{"id":99501,"date":"2024-07-03T13:10:43","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T17:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=99501"},"modified":"2024-07-03T13:11:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T17:11:08","slug":"for-independence-day-spirit-of-76-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/for-independence-day-spirit-of-76-part-3.html","title":{"rendered":"For Independence Day: Spirit of \u201976 (part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article \u2013 to help celebrate Independence Day on July 4 \u2013 Melissa Davenport Berry writes about Minutemen at the Battled of Lexington and Concord, and provides genealogy. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey poured out their generous blood like water before they knew whether it would fertilize the land of freedom or of bondage.\u201d
\n–Daniel Webster<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today I continue with my series \u201cSpirit of \u201976\u201d in honor of Independence Day, aka \u201cFourth of July,\u201d focusing on the Minutemen and militiamen of Massachusetts who fought at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, on 19 April 1775.<\/p>\n

My last story covered Revolutionary trail blazer Isaiah Thomas, who published the Massachusetts Spy<\/em> newspaper. Thomas performed the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence<\/a> in Worcester, Massachusetts. Read more: Part 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lexington Battle Monument<\/strong><\/p>\n

The names of the eight militiamen who were killed in the first battle of the Revolutionary War can be found on the Revolutionary Monument on Lexington Battle Green, erected in 1799 by the town\u2019s citizens.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Lexington Battle Monument on the Lexington Battle Green, Lexington, Massachusetts. Credit: Daderot; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Munroe Clan & Family Tavern<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ensign Robert Munroe (1712-1775), son of George and Sarah (Mooer) Munroe, was one of the eight militiamen killed by the British during the Battle of Lexington. He left his widow Anna (Stone) Munroe and descendants.<\/p>\n

Robert\u2019s sister Lucy (Munroe) Parker lost her husband Jonas Parker (1722-1775) during the battle, the son of Andrew and Sarah (Whitney) Parker. Jonas and Lucy had one son, Pvt. Philemon Parker, who married Susannah Stone and left many descendants.<\/p>\n

The Munroes\u2019 cousins owned a tavern in Lexington. According to the annuals, on 18 April 1775, one day before the outbreak of the battle, the Munroe Tavern (now the Lexington Historical Society<\/a>) was a meeting spot for colonials.<\/p>\n

By the following afternoon Colonel Hugh Percy and his 1,000 British reinforcements occupied the tavern and converted the dining area into a field hospital for the wounded.<\/p>\n

The British troops consumed liberal quantities of food and drink, compelling a Lexington Minuteman, John Raymond \u2013 who was lame \u2013 to serve as their bartender. Raymond tried to escape, but he was shot and killed on the spot.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: John Raymond Memorial, 1332 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, Massachusetts. outside the Munroe Tavern. Credit: Freedom\u2019s Way, National Park Service.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In November of 1789 President George Washington dined at the Munroe Tavern during his tour throughout the states. His hosts were William and Anna Parker (Smith) Munroe.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: the 1789 visit of President George Washington to the Munroe Tavern in Lexington, Massachusetts, by Phillip Parsons, 1925. Credit: Lexington Historical Society.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Washington wrote in his journal: \u201cviewed the spot on which the first blood was [spilled] in the dispute with Great Britain.\u201d An upstairs room in the tavern now contains the table and chair at which he sat, and documents relating to his trip.<\/p>\n

The Bedford Flag Carried by the Militiamen<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Bedford, Massachusetts, history sources, early in the day on 19 April 1775 the Minutemen of Bedford gathered in the tap room of Jeremiah Fitch\u2019s tavern while his wife Lydia (Smith) Fitch served up cold cornmeal mush and hot buttered rum.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:
Photos: Fitch Tavern and historical marker, Bedford, Massachusetts. Credit: Trinity Church of Bedford, Massachusetts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Captain Jonathan Wilson looked into the eyes of his men and spoke the famous words: \u201cIt is a cold breakfast, boys, but we\u2019ll give the British a hot dinner; we\u2019ll have every dog of them before night.\u201d The Minutemen then marched to Concord, joining the 50 men of the Bedford Militia en route.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: reenactors of the Bedford Minutemen marching, and a list of the Minutemen in 1775. Credit: Bedford Minuteman Company Memorial Trust.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Included in the Bedford Militia was Color Bearer and Captain Nathaniel Page\/Paige, who carried the famous Bedford Flag now in the safekeeping of the Bedford Historical Society.<\/p>\n

The flag was given to the society by Captain Cyrus Page, grandson of Nathaniel. I found a newspaper article entitled \u201cFlag of the Minute Men,\u201d which cites some well-known historians on the flag.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 19 June 1904, page 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

William S. Appleton of the Massachusetts Historical Society writes of this flag: \u201cIt was originally designed in England in 1660-70 for the three county troops of Middlesex, and became one of the three accepted standards of the organized militia of the state, and as such was used by the Bedford [Militia] company. In my opinion this flag far exceeds in historic value the famed flag of Eutaw and Pulaski\u2019s banner, and in fact is the most precious memorial of its kind of which we have any knowledge.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Historian Abram English Brown, in \u201cFlag of the Minute Men, April 19, 1775, Its Origin and History<\/a>,\u201d provides a detailed history of the day of the battle, when:<\/p>\n

\u201cDelegates from Captain Jonathan Parker\u2019s company, of Lexington, gave the alarm at Bedford. The messengers found a ready response\u2026 the old standard [flag] was in the Page family, and the office of cornet, or color-bearer, was a sort of inheritance, hence Nathaniel Page, aroused by the early messenger, seized the relic of early service and hastened with his associates to the scene of action.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: the Bedford Flag. Credit: Bedford Public Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Captain Jonathan Wilson (1733-1775) was killed that day. He left a widow Elizabeth (Stearns) Wilson and one son, Jonathan Wilson Jr., who married Rebekah Page, and left descendants.<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cThe Spirit of \u201976,\u201d by Archibald Willard. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n

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