USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dracut > History of Dracut, Massachusetts, called by the Indians Augumtoocooke and before incorporation, the wildernesse north of the Merrimac. First permanment settlement in 1669 and incorporated as a town in 1701 > Part 12
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of Congress and the weal of the United States, from mercenary or worse views have augmented the price of by far the greater part of the necessaries of life to an enormous degree; many articles of which are more than double the usual prices they were respectively sold for before the commencement of the pres- ent war. That some persons have been so lost to all virtue and the love of their country as to engross the most necessary and saleable articles, purchasing them at retail price and immediately advancing upon that retail price at least cent per cent, thereby endeavoring to depreciate the value of our paper currency ; that the soldiers and others not concerned in this unrighteous com- merce, are groaning under their burdens. Wherefore your pe- titioners humbly pray this Hon. Court to take the premises under consideration, and to enact such laws and make such provisions and regulations as in their operation may speedily and effectually remedy the evils of which we so justly complain.
Signed in behalf of the Convention
[N. H. Hist. Col.] JOHN BODWELL Chairman"
"The important position held by New England was clearly perceived by the British general who made strenuous efforts to prevent this section from assisting the middle and southern states. To accomplish this he endeavored to gain possession of the line of the Hudson River. It was to prevent this that Wash- ington fought the dreary campaign which succeeded the retreat from New York." [Address of Senator Lodge.]
To accomplish this isolation of New England, an expedition was sent from Canada under command of Gen. Burgoyne, who, with 7000 troops, a train of artillery and a large number of Indian allies, first invested the fort at Ticonderoga. The Ameri- can garrison, consisting of 3000 men, abandoned the fort and joined Gen. Schuyler, and the combined forces marched to Sara- toga and Stillwater. In the meantime Burgoyne proceeded to Skenesboro and from there to Fort Edward. From this place he sent an expedition to Bennington, Vt., under Col. Baum, to destroy the stores, but on August 16, 1777, he met with such a repulse from the American Army, under General Stark, that the British were greatly depressed. We are not sure that Dracut
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HISTORY OF DRACUT
men were at Bennington, but the great-grandfather of the writer of these records, whose farm was largely in Dracut was present and took part in the battle. He was in Capt. Jesse Wilson's company, Gen. Stark's brigade, from July 21, 1777, to the time of his discharge for disability. His discharge paper has been preserved :
"Bennington Sep. 12 1777
Edward Colburn is hereby discharged from the service he being found unfit for duty" This is signed by the commanding officers orders by John Casey A. D. C.
Whether wounded or overcome by heat and exhaustion like many others, we do not know. It is difficult on account of the absence of records to follow the movements of the Dracut men, but enough has been gathered from private records to prove con- clusively that they participated in the battles which took place about Skenesboro, Saratoga, and Ticonderoga. One such proof is found in a letter written by Capt. Stephen Russell.
"Stillwater Sept 28, 1777
Loving Wife & dutiful Children, after offering my love to you,
I cheerfully embrace this opportunity to communicate with you, though at a great distance & to let you know that through the goodness of God I am well & hope these lines will find you the same. I am somewhat wearied with marching for we have had tedious marches. I have been to Skenesboro & was ordered right back again. * * I had 40 men sent out of my company to Ticonderoga which have not returned yet & I dont know as they will. Jones has been sick with camp disease but is better & is here. We arrived here at Stillwater the 25th instant with 8 days & one nights march without stopping but one night in a place. We hear that Ticonderoga has fallen into our hands .* We have had a battle here & by the best account we lost 200 men & 1000 of the enemy [were] killed & taken. Francis Sawyer of Dracutt was killed and also Wm Hildreth. Our Dracut men are all well that belong to the Continental service. They are all here
*This was incorrect. The rumor was the result of a raid by the Americans which met with only partial success.
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but Taylor who is at New Castle. Tories are plenty but our Indians make sad work with them. They take more or less every day. We are within 11/2 miles of the enemies camp & we expect hourly to be called to action. We are daily taking on both sides. Great consternation prevails. Our men flock in here like bees that cover the face of the Earth. We have a strong army here & our men are in good spirits, and I hope with a blessing that we shall overcome the whole in a short time. We have plenty of bread and meat. What men I have with me are mostly well. Our Indians take the enemy and Tories dayly & those that wont take quarter they kill and scalp. Time only must determine the event. New England has called down heavy judgements on us at this day & in the days of calamity & distress we are to consider from whose hand it comes. God looks down with dis- pleasure on our sins, but it is the sincere prayer of your friend and well wisher, that we may all of us mend our ways & live more to the honor and glory of our Creator than ever yet we have done & I desire that it may please an infinite being to re- turn me again to you and that we may be a blessing to each other. Time wont permit to multiply words, so I must conclude by committing you & myself & the children & all my near and dear relations into the arms and care of a merciful being who is able to keep and support us in any state, place or condition he sees fit to put us in. So I conclude and subscribe myself your affectionate companion & loving husband until death.
