Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Boston and eastern Massachusetts, Part 12

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 768

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Henry Baldwin was a sergeant of the Wo- burn militia from 1672-85, and deacon of the First Church, Woburn, from 1686 until his cleath.

Henry Baldwin died February 14. 1697-98; married November 1, 1649, Phebe, baptized in Boston, June 3, 1632, died September 13, 1716, eldest daughter of Ezekiel and Susanna

Richardson. Children: 1. Susanna, born Aug- ust 30, 1650; died September 28, 1651. 2. Susanna, born July 25, 1652, died March 7. 1694: married Israel Walker (Samuel I), as his second wife. 3. Phebe, born September 7. 1654, died October 20, 1679, aged twenty-five : married November 7. 1676, Samuel Richard- son ( Samuel I), as his third wife. 4. John, born October 28, 1656. 5. Daniel, born March 15. 1659-60; see forward. 6. Timothy, born May 27. 1661 : see forward. 7. Mary, born July 19, 1663; died January 8, 1663-64. 8. Henry, born November 15, 1664; see forward. 9. Abigail, born August 20, 1667, died De- cember 25, 1769 ;* married December 4, 1705. John Reed ( Ralph 2, William 1), as his sec- ond wife. 10. Ruth, born July 31, 1670; un- married and alive at the date of her father's will. 11. Benjamin, born January 20, 1672- 73: see forward. Henry Baldwin the father, in will allowed April 4, 1698, names his wife Phebe : sons Henry, Daniel, Timothy and Ben- jamin ; his son Israel Walker, husband of his daughter Susanna, and his grandson Israel Walker ; his son Samuel Richardson, husband of his daughter Phebe, and his grandson, Zachariah Richardson, son of Phebe; also his two daughters then single, Abigail and Ruth Baldwin.

( 11) Daniel Baldwin, son of Henry (I). born March 15. 1659-60, died January 24, 1718-19: married January 6, 1684-85, Han- nah, born October 22, 1667, died September 28, 1736, daughter of Joseph Richardson ( Samuel 1) and Hannah (Green ) Richard- son. Children: 1. Hannah, born August 21. 1686. 2. Phebe, born May 13, 1690; died March 10, 1706-07. 3. Henry, born March 15, 1692-93 ; died March 12 ( sic ), 1692-93. 4. Joseph, born March 15, 1692-93: died March 12 (sic). 1692-93. 5. Susanna, born March 31, 1694, died before 1746; married December 15. 1712, Benjamin Walker, of Billerica ( Joseph 2, Samuel 1). 6. Daniel, born De- cember 16, 1695: killed by the Indians in battle near Dunstable, New Hampshire, Sep- tember 5, 1724. 7. Dorcas, born October 18, 1697 ; died March 7. 1697-98. 8. Joseph, born March 17, 1698-99: died February 3, 1744- 45; married July 4. 1733. Ruth Centre, of Charlestown. She died December 15. 1733. 9. Dorcas, born August II, 170I. 10. John, born August 28, 1703; married December 8. 1726, Sarah Lawrence, of Watertown. II

*The statement is here advanced that the broken stone 5th. 1766. (sic) (203 of the printed inscriptions in the First Yard) is her's .- Editor.

BOSTON AND EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS.

Rebecca, born December 19, 1705 ; died March 10, 1735-36. 12. Benjamin, born March 30, 1707. 13. Phebe, born December 28, 1708; married October 29, 1735, John Hamblet, of Nottingham.

In the case of John Seers versus Lieutenant John Wyman, before the council in 1676, Dan- iel Baldwin, aged seventeen years, testified about the impressment of two horses, and that while pressing a horse belonging to John Wy- man, who resisted the constable, said Wyman "suffered his negro servant to beat me with a great stick, and reproved him not." In the same case, on the testimony of several wit- nesses, Daniel Baldwin is called "grandchild to John Seers." and came with him to Lieu- tenant Wyman's garrison. The witnesses say Daniel Baldwin abused James Carringbone, negro servant of said Wyman, "both in words and deeds," calling him "Black Roag," and struck him with his gun across his back, and said he would "shute" him. Seers stated that Baldwin was a "solger" who came to Wy- man's with him, and that one of Wyman's household struck said Baldwin with a "great stick." The particulars of this interesting case are published in "Woburn Men in the Indian and Other Wars," pp. 11-14 ( editions of 1897 and 1903).

