Although the commemoration has been underway for some time now, many Americans will likely learn a new word in 2026: Semiquincentennial.

This year, of course, marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States. The Semiquincentennial. The Semiquincentennial actually commemorates the eight years of the American Revolutionary War as well as the Declaration of Independence, so events were held throughout the country beginning in 2025, celebrating 250 years since the start of the War for Independence.

Throughout New York State, where approximately one-third of the battles of the war took place, and in places from Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts to Saratoga there were special festivities marking the beginning of the 250th anniversary.

Sullivan County, which has a number of direct connections to the American Revolution, has been busy as well, with much more to come. After all, the county was named for General John Sullivan, a major player in the conflict, and one of the more controversial officers on the American side. General Sullivan eventually served two terms as Governor of New Hampshire but is generally remembered today as the leader of the scorched earth campaign that burned 40 Iroquois towns in central New York, fulfilling George Washington’s explicit orders to achieve the total destruction and devastation of the settlements.

There is the association with Joseph Brant, one of the conflict’s most colorful personalities, whose exploits while aiding the British cause included a bloody victory at the Battle of Minisink near what is today the hamlet of Barryville. The fact that the men who died on the hilltop battleground that day in 1779 - some of them local residents who lived along the Delaware River just a few miles away - were never afforded a proper burial but were left to molder where they fell, tends to set the Battle of Minisink apart from dozens of other Revolutionary War confrontations that were otherwise very similar.

Add in the death of an indeterminate number of colonial militia at Chestnut Woods in what is today the town of Neversink in September of 1778, and the link grows even stronger. And it has recently become apparent that there are even more connections.

There is the recent discovery that one of the most well-known characters of the War for Independence, Benedict Arnold - a man who had the ignominious distinction of  serving as both an American and a British General during the conflict, and whose very name has become synonymous with the word traitor or turncoat - was one of the original investors in the land that became the Cushetunk settlement, a portion of which was located in what would later become Sullivan County.

There is Nathaniel Sackett, George Washington’s original head of intelligence, a man who put together the network of spies that would eventually prove invaluable in winning the war, and who personally trained Benjamin Tallmadge, the man who would not only succeed him, but far outstrip his accomplishments in the espionage game.

The oldest of Nathaniel’s five children, Ananias, served as a private in the Revolutionary War, and in 1792 he was hired to build a road to access some remote lands owned by the Livingston family. What became known as the Sackett Road was the result, and it was so well laid out that much of it became part of the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike when that road was constructed through what was to become Sullivan County several years later.

Ananias was paid for his work with 700 acres of land southwest of Monticello, and he built his residence near the pond that now bears his name. He conceived a prosperous community he called Sackettborough, and although it never grew beyond a few houses, Nathaniel Sackett is buried there.

Speaking of spies, there is local resident Robert Land, the Justice of the Peace in the Cushetunk Settlement, who was an avowed Loyalist, and became one of the most active of the spies employed by the British during the War.

Although there were more Loyalists than Patriots in Cushetunk at the outset of the war, some of the residents, like Abner Skinner— whose brothers were Loyalists— and Nathaniel Tyler, enlisted in the Continental Army. Tyler, for his part, was a teenager when he joined, and served six years as a drummer, mustering out as a drum major. Family tradition holds that he was selected to serve as George Washington’s personal drummer for a portion of the war.

As one can readily see, the connections are numerous, and now the light will shine brightly on them. The Sullivan County Rev War 250 Commission, which this columnist co-chairs with Debra Conway, Highland Town Historian and Executive Director of The Delaware Company, has planned a full slate of activities for this year, taking place from January through October and from Callicoon to Wurtsboro.

Some of the highlights of the commemoration include: 

•A series of radio programs beginning this month on Bold Gold Media stations entitled “A Look Back,” which will examine some of the local personalities and events of the Revolutionary War era.

•A Revolutionary War film festival and social hour is being planned that will include three movies about the conflict to screen over the weekend of April 24-26 at the Hurleyville Performing Arts Center Cinema. 

•There will be a major weekend event at the Minisink Battleground from July 17 thru 19, featuring food, music, history demonstrations and exhibits, an encampment, and a battle re-enactment, as well as the annual commemoration of the Battle of Minisink, for which New York State Historian Devin Lander will deliver the keynote address.

•On August 1, Judith Kalaora of History at Play will reprise her one-woman show “A Revolution of Her Own” about Revolutionary War heroine Deborah Sampson at a venue yet to be determined.

•Other events, including a bus trip, a driving tour, a commemoration at Chestnut Woods in Grahamsville, and a number of historical programs are also in the works.

Visit the Sullivan County Rev War Semiquincentennial page on Facebook for more details and watch for the launch of a dedicated webpage as the year unfolds.

John Conway is the Sullivan County Historian. Email him at jconway52@hotmail.com.