STEPHEN RUSSELL Capt.
Stillwater Sept 28 1777
Give my compliments to all inquiring friends and neigh- bors & to Mr. Tyler & tell him his brother is with me. Sargt Barker & James Reed are well & desire to be remembered to their friends.
S. RUSSELL Capt."
A list of Capt. Russell's company is found in the Mass Revo- lutionary Rolls :
"A Pay Roll of Capt. Stephen Russells Company in Col. Saml. Bullards Regt of the State of the Mass. Bay Melitia, A Dom. 1777."
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HISTORY OF DRACUT
Capt Stephen Russell 1st Lieut Isaac Warren 2d Lieut Christopher Page Sergt Moses Barker
Jeratheel Coburn
Benj. Sprake
Peter Hunt.
Daniel Kittredge
Corp. Francis Davidson
" Zebediah Jones
66 Zebedialı Rogers
Phinehas Kidder
60 Benja Lane
David Lane
Drummer Benja. Gould
Seth Leviston
Fifer Abraham Stickney
Saul Marshall
John Adams
Jesse Marshall
Chas. Annis
Joshua Marshall
Wm Beard
Isaac Marshall
Jesse Bradley
Cambridge Mooar
Reuben Baulding
William Melendy
Sam'l. Cummings
Joseph Osgood
Jeptha Coburn
Stephen Pearce
Benja Coburn
Silas Parker
Silas Coburn
Saml. Parkhurst
Josiah Crosby
Simeon Parker
Abiel Cross
William Parham
Nathan Cory
Wm Richardson
Daniel Clement
James Reed
Jonathan Coburn
Peter Reed
Joseph Chambers
John Reed
William Cauldwell
Porter Ray
Joseph Dowse Timothy Davis
David Richardson John Robb
Josiah Estabrook
Jonas Spaulding
Daniel Emerson
Joseplı Spaulding
Simeon Foster
Jonathan Shed William Taylor
John Gordon Jesse Gould
James Terbox
Enoch Howard
Saml. Trull
Hezekiah Thorndik
John Hayward Nehemiah Hunt
James Haseltine Josiah Heald
Ebenezer Johnson
Nathaniel Ingalls
Enoch Jewett Nathaniel Jones
Asa Kittredge
Timothy Kelley
Thomas Goodwin
Nathan Tyler
Samson Walker
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Abijah Wood Isaac Wright Oliver Wright
David Walker Saml. Whiting.
The total number of the company was 85. They drew pay from August 14th to November 30th, besides an allowance for twelve days to return home, 240 miles, marching 20 miles each day. The captain was paid £12 per month, the lieutenants £8.2s, sergeants £2.8s, corporals, drummers and fifers £2.4s and pri- vates £2. per month as authorized by acts of the Continental Congress. The company rendezvoused August 15th at Chelms- ford, and marched to Bennington, Vt., arriving there on the 17th, the day after the battle. From Bennington they went to Pawlet, Vt., and were attached to the regiment of Col. Samuel Bullard, marching to Stillwater, N. Y., where they took part in the events culminating in the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, which occurred Oct. 17th. Soon after this the company was ordered down the river to Esopus, then to Tarrytown and White Plains, where they were discharged Nov. 30th. Another company, under Capt. Joseph B. Varnum, was mustered September 20, 1777, marched from Dracut, October 1st, and remained in service till November 7th.
In Mass. Revolutionary Rolls we find "A muster Role of Capt Joseph Bradley Varnum's Company of Volenteers from Dracut in Colo. Jonathan Reed's Regt in ye state of Massa- chusetts Bay who Marched and Reinforced ye Northern Army according to a Resolve of ye General Court of said State Passed ve 22d September 1777. For ye States pay by rates of ye Con- tinental pay."
Capt Joseph B Varnum
Lieut Ephraim Coburn Sergt Abijah Fox
Jonas Varnum
Jonathan Jones
66 Timothy Barker
Leonard Coburn
Corpl. John Handcock David Trull
Fifer Barzeala Lue
Clerk Joshua Pilsbury
Privates Lieut David Jones
Sergt. Samuel Baron
William Abbott
Simeon Coburn
Samuel Coburn
David Coburn
Saul Coburn
Reuben Coburn
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HISTORY OF DRACUT
Jonathan Crosby
Jonathan Parkhurst
Moses Davis
Samuel Piper
David Fox
Ebenezer Sawyer
Zechariah Goodhue
David Sawyer
Josiah Hildreth
Jonathan Taylor
Peter Heseltine
Thomas Taylor
Daniel Jaquest
Bradley Varnum
David MeLaughlin
Solomon Wood
John Mears
John Wood
Isaac Parker
(Signed) JOSEPH B. VARNUM Capt.
