Captain Samuel Dawson, of the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment of Foot, from his birth, inured to arms in the British Service, but from Principle, took hearty part in the defense of American Liberty, in which he deported himself as a gentle and brave officer–deceased September 6, 1779.
Samuel Dawson was born a British subject. At the opening of the Revolutionary War he enlisted and was made a captain in the Eleventh Pennsylvania regiment. July 16, 1776. Then July 3rd 1778, he was transferred to the Eights Pennsylvania regiment of foot holding that rank until his death (burial card), September 6, 1779.
Samuel’s grave was the first placing of a marker upon the grave of a Revolutionary War solider in Pennsylvania by the society of the Sons of the American Revolution on 30 April 1901. His grave is one of the oldest in Trinity Church in the city of Pittsburgh.