HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 70
(By Delegates Moore, Dittman, Drennan, Crouse, White, and Petitto)
[March 4, 2025; Referred to the Committee on Energy and Public Works then Rules]
Requesting the Division of Highways name bridge number 044-14/00-9.87(44A198), at Lat/Long: 38.90043, -81.42299, locally known as Reedy Bridge, carrying WV 14 over Reedy Creek in Roane County, the "U. S. Revolutionary War Patriot Private Patrick Board Memorial Bridge".
Whereas, Patriot Board was born on June 12, 1750, in York County in the Colony of Pennsylvania and was the first settler in Reedy District of what is now Roane County, on 300 acres that were granted to him by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1816; and
Whereas, Private Board married Mary Heezer May in June of 1789 or 1790 in Washington County, Maryland and had a large family, which they moved from Green County, Pennsylvania by navigating flat boats that Private Board built to haul the family's belongings down the Youghiogheny River to the Monongahela to the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, then to what is now Parkersburg, then up the Little Kanawha River to Palestine, where Private Board had been granted land in payment for his Revolutionary War service; and
Whereas, Private Board enlisted in the Army of the United States in 1776 or 1777 in Orange County, Virginia, which is now Berkeley County, West Virginia; and
Whereas, Private Board served under Captain Dark in the Second Rifle Regiment of the Virginia Line, which marched North from Maryland to New York, where his entire company was taken prisoner by the British on Long Island, making their escape the same night 18 months into Private Board's three-year commitment, and fighting at Chestnut Hill; and
Whereas, Private Board then served under Captain John Henry in the Company of Regulars, under Generals Washington and Wayne until the end of his enlistment, after which he was drafted to serve for nine months under Captain Zackquill Morgan (the son of Morgan Morgan), and he was present at the capture of Lord Cornwallis; and
Whereas, Private Board farmed the 300 acres of land he received in payment for his services to the new nation as long as he was able; and
Whereas, Private Board passed away on November 6, 1839 in what was then still a part of Jackson County in Virginia but is today Roane County, West Virginia; and
Whereas, It is fitting that an enduring memorial be established to commemorate Private Patrick Board and his contributions to our state and country; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to name bridge number 044-14/00.9.87(44A198), at Lat/Long: 38.90043, -81.42299, locally known as Reedy Bridge , carrying WV 14 over Reedy Creek in Roane County, the "U. S. Revolutionary War Patriot Private Patrick Board Memorial Bridge"; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to have made and be placed signs identifying the bridge as the "U. S. Revolutionary War Patriot Private Patrick Board Memorial Bridge"; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House is hereby directed to House forward a copy of this resolution to the Commissioner of the Division of Highways.