(II) Timothy Baldwin, son of Henry ( I). born at Woburn, May 27, 1661, died in Stone- ham, March II, 1733-34: married first, June 2. 1687, Elizabeth, born July 28, 1661, died January 26, 1703-04, daughter of Ralph (Ralph I) and Martha (Toothaker) Hill of Billerica ; married second July 9. 1706, Eliza- beth, daughter of Lazarus and Ruth ( Adams) Grover, of Malden. She returned to Malden (her will, May 13, 1752, lodged November 8, 1756, was probated in 1760). Children : I. Elizabeth, born May 29, 1688; died April 4, 1691. 2. Timothy, born November 20, 1689: see forward. 3. Ralph, born June 28, 1691 ; probably dead before 1718. 4. Hannah, born September 6, 1692: died September 6, 1692. 5. Elizabeth, born June 21, 1695, in Charles- town or Stoneham. His will names wife, son Timothy and daughter Elizabeth, and grand- children Ralph and Hannah, children of Timothy, Jr., and Hannah (Richardson) Baldwin.

(III) Timothy Baldwin, son of Timothy (2). born in Woburn, November 20, 1689, died December 3. 1750, aged sixty-one (gravestone at Stoneham) : married June 10, 1713, Han- nah, born May 6, 1689, died after 1766, daughter of Nathaniel (Thomas I) and Mary

( ----- ) Richardson. His wife married second, about April, 1752, John Vinton, and removed to Dudley : after his death in 1760 she return- ed to Stoneham, where she was living in 1766. In November, 1763, she was living with her grandson Timothy, son of Joseph and Eliza- beth ( Baldwin ) Matthews. ("Vinton Me-

morial," p. 378). Children : I. Ralph, born March 6, 1714; died May 1, 1731. 2. Han- nah, born September 4, 1715, married Febru- ary 19, 1734, Joseph Vinton. 3. Elizabeth, born November 9. 1717; died November 25, 1717. 4. Elizabeth, born April 9, 1723 ; mar- ried November 10, 1741, Joseph Matthews. 5. Timothy, born June 23, 1727 ; died February 19, 1727-28. 6. Timothy, born May 19, 1729; died April 1, 1742.

The younger Timothy Baldwin is styled "Ensign" on his gravestone, 1750. This office has its equivalent in the modern second lieu- tenant. His will dated November 7, 1750, mentions wife Hannah, and his daughters Hannah Vinton and Elizabeth Matthews. He also mentions a legacy given to his honored mother-in-law (stepmother) by his honored father. His father's will was dated July 12, 1718. Elizabeth, his daughter, is mentioned in it as married at that date, but to whom does not appear. Agreements were made re- specting the father's estate in 1734 and 1741. To Elizabeth, his wife, the father granted the use of a room in the east end of his house, and she released to the son her right to a room in the house, 1734. Her will devised to grand- children Matthews and to Samuel Grover.

(II) Henry Baldwin, son of Henry (I). born in Woburn, November 15, 1664, died July 7, 1739; married May 4, 1692, Abigail, born February 1, 1674, died January -, 1771, aged ninety-six or ninety-seven, daughter of David and Seaborn (Wilson) Fiske, first of Woburn and latterly of Lexington. Henry had all housing of his father, per will, after his mother Phebe had deceased, and all lands after his father's decease. Children : I. Henry, born January 12, 1692-93: see for- ward. 2. David, born April 9, 1696; see for- ward. 3. Isaac, born February 20, 1699-1700 : see forward. 4. Abigail, born February 13, 1701-02, died September 4, 1704. 5. James, born July 1I, 1705, died June 12. 1709. 6. Abigail, born November 19, 1707, died before 1751 ; married John Converse, and removed to Leicester. 7. James, born October 19, 1710; see forward. 8. Samuel, born August 31, 1717; see forward. The last will of Henry Baldwin, dated January 9, 1732-33, presented

BOSTON AND EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS.

by James Baldwin, left August 6, 1739, pro- bated September 10, 1739, names wife Abi- gail; Henry Baldwin, eldest son; sons David, Isaac, Samuel, and daughter Abigail Converse, and son James Baldwin, executor. He gave wife one-half part of house, northerly end, both upper and lower rooms, with the cellar under them ; his son James had the other part. He confirmed certain gifts. He also gave his son James his sawmill and his rights to said sawmill stream.

(II ) Benjamin Baldwin, son of Henry (I). born January 20, 1672-73 : died April 28, 1736; married Hannah -, died September 28, 1736. Children: 1. Jolin, born -, 1697. 2. Benjamin, born October 25, 1701. The statement, real or unfounded, has been made that Benjamin Baldwin resided at one time in Canterbury, Connecticut.

