The American Revolution in Broome County

About the speaker: Mark Burdick was born in Carbondale, PA, but moved to Hawleyton in the Town of Binghamton when his Dad got a job at IBM.  Mark and his wife Sharon have lived in Endwell since 1992.

Family vacations to historic destinations on the east coast as a child in the 1970s piqued Mark’s interest in history, while his paternal grandfather Newton sparked his interest in genealogy with a little book he distributed to his family called “The Lineage of Dorance Billings Burdick,” written by Newton’s cousin.  As a result of all this, Mark is currently a member of the Mayflower Society and President of the Binghamton Chapter, Empire State Society, Sons of the American Revolution.

Over the last 6 years, the Binghamton Chapter SAR has become involved in obtaining grants for and installing roadside markers around Broome and surrounding counties.  The plaques are part of the William G. Pomeroy Foundation / Empire State Society, SAR “Patriot Burials” program, which honors Revolutionary War veterans who are buried in the cemeteries identified by these markers.  There are eight of our roadside plaques in Broome, nine in Chenango, four in Delaware and three in Otsego County, with more in progress, including eight researched by students in SUNY Oneonta’s Cooperstown Graduate Program.  You may have seen some of them in your travels around the Southern Tier.