what service looked like and honor work done far from the sound of gunfire.

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 An act for regulating and disciplining the Militia (1777, May 5). Virginia General Assembly [Williamsburg]. Encyclopedia Virginia. Web. Retrieved December 24, 2025. 
3 Joshua Howell, Revolutionary War Public Service Claims, Commissioners Book 1, State of Virginia; “Virginia, United States Records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 20 December 2025), image 93 of 195, Image Group No. 007862505; transcription by Kathryn Kesterson.
4 Broschart, B. C. (2017, July 15). Christiansburg council approves citizen group’s sister city idea. The Salem Times-Register. Web. Retrieved December 24, 2025.
5 Certificate 21601 (1835, October 15). General Land Office of the United States [Indianapolis].
6 (See footnote 5). 
7 Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566) (1820, April 24). Howell, Joshua. Web. Retrieved December 24, 2025. 
8 (See footnote 7).