(III) Henry Baldwin, son of Henry (2), born in Woburn, January 12, 1692-93, died in Pelham, New Hampshire; married May 7, 1717, Mary, born January 10, 1694-95, died October 25, 1798, aged 104, daughter of Joseph ( Joseph 2, Samuel 1) and Mary ( Blodget ) Richardson. Children: 1. Henry, born February 27, 1717-18. 2. Nathan. born May 18, 1720. 3. Mary, born January 4. 1721-22. The following is a contemporary notice of Mrs. Baldwin's death.

"At Shrewsbury, Mrs. Mary Jones, aet. nearly 105 years. Her maiden name was Mary Richardson. She was born at Woburn, Janu- ary roth, O. S., 1694. Her first husband was Henry Baldwin, Esq., of Pelham, N. H .. by whom she had three children, who lived to settle in the world, and left families. Her second husband was Colonel Jones, of Hop- kinton, who died about the year 1772, since which time she remained a widow. She en- joyed a good degree of health, until within a few weeks of her death. The serenity of mind, and quietness of temper, which she pos- sessed to an uncommon degree, doubtless con- tributed to her great age. Being early im- prest with the importance of religion, the practice of it, ever appeared natural and easy. As she lived, so she died in the hope of a blessed immortality, and but a few hours be- fore her death was able to express, with great propriety, her views and prospects of futur- ity."-Columbian Centinel ( Boston), Novem- ber 3, 1798.

Captain Henry Baldwin died in Pelham, New Hampshire, 1754. The gravestone of his wife Mary at Shrewsbury reads: Mary,

widow of Colonel John Jones, died October 23, 1798, in her 105th year.

Henry Baldwin, son of Henry (3), married Abigail Butler, of Pelham, New Hampshire. They settled in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Children : Mary, married Captain Elisha Ward, of Petersham; also Henry, Nathan, Thaddeus. Eliphalet, Kezia, Abigail, Relief, Lucretia. Henry married second, Martha Ab- bott, widow of Ebenezer Abbott, and died No- vember 17, 1789, aged seventy-two.

Nathan, son of Henry (3), lived in Wor- cester ; married first Sarah Oakes, and second Lydia Oakes. Children, by first wife: Sarah, married Johnson ; Abigail. By second wife: Lydia, Mary.

Mary, daughter of Henry (3), married Rev. Abner Bayley, of Salem, New Hampshire. Children : Mary, married first William White. of Plaistow, and second Moses Webster, of Haverhill ; Elizabeth, married Henry Little, of Salem. New Hampshire: Lavinia, married Rev. William Kelley, of Warner, New Hamp- shire ("Vinton Memorial," 378.)

( 111) Captain David Baldwin, son of Henry (2), born at Woburn, April 9. 1696, died in Sudbury, June 23, 1770 ; married Abi- gail, born December 18. 1702, died June 12, 1767, daughter of Hon. William and Eliza- beth (Golding ) Jennison, of Sudbury. He was an innkeeper of Watertown, 1752-1757. Children : 1. William, born November II, 1727. 2. Samuel, born August 27, 1731. 3. Lydia, born October 27, 1729, died July 8, 1732. 4. Abigail, born August 18, 1733. 5. lydia, born October 5, 1735. 6. Elizabeth. 7. Mary, born September 8, 1742.

William, son of David (3), was graduated at Harvard College in 1748 ; married February 15. 1753. Jane, daughter of Rev. William and Jane Cook. of Sudbury, and was a deacon and magistrate in Sudbury, where he died.

Samuel, son of David (3), graduated at Harvard College, 1752: married January 2. 1771. Hannah, daughter of Judge John Cush- ing, of Scituate ; was ordained pastor at Han- over, Massachusetts, December 1, 1756, dis- missed March 8, 1780, and died December 1, 1784, aged fifty-four.

Abigail, daughter of David (3), married May 7. 1752, Joseph Curtis, of Sudbury. She had a daughter Abigail who became the wife of Rev. Jonathan Barnes, of Hillsborough, New Hampshire, December 14, 1774.

Lydia, daughter of David (3), married Feb- ruary 19, 1756, Hon. Oliver Prescott, of

BOSTON AND EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS.

