Debra Hardeman, Regent of the Chapter, led a patriotic NSDAR re-dedication ceremony on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, honoring Revolutionary War Hero, Isaac Van Wart 1760-1828. Van Wart is the Chapter namesake, namesake of Van Wert County and the namesake of the City of Van Wert Ohio. Following her introduction and leading the members and guests in the Pledge of Allegiance in the outdoor ceremony at the sign-site on US Route 127 just south of Van Wert, Ohio, Regent Hardeman welcomed member and new Vice Regent Sheila Baltzell-Linn, thanking her for taking on the sign project for the chapter, researching, gaining approval, designing and ordering the sign and seeing it through to today’s re-dedication.

Baltzell-Linn gave a brief history of Isaac Van Wart and the events of September 23, 1780, when three young militiamen (including Williams and Paulding) on patrol detained and searched Major John Andre. They found incriminating paperwork in his boot which implicated Commander Benedict Arnold’s plot to turn over his Post at Fort West Point to the British for personal gain. As the accounts go, Andre tried to bride the young men 3 times with gold and treasures, but they would not accept. In Van Wart’s words, which echo in history even today, “We are Americans, and above all considerations of personal gain, we prize our independence.” Van Wart, Paulding and Williams turned Andre over to the local militia commanders where he was tried and hanged as a spy. Arnold got away to Great Britain.

Mayor Markward then stepped to the podium and shared this historical fact: Ohio’s distinct, navy-blue/black, state-outline-shaped signs posted at municipal boundaries are known as Corporate Limit Markers. Initiated in 1953 by the Ohio Department of Highways alongside the Ohio Sesquicentennial Commission, these roadside fixtures were designed to welcome drivers with a concise, 13-word-or-less historical fact about the village or city they were entering. He remarked that this sign could describe three counties in Northwest Ohio as there were 3 Captors of Major John Andre, British Spy. Williams County is named for David Williams and Paulding County is named for John Paulding. These two 20+ year olds, along with Van Wart were honored with their names on three counties in the new state of Ohio in 1820. He said, “The signs are historically correct, but our hero, Isaac Van Wart is not named on it, and we are very happy that the Isaac Van Wart Chapter of the NSDAR is changing that today during year of the 250th Birthday of our Country’s Independence.”

Van Wert County Commissioner Thad Lichtensteiger and Mayor Ken Markward then had the honor of unveiling the new sign to the pleasure of everyone attending. The recently acquired 3-D printed bust of Van Wart was on display.

A second Corporation Limit Sign, housed at the Van Wert County Museum will be re-dedicated on October 11. The public is invited. All photos were submitted by chapter members.