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Daughters of the American Revolution will unveil a bronze plaque commemorating six Thoroughgood men who had pivotal roles in the Princess Anne County militia during the Revolution. Three men were raised in the historic house and three of their cousins were imprisoned by the British. The plaque also records that eight people enslaved by the Thoroughgood families sought their freedom under Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation of 1775. The Virginia Beach Mayor will read a proclamation and the DAR State Regent will also speak.

Costumed reenactors from the VII Virginia Regiment will interpret militia soldiers and interact with guests. Tours of the permanent exhibit in the Education Center and the historic house where three of the patriots were raised will be offered.
The permanent exhibit offers a display about George Wise, a Black Loyalist formerly enslaved by Francis Thoroughgood and his epic journey to freedom in Nova Scotia during the Revolution. On view, too, are panels and a case devoted to the story of the Revolution in Princess Anne County, today’s modern city of Virginia Beach.

Local Historian, Ms. Jorja K. Jean, will discuss the six patriots and the primary sources that recorded their service. Very little was known about the Revolutionary War Thoroughgoods at the time of the nation’s Bicentennial in 1976. New research by Ms. Jean for this marker, definitively documents for the first time, the identity of the mysterious “Mr. Thoroughgood” who was captured at or shortly after the Skirmish of Kemp’s Landing in 1775.