Groton, a physician in a very large practice ; judge of probate ; briga lier-general before and during the Revolution, 1768-1781 : afterwards major-general. He was also a member of the board of war and of the supreme executive council of Massachusetts ; a brother of Colonel William Prescott, who commanded in the redoubt on Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775; being third son ( sixth child) of Hon. Benjamin and Abigail ( Oliver ) Prescott ; while Colonel Will- iam was their second son ( fourth child ). Lucy, sixth child of Hon. Oliver and Lydia ( Bald- win) Prescott, married Hon. Timothy Bige- low, of Medford. and their eldest daughter Katherine married Hon. Abbott Lawrence.

Elizabeth, daughter of David (3), married October 23, 1755, Henry Evans, and removed to Nova Scotia.

Mary, daughter of David (3), married Feb- ruary 7, 1764, Captain Samuel Jackson, of Newton ; 10 children.

(III) Isaac Baldwin, son of Henry (2). born in Woburn, February 20, 1699-1700, died in Sudbury, March 12, 1759; married March 24, 1726. Mary Flegg (or Flagg, as the name is commonly spelt ), born in Woburn, Decem- ber 5, 1702, died in Sudbury, September 23, 1744, daughter of Ebenezer and Elizabeth ( Carter ) Flagg. Children : I. Luke, born December 23, 1728. 2. Jeduthun, born January 13, 1731-32. 3. Nahum, born May 3, 1734. 4. Isaac, born December 12, 1738. 5. Josiah, born June 10. 1743. The father was married to a second wife, Elizabeth, who died his widow, March 8, 1770.

Luke, son of Isaac (3), lived to manhood.

Jeduthan or Jeduthun Baldwin, son of Isaac (3). was born at Woburn, January 13, 1732, and died at North Brookfield, Massachusetts, June 4, 1788, aged fifty-six ; married, April 28, 1757, Lucy, daughter of Rev. Ebenezer Park- man, of Westborough. "The Revolutionary Journal of Col. Jeduthan Baldwin, 1775-1778," edited by Thomas Williams Baldwin, printed for the De Burians ( Bangor ), 1906, contains a memoir and notes, and illustrations, besides the journal. He was captain of a company in the expedition against Crown Point in 1755- 56, and served in the same capacity from March to December, 1758, at Ticonderoga and at Fort DuQuesne. Twenty years afterwards he campaigned in the same country with dif- ferent generals, as colonel and chief of engi- neers. He lived but a short time in Woburn, as his father moved to Sudbury about 1734. The son left Sudbury when young, and settled in Brookfield. Massachusetts, probably about

1754. For a very full account of his life the reader is referred to the volume above named. Ile was survived by his widow, a son Luke, and a daughter Betsey, and besides these two there were two other children-one Jeduthun, aged six, killed by being thrown from a cart, Octo- ber 31, 1763; the other, Isaac, a member of Harvard College, died April 1, 1783, aged nineteen years.

The published journal of Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin mentions his father, Isaac Baldwin, under date of 1756, his brother Nahum, and later his father and mother, and uncle Samuel Baldwin. Nahum married Martha Low, April 22, 1760. Isaac married Eunice Jennison, De- cember 31, 1761. Josiah married Susanna Gould, March 29, 1763.

Isaac, son of Isaac (3), was mortally wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill, and died opposite the house of Colonel Royall, in Medford. He belonged to Colonel John Stark's regiment, was the captain of his own company from the time of his entry into the service, April 23, 1775, and served two months, at six pounds per month, total amount of wages received twelve pounds, and number of miles travel, eighty. He was the ranking captain in his regiment. (N. H. State Papers : xiv. 50.)

Isaac Baldwin at the beginning of the war raised a company of men in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, and led them to Cambridge. While there a tender belonging to the enemy got aground on the Chelsea ferry ways, and he went with twelve of his men in open day in the face of the enemy and burned her, after taking out her guns and sails, by throwing a pitchfork of hay on fire in the cabin windows. Having accomplished this he put his men back one by one and brought up the rear himself under the fire of the British fleet, and in this way reached their quarters safely with four of his men wounded. He fought valiantly at Bunker Hill, and was shot through the breast and died that night. He is said to have loaded and dis- charged his musket three times after he was wounded. When his men were carrying him off the field he exhorted them to fight, assur- ing them that they would win the day and he would be with them again directly. He died that night. He came to Hillsborough in 1767. was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and when the news of the battles of Lexington and Con- cord came, he was at work framing a barn in an adjoining town.

Isaac Baldwin had a posthumous son named Robert, born July 15, 1775, married April 5, 1803, Martha Brown, and had a family in-

BOSTON AND EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS.

