On Saturday, November 8th, 2025, Compatriot Bob Hawcroft represented the Paul Emery Chapter at a plaque dedication ceremony hosted by the Joseph B. Westnedge Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. It took place at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Mich.

The plaque was dedicated in honor of Revolutionary War Patriot Thomas Campbell (who also sometimes used the surname Camel). He was born into slavery around 1760 in Culpepper County, VA, and was a slave of Colonel Martin Pickett, who later offered him his freedom if he would serve in the Continental Army.

In September 1776 he enlisted in Captain Wilson’s Company of the 4th Virginia Regiment, joining Washington’s Army at White Marsh, NY, and was placed within General Marquis de Lafayette’s Division. They were quartered at Valley Forge during the winter of 1778, enduring extreme deprivation. The following summer the Continental Army engaged the British Army under General Burgoyne at Monmouth Courthouse. During the battle, Campbell endured severe heat stroke, from which he barely survived. After weeks of recuperation at a local farm, he was discharged by a physician who diagnosed his condition as so debilitating that he could no longer serve.

After the war, Campbell married and had at least four children. He settled down near Hickory Corners in Barry County after receiving a land grant, officials said. Campbell died in 1849 and was buried in an unknown location about a quarter of a mile away from the Gilmore Car Museum