HATFIELD — Living until 1847, when she turned 86, Experience Phelps Dickinson’s simple stone at the Hill Burying Ground indicates she was a teenager when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Nearby, the more elaborate gravestones for Obadiah Dickinson, a deacon in town who was 72 in 1776, and for his second wife, Martha Waite Dickinson, who was 52 the same year that the United States was founded, are positioned next to nine children who predeceased their father.

Ranging from an infant like 2-month-old Phinias Graves and 2-year-old toddler Hephizaibah Dickinson up to 88-year-old Issac Graves Jr., these are among 217 Hatfield residents in the 1670 cemetery whose connections to the Revolutionary War are being honored this summer with small markers placed next to their final resting places.

Even as the contributions of many of the women, children, and other non-combatants from 250 years ago are largely forgotten in 2026, the Hatfield Historical Museum is organizing the program to give them credit for being present for the American Revolution.

“To have them recognized also matters to me,” says Meguey Baker, the curator of the Hatfield Historical Museum. “This is a town where all of these people were involved.”

“The Revolution Happened Here: Hatfield on the Homefront 1776,” Baker said, is a new way of bringing to life both the Revolutionary War and the birth of a nation recognized with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“This gives us a peek into a different story,” Baker said. “This endeavors to reweave family and community into the story of the American Revolution.”

“Often people know the name of the man who carried the gun, but not the woman who weaved the fabric,” Baker adds.

The Hill Burying Ground was created in 1670, the same year Hatfield was founded. To undertake the work, Baker reached out to the town’s Cemetery Commission to ensure its members were OK with placing the markers and leaving them in place for several months.

“They were incredibly helpful on how to make the signs,” Baker said.

Each sign measures 4 by 6 inches, using a plasticized paper that will withstand the elements. And the wooden sticks to which they are attached — the same used for making s’mores at a campfire — can be easily replaced and won’t cause damage if snapped or struck by mowers.

Baker and her assistant Annika Sturmer built the project using a plot map created in the early 2000s by Jan Davis, a Hatfield Historical Society volunteer. This allowed them to identify who qualifies for recognition, rule out those outside the scope and understand who is buried beneath some stones where the writing is now faint.

Three different signs are on the markers. One reads “Witness to the Revolution,” which is for those who were alive in Hatfield on July 4, 1776 and are buried in the cemetery. Another, for just three in the cemetery, reads “Born in 1776,” for those born between Jan. 1 and July 4, 1776. The third reads “Born in a New Nation,” for those born from July 4, 1776 to Sept. 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary War.

The Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism is providing full funding for the project, as part of the state’s 250th anniversary programming. On Oct. 3, the program will conclude with a presentation at the American Legion and a visit to the neighboring cemetery.

Bob Drinkwater, an historical archaeologist with the Association for Gravestone Studies, will talk about the stones from the 1770s in the cemetery.

Both Baker and Strumer were assisted this week by Elliott Baker in placing the markers, getting to the cemetery early each day to beat the heat. Most markers are going next to stones, but 15 individuals being honored have stones that no longer exist.

“It’s great to have them remembered, and it’s important civic understanding to identify these people,” Baker said.

While timed to the 250th anniversary of the United States, Baker said that the American Revolution in Hatfield actually began in 1774 with the Autograph Petition, with three men in the British Army who stood up in church and said they would not enforce new laws and taxes they considered unjust orders. That petition was made on Oct. 4, 1774 and is a plea by 28 men from Hatfield who joined Capt. Elisha Allis, Lt. Samuel Partridge and Ensign Elijah Dickinson in asking for military training.

Allis, Partridge and Dickinson, who are all buried at the Hill cemetery, were veterans of the Seven Years’ War, also called the French & Indian Wars.

Lt. David Billings was forced to take an oath of loyalty to the Crown, and was known as a “quiet Tory,” who would not speak out for or against the idea of revolution, Baker said. He, too, is buried at Hill.

Baker said her hope is that the markers going into the cemetery will draw people into a place they may pass by, but never venture into. Most of the gravestones are well over a century old.

“The hope is by doing this, this let’s people visit places they wouldn’t otherwise,” Baker said.

She also hopes people might draw parallels to modern times, when there are objections to crushing laws and concerns over financial distress.

“The themes are so similar today,” Baker said. “All we want is for our families to grow and thrive and to live comfortably.”