Waltham, an account of which is given in Bond's "History of Watertown," pp. II. 675. Isaac Baldwin, probably another son, served in the Continental army in the Revolution, mar- ried Hannah Caldwell, of Woburn, May 15, 1794; had sons, Isaac, born November 26, 1794, and Charles, born July 27, 1797, recorded on Woburn records. Isaac and wife Hannah were both admitted to Woburn precinct (or Burlington ) church, September 14. 1800, and both were dismissed to Hillsborough. Chil- dren : Isaac, Charles, and Nahum, were bap- tized in Precinct church, Woburn, October 5. 1 800.

(III) James Baldwin, son of Henry (2). born in Woburn, October 19, 1710, died June 28, 1791, aged eighty-one ; married May 29, 1739, Ruth, born June 17, 1713, died May 13. 1791, daughter of Joseph and Mary ( Blodget ) Richardson, sister of the wife of his brother Henry (3). Children: 1. Cyrus, born Novem- ber 5, 1740; see forward. 2. Reuel, born May 9. 1742 : died February 21. 1745-46, aged three years, (gravestone at Woburn). 3. Loammi. born January 10, 1744-45: see forward. 4. Reuel. born June 30, 1747 ; see forward. James, the father, was a carpenter "of good repute." and reported to have been the "master work- man" in the erection of the Woburn precinct (or Burlington) meeting-house in 1732, the frame of which is yet standing, but the exterior has been twice materially altered. He served one day in the Woburn quota on April 19. 1775, when the Woburn men in great numbers marched to Lexington and Concord and took part in the battle there. James Baldwin in will dated April 9, 1771. probated November 9. 1791, named wife Ruth, and sons Cyrus, Reuel. and Loammi (second son ) executor. The son Loammi received one-half of the real estate after decease of the wife, Ruth.

(III) Captain Samuel Baldwin, son of Henry (2), born at Woburn, August 31, 1717. died at Weston. July 21. 1778, aged sixty-one ; married first, March 23, 1741-42, Elizabeth. born March 25, 1715, died February 7. 1757. daughter of Captain James and Sarah ( Moore ) Jones, of Weston : married second March 30, 1758. Sarah Deming, of Needham, died May 2. 1760, aged thirty-nine ; married third, March 25. 1762, Rebecca Cotton, born November 14. 1725, died January 16, 1795. aged seventy- one, daughter of Rev. John and Mary (Gibbs) Cotton. Children by wife Elizabeth : I. Samuel, born at Falmouth, July 28, 1743; married July 7. 1763. Millicent Cutler .* 2. Elizabeth, born at Weston, June 18. 1745; i-5

married December 22, 1768, Elias Jones, of East Hoosick. 3. Lydia, born at Weston, Jan- uary 16, 1746; married October 25, 1764, John Newton Parmenter. 4. Ephraim, born at Weston, April 2. 1749, died December 30, 1751. 5. Sarah, born at Weston, September 15, 1750, died April 1I, 1756, aged five and one-half. 6. Lucy, born June 30, 1753. 7. Esther, born June 27, 1756; married June 4, 1779. Jonathan Rawson. Child by wife Sarah : 8. Sarah, born January 28, 1759. Children by wife Rebecca: 9. Rebecca, born January 7. 1763. died January 29, 1763. 10. Rebecca, born July 10, 1764; married December 3, 1780, James Cogswell. II. Mary, born March 15, 1766; married January 24, 1790, Isaac Hobbs, Jr.

(IV) Cyrus Baldwin, son of James (3). born at Woburn, November 5, 1740, was drowned at Dunstable. November 5. 1790; married Ruth Wilson, of Bedford, and died without issue. His wife was perhaps Ruth, born October 6, 1745, daughter of James and Lydia Wilson, of Bedford. Samuel Thomp- son, Esquire, of Woburn, wrote in his diary, under date of November 5, 1790: "Fair. Cyrus Baklwin, Esquire, drowned at Dun- stable," and on Sunday. November 7, follow- ing. he recorded the item: "Cyrus Baldwin, Esquire's, corpse brought to Woburn;" and on November 10, he wrote: "Very cold. Came home from Salem. Cyrus Baldwin buried.'

Cyrus Baldwin was taxed in the West List, Woburn, 1776, and received his proportion of a war assessment which he had paid before 1777. He lived for a time during the Revolu- tionary war in Boston, and was first lieutenant of the Eighth Ward company in Colonel llenry Bromfield's ( Boston) militia regiment. and commissioned such. November 25, 1776. In the dignified manner of the newspapers of that day, the following is the only public mention of his death: "Died-At Dunstable. Cyrus Baldwin, Esq., formerly of this town." -Columbian Centinel, Boston, November 24, 1790.

