{"id":13669,"date":"2016-04-19T12:09:49","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T16:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=13669"},"modified":"2018-04-19T11:16:18","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T15:16:18","slug":"battle-of-lexington-we-were-there-get-all-of-our-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/battle-of-lexington-we-were-there-get-all-of-our-stories.html","title":{"rendered":"Battle of Lexington: We Were There \u2013 Get All of Our Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is an important genealogy tip. Did your ancestor fight at the Battle of Lexington? If so, don\u2019t limit your search to only your ancestor. Expand your search and find out who else was there fighting with them, and learn about their stories.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
New Hampshire Gazette (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 21 April 1775, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Research each veteran of the battle. Look for clues and details in their stories that will help fill in the story of your ancestor\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n

I was looking at the Battle of Lexington that we celebrate and remember every April 19th.<\/p>\n

We picture the events and think of what our ancestors did that day.<\/p>\n

Because of the comprehensiveness of GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> we can find news articles of the event and its impact.<\/p>\n

Genealogists find biographical articles and obituaries<\/a> that give more details.<\/p>\n

Find all of their stories and you\u2019ll have a much deeper sense of the battle that day.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Harrington<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is the story of 16-year-old Jonathan Harrington \u2013 what happened to him that day, and how his life unfolded.<\/p>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
Daily Atlas (Boston, Massachusetts), 31 March 1854, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clues in Harrington\u2019s obituary led me to find an actual daguerreotype of him in his old age.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Jonathan Harrington. Source: Pinterest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Isaac Holden<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaac Holden was only 16 when he fought in the French & Indian War.<\/p>\n

He was an experienced veteran, and during the Revolutionary War he was at the Battles of Lexington, Bunker Hill and other battles of the war.<\/p>\n

He \u201cshared largely in the sufferings and privations attendant on those who achieved liberties of our country, and at the last shared the bounty which the government bestowed.\u201d<\/p>\n

His obituary was printed in the Boston Traveler<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
Boston Traveler (Boston, Massachusetts), 27 July 1827, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

William Monroe<\/strong><\/p>\n

Col. William Monroe heard the night before that \u201cseveral British officers were seen proceeding on horseback towards the town, with the supposed intention of arresting John Hancock and Samuel Adams.\u201d<\/p>\n

He \u201ccommanded the Sergeant\u2019s guard, stationed for their protection\u201d at the house where Hancock and Adams were living and alerted them \u201cthat 800 British troops were secretly marching\u201d to capture them.<\/p>\n

Forewarned, they fled to safety in Woburn, Massachusetts, and Monroe remained with the men in Lexington braced for the British attack.<\/p>\n

Monroe\u2019s lengthy obituary recounts the details of the fighting that day.<\/p>\n

You can read his entire obituary in GenealogyBank, published by the Hampshire Gazette<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, Massachusetts), 14 November 1827, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Samuel Payson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Capt. Samuel Payson also fought at the Battle of Lexington. His story reads as if he were speaking directly to us from the old newspapers in GenealogyBank.<\/p>\n

On the memorable 19th April, 1775, [I] was at [my] plough, in Sharon [Massachusetts], when [I] received the intelligence of the slaughter at Lexington\u2026 [I] immediately took [my] horse from the plough and proceeded to muster the minute men [I] commanded, and marched to drive in the enemy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His family was there. The times called for action and they responded. As a young man he had fought in three campaigns in the French & Indian War \u2013 and, along with his two sons, fought in the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n

He was so dedicated to the Revolution that I \u201csold [my] farm [and] loaned the money to the town to pay her quota [to finance] soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

His story is in GenealogyBank, recorded in the Hampden Federalist<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
Hampden Federalist (Springfield, Massachusetts), 21 July 1819, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are more details in the Franklin Gazette<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
Franklin Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 22 July 1819, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And, in the Hallowell Gazette<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
Hallowell Gazette (Hallowell, Maine), 21 July 1819, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Later in life Payson lived in Hope, Maine, and died there in 1819, at age 85.<\/p>\n

Did your ancestors fight at the Battle of Lexington?
\nFind their stories and the stories of the many others who fought together in that great battle in GenealogyBank.<\/p>\n

Get all of their stories \u2013 preserve and pass down the insights from all of them for your posterity.<\/p>\n

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