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War of 1812 Hero's Grave Once Sparked Debate

An old grave in Burlington's Elmwood Cemetery holds the remains of Joseph Barron Jr., a little-remembered but critical hero to the American victory over the British in the Battle of Plattsburgh in the War of 1812.

British and American negotiators signed the Treaty of Ghent which ended the war,  partly as a result of the Battle of Plattsburgh, 200 years ago.

In 1906 descendants of soldiers and sailors from the War of 1812 in Vermont and New York debated whether Barron, the pilot of the American flagship Saratoga, was buried in Burlington or Plattsburgh, New York.

Art Cohn of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum says that in 1906 the Burlington grave was dug up and proven to be Barron's.

Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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