The "Varnum Genealogy," p. 68, shows that Elizabeth Varnum, born April 26, 1741. (laughter of Abraham and his second wife Rachel Varmum, married Cyrus Baldwin, of

*Captain Samuel (4) Baldwin (Samuel 3, Henry 2. Henry 1) wrote a narrative in his eighty-second year, which possesses considerable interest. He mentioned his marriage to Millicent Cutler, the daughter of Captain Ebenezer Cutler, of Lincoln, and the names of their children. He removed from Weston to Northbridge in 1766, and thence to Windsor, Berkshire county, Massachusetts .- Letter of Mrs. Mercy ( Baldwin) Howard, July 22, 1907.

BOSTON AND EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS.

Chelmsford, possibly a second wife of the above Cyrus Baldwin. This wife was prob- ably the Mrs. Betsy Baldwin who died at Dracut, January 6, 1827.

(IV) Colonel Loammi Baldwin, son of James (3), born January 10. 1744-45, at "New Bridge" (North Woburn ), died at his birthplace, October 20, 1807, aged sixty-three years (monument at Woburn ) ; married first, July 9, 1772, Mary, died September 29, 1786, aged thirty-nine years, daughter of James Fowle, Jr., ( Major John 3, Capt. James 2, Lieut. James I, Fowle) and Mary (Reed) Fowle, (daughter of Lieutenant Israel and Hannah Wyman Reed) ; second, May 26, 1791, Margaret, born October 6, 1767, died August 8, 1799, daughter of Josiah ( Major Jolin 3, Capt. James 2, Lieut. James [ Fowle ) and Margery (Carter ) Fowle. Children: I. Cyrus, born June 22, 1773, see forward; 2. Mary, born April 24, 1775, died May 15. 1776, "of canker rash;" 3. Benjamin Franklin, born December 15, 1777, see forward; 4. Loammi, born May 16, 1780, see forward ; 5. James Fowle, born April 29, 1782, see for- ward : 6. Clarissa, born December 31, 1791, died May 27, 1841 ; married, January 20, 1812, Thomas B. Coolidge ; see forward; 7. George Rumford, born January 26, 1798; see forward.

In early life he discovered a strong desire for acquiring knowledge, and attended the grammar school in Woburn under the instruc- · tion of Master John Fowle, a noted teacher of that time, the school being a moveable one, being kept at successive periods first in the centre of the town and secondly at the pre- cinct, or the part of Woburn now incorporated in the town of Burlington. At a more advanced period of life, with the intention of obtaining a thorough acquaintance with natural and exper- imental philosophy, he would walk from North Woburn to Cambridge, in company with his schoolmate, Benjamin Thompson, Count Rum- ford, and attend the lectures of Professor John Winthrop at Harvard College, for which liberty had been given, and upon their return home on foot they were in the habit of illus- trating the principles they had heard enunci- ated in the lecture room by making rude instruments for themselves to pursue their experiments.

He was present in the battle of Lexington. As early as 1768 he had enlisted in a com- pany of horse-guards, and was not wholly destitute of military experience when sum- moned a little before the break of day to the

field at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. In his own statement he says: "We mustered as fast as possible. The Town turned out extraordinary, and proceeded toward Lexington." Holding the rank of a major in the militia, he says, "I rode along a little before the main body, and when I was nigh Jacob Reed's ( at present Durenville ) I heard a great firing : proceeded on, soon heard that the Reg- ulars had fired upon Lexington people and killed a large number of them. We proceeded on as fast as possible and came to Lexington and saw about eight or ten dead and numbers wounded." He then, with the rest from Wo- burn, proceeded to Concord by way of Lincoln meeting house, ascended a hill there, and rested and refreshed themselves a little. Then fol- lows a particular account of the action and of his own experience. He had "several good shots," and proceeded on till coming between the meeting-house and Buckman's tavern at Lexington, with a prisoner before him, the cannon of the British began to play, the balls flying near him, and for safety he retreated back behind the meeting-house, when a ball came through near his head, and he further retreated to a meadow north of the house and lay there and heard the balls in the air and saw them strike the ground. Woburn sent to the field on that day one hundred and eighty men.

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Boston and eastern Massachusetts, Part 12

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 768

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 768