The Iowa Revolutionary War Memorial is located on the grounds of the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. It immortalizes 41 patriots who fought in the American Revolutionary War and are buried in Iowa. Their names are etched into a granite obelisk encircled by 13 pillars dedicated to the nation’s 13 original colonies, each which bears a patriotic phrase from the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Photos of memorial by Michael Swanger
July/Aug 2026 (Volume 18, Issue 4)
By Michael Swanger
After fireworks fade into the Fourth of July night sky, a picturesque memorial made of earth and stone abides as an important, perhaps surprising, reminder of Iowa’s connections to the American Revolution. This year, as our nation celebrates its semiquincentennial anniversary, there may be no better time to visit.
Located on the grounds of the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, just south of the golden dome, stands the Iowa Revolutionary War Memorial that immortalizes 41 patriots who fought in the American Revolutionary War and are buried in Iowa. Their names are etched into a granite obelisk encircled by 13 pillars dedicated to the nation’s 13 original colonies, each which bears a patriotic phrase from the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Wild roses—Iowa’s state flower—adorn the memorial’s circular setting. Nearby, maple trees planted in 1993 from cuttings retrieved from George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate continue to mature. It is a sight to behold with its hilltop view of downtown Des Moines … a serene setting to contemplate George Mason’s quotation etched into the pillar representing North Carolina: “If free people do not examine their liberties and how they were obtained, they risk losing these rights.”
After more than a century, the Iowa Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (IASSAR)—founded in 1893—was able to heed Mason’s call in a grandiose way in 2002 when it realized its goal of creating a monument to honor Revolutionary War veterans buried in Iowa. That’s when the Iowa State Capitol Planning Commission approved the project on April 17th and by early November that year the memorial was completed. It was dedicated, appropriately, on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2002.
The Iowa Revolutionary War Memorial’s central obelisk includes the etching, “Dedicated to soldiers and patriots of the American Revolution who are buried in Iowa.” The Iowa Society of the Sons of the American Revolution helped to create the memorial that was erected in 2002.
The project might seemingly have been an improbable feat considering the organization’s membership peaked at 450 in 1930 with chapters in Sioux City, Des Moines, Keokuk, Ames, Waterloo, Fort Dodge, Council Bluffs and Nevada. According to the IASSAR’s website, by 1964 the only remaining active chapter was in Sioux City. Today, two active chapters remain; the Central Iowa Chapter in Des Moines and the Herbert Hoover Chapter in Eastern Iowa, where the majority of Revolutionary War veterans are buried.
Given its limited membership, the memorial is a testament to the perseverance of the IASSAR whose members also volunteer to decorate the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers and patriots; support educational and research endeavors; and participate in patriotic observances. Their devotion to the SAR’s mission to “perpetuate the memory of those who, by their services or sacrifices during the war of the American Revolution, achieved the independence of the American people” helped make the project a reality.
When the Iowa Revolutionary War Memorial was unveiled in 2002, it featured 39 names on its central monolith. In 2008, the 40th Revolutionary War veteran buried in Iowa was discovered and documented—Ebenezer Ayres, who is buried in Lee County.
Ayers was born in Fairfield County, Conn., on March 2, 1761, and enlisted in the 9th Connecticut Militia regiment on April 10, 1780, according to the IASSAR’s website. He served in the militia for less than a year until Jan. 1, 1781. Later he moved with a group of settlers to Ohio, before taking up residency by 1802 in St. Charles, Mo., where he was appointed justice of the peace one year later.
Three sides of the memorial’s central monolith include the names of 41 Revolutionary War veterans buried in Iowa.
Ayers and his wife moved to Fort Madison in May 1834. (Their daughter, Rebecca Ayres Parmer, would become the first female teacher in Iowa, holding class as early as 1834 in Lee County.) He died on Dec. 29, 1834, during a harsh winter. His death went unreported in the absence of a local church, government, or newspaper to keep such records. He is buried in Hickory Grove Cemetery in Fort Madison where a small stone that reads “E.A. 1761-1834” serves as his gravesite marker.
Last year, another Revolutionary War veteran buried in Lee County was identified—Matrom Elmore—which made him the 41st veteran to be added to the memorial. According to the Des Moines Register, about 50 veterans, patriot descendants, supporters and members of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), as well as other lineage organizations, joined the IASSAR in a ceremony at the memorial on Oct. 4, 2025, to honor Elmore, the fifth great-grandfather of Mike Rowley, color guard commander of the IASSAR.
“Maybe, it was the addition of the 41st name that brought you here, maybe you want to be part of an early celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States,” said Rowley, according to the Register. “Whatever the circumstances are, we hope you feel, as we do, that it’s important to have an accurate and working knowledge of history.”
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