Meet the New England revolutionary Patriots who became Michigan pioneers. The counties of South Central Michigan are the resting place of more than forty Revolutionary War Patriots. These men fought pivotal battles like Ticonderoga, Princeton, Bennington, Saratoga, and Yorktown, and when the fighting was done, they pioneered through western New York and across the Ohio Valley before claiming Michigan as their final home. Moses Cook of Massachusetts fought in some of the most lethal battles of the Revolution and endured a deadly winter in Valley Forge. Massachusetts native Lothario Danielson helped to squash a homegrown rebellion and authored a report on meningitis. Only one month after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Connecticut native William Maples was inspired to join the Connecticut militia.  Exploring the lives of these men before and after the war, local authors David Van Hoof and Linda Hass tell the stories of these unsung heroes of the indomitable American spirit. Patriots and Pioneers After graduating from the University of Michigan and Detroit College of Law, David Van Hoof served twenty-two years in the United States Marine Corps, deploying twice to Afghanistan and twice to Iraq, experiencing combat as a combat engineer company commander in the assault on Baghdad. During his military career, he earned additional graduate degrees in history from the University of Oklahoma and Arizona State University. He is actively involved in the National Society Sons of the American Revolution and with Manitou Films a producer on the PBS documentary  Frontier to Freedom: Wilderness, Revolution and Michigan's Path to Statehood . Linda Hass is a Jackson author who received a master’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University. She has authored four books and researched and successfully applied for four Michigan historical markers and three national designations from the National Park Service. She is an officer of the Jackson County Historical Society and was named “Jackson Historian” by the Jackson City Council in 2021.