Some of Peterborough’s earliest veterans will be memorialized Saturday with the unveiling of  two new plaques honoring Peterborough men who fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.

The plaques will be installed at Peterborough’s Memorial Gates alongside those commemorating veterans of other wars as part of the town’s Veterans Day ceremonies at the Town House. The earliest war currently commemorated is the Civil War. 

Nadia MacStay, who has lived in Peterborough for more than 40 years, said she started thinking about Peterborough’s role in the French and Indian War while reading histories of Peterborough. 

“This was a really tiny settlement in 1755, really just a few dozen families, and to think about the number of young men who went to that war, and the number who didn’t come back – 40% of the veterans of that war didn’t come back. When you think about the number of children they must have left behind, it must have had a very hard impact on Peterborough,” MacStay said. “I knew Dick was a veteran and very involved in veteran’s activities in Peterborough, so I approached him about what we could do. He did all the organizing, reached out to people about fundraising and figured out the plaque.” 

Dunning, a veteran of the Army Special Forces,  helps organize Peterborough’s Veterans Day ceremony.

“Nadia came to me and said, ‘Have you noticed there is no plaque for the veterans of the French and Indian Wars, or the Revolutionary War?’” Dunning said. “I had been there many times, but I had never noticed it either. Nadia did all the research on all the veterans; she researched and verified all the names and really made it happen.” 

After MacStay completed her research, she and Dunning approached the Peterborough Select Board about funding the new plaques. Just as the board was approving funds for the project, two anonymous Peterborough donors stepped up to cover the cost of both plaques. 

“This really speaks to the patriotism in  the Peterborough community. As a veteran, I really appreciate that these men are being remembered for their service,” Dunning said. 

MacStay said researching Peterborough’s earliest veterans was a lengthy-but-rewarding process. Her research included reading Jonathan Smith’s 1913 history, “Peterborough in the American Revolution,” published by the Peterborough Historical Society, as well as Albert Smith’s “History of the Towns of Hillsborough County,” published in 1876. 

Dunning will speak more in-depth about Peterborough’s veterans of the early wars during Saturday’s ceremony at the Town House at approximately 11 a.m.. All veterans,  families, and members of the public are invited to attend Veterans Day celebrations in Peterborough, which will start at 9 a.m. with a Remembrance Service at All Saints’ Church. Following the service, everyone is invited to gather at Veterans Way and walk to the Main Street Bridge for the Sea Service. The procession will continue to the front steps of the Peterborough Town House for the rest of the ceremony. Guests and veterans are asked to be seated by 10:45 a.m.

The French and Indian War, from 1756 to 1763 was fought primarily on the border of between the British  and French colonies in North America. The war, which ranged as far north as Newfoundland and as far south as Virginia, also involved Native nations. In what is now New Hampshire, the Wabanaki Confederacy members, including the Mi'kmaq and the Abenaki tribes, supported France, while the Iroquois, Cherokee and other nations supported Britain. 

While there were no Revolutionary War battles in New Hampshire, troops from the state, led by Gen. John Stark, participated in many battles, including the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of Bennington in Vermont.  Many New Hampshire residents were inspired  to join the  American Revolution partly due to dissatisfaction that Britain controlled a monopoly on New Hampshire’s white pines, which were used to build British ships. 

Participants in Peterborough’s Veterans Day ceremonies will include members of American Legion Cheney-Armstrong Post No. 5, the 6th New Hampshire Volunteers, the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets, American Heritage Girls, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, South Meadow Middle School Band (under the direction of Ed Lowy), the Peterborough police, fire and ambulance departments and the Fire  Auxiliary.

For information, go to peterboroughnh.gov/calendar.php.