Christopher Hembrough, a current Winchester High School senior and a 7-year member of Boy Scout Troop #113 in South Jacksonville, recently completed his Eagle Scout service project with the help of a small team of volunteers.
Achieving the rank of Eagle Scout, which is the highest rank awarded in scouting, requires all candidates to develop, plan and lead a service project. As an avid history fan, Christopher Hembrough chose to memorialize a place in Scott County near Exeter, where, on July 6, 1861, Ulysses S. Grant and his nearly 1,000 soldiers of the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry stopped to take a rest during their march from Springfield to Quincy.
It was there that the soldiers enjoyed homemade apple pie baked by local women as their way of showing support for the troops.
Lifelong Scott County residents refer to this place as Apple Pie Ridge — but it had never been publicly marked as such until now. A large, red metal sign stands tall, its words telling the story of Grant’s March.
You can see Hembrough’s Eagle Scout project at the crossing of Apple Pie Ridge and Rattle Snake Hollow roads, between Exeter and Bluffs.