Jared Sparks, the historian and lecturer, relates that before the battle of Trenton, Lord Cornwallis hastened to overtake Washington. To accomplish this it was necessary to cross a wooden bridge which spanned Stony Brook on the old kings road between the Navy Yard and Philadelphia. While the bridge was being destroyed by the Americans they suffered from the fire of the British troops as they advanced, and some of the men were obliged to work in the icy water. As the brook was swollen by a freshet, the British were compelled to find a ford at a distance from the bridge, it gave the American troops a decided advan- tage. The men detailed to destroy the bridge were a part of Captain Varnum's company whom Washington ordered liim to take for this purpose. Touching his hat, Captain Varnum said, "Are there men enough?" Gen. Washington said, "Enough to be cut to pieces." Knowing the duty to be a dangerous one, he returned to his men and pinched his cheeks for fear that they would see that he was pale. Washington's commands were obeyed and the bridge was destroyed.
At Bennington, the troops under Col. Baum, who had been detached by Burgoyne, had been defeated, which placed him in a perilous situation. An attempt by the British to retreat brought about an engagement at Saratoga which was undecisive, but a second battle was fought which was so disastrous to Burgoyne that he attempted to retreat to Fort Edward. In the meantime this fort had been besieged and fallen into the hands of the Americans which so discouraged him that he surrendered his
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army to General Gates, who had succeeded General Schuyler. Burgoyne was a very pompous man and his pomposity excited the ridicule of the American soldiers. After this defeat a coup- let was composed.
"Burgoyne unconscious of impending fates
Could cut his way through woods but not through Gates."
During this year recruiting was difficult, and the towns were notified to send a certain number of men. It was customary for several men to unite in hiring one man, and these men, and not the town, paid the bounty. The length of time for which each should pay was furnished them. This statement is verified by the following copy of an old paper which is in possession of the writer relating to a transaction of this nature in Pelham, N. H. The journal of Lieut. Ephraim Coburn from which extracts will be made contains entries which this paper explains. It is brief and not dated, but is easily understood. We cannot explain why a part of them were ordered to furnish the amount for one month and others for two. It may be possible that some had already been called upon for like service and so were excused from paying as much as the others.
"Edward Coburn 2 months Asa Carlton 2 months Abial Barker 2 months Nathaniel Currier 1 month Timothy Clark Jr 2 months William Webster 1 month Deacon James Wilson 1 month Daniel Wilson 1 month
You and each of you are Required forthwith to Joyne ac- cording to your Proportions to git one good man to serve in the Continental army for the Term of one year.
ASA RICHARDSON Capt."
The journal of Lieut. Ephraim Coburn, to which reference has been made, contains the names of many of those who pro- vided substitutes, having already served themselves or being in service. It also shows the prices paid for substitutes.
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HISTORY OF DRACUT
"Those that went to Ticonderoga under
Capt. John Ford John Hamblet Simeon Williams
Lieut. Micah Hildreth
Capt. Ezekiel Hale
10 dollars
10 Dollars
Doct. James Abbot
Each
Henry Coburn
Each
Hugh Jones
Zechariah Goodhue Hired Abijah Wood
10 Dollars
Samuel Piper
Each Hired Samuel Piper
Deacon Amos Bradley Paid 20 Dolars
10 Dolars Ephraim Parker
Each
Jesse Adams
Hired Moses Barker
Samuel Coburn £8-0-0
Lawful money
David Blood £4.00
Lawful money
Hired William Smiley
Capt. Stephen Russell 20 Doll.
Deacon Thos. Hovey 10 Dolars
Ephraim Coburn 10 Dolars
Hired Jonas Whiting
£4-0-0 Benjamin French
Lawful Matthew Parker
money each Bradley Varnum
1
Lawful Lieut. Abraham Coburn
money Jonathan Parkhurst
each Hired Solomon Wood
10 Dolars
Joshua Jones
Each Jonathan Jones
Uriah Coburn
Capt Russells
Hired Two
Hired Joshua Jones
Company
thirds
[name not given]
40 Dolars Green Parker Hired Seth Ditson
The Second Voyage of Ticonderoga men for 5 months under Captain Fitch.
Samuel Coburn 20 Dolars £44-0-0
Ephraim Coburn 10 Dolars £22-10-0
Lieut Aaron Coburn 15-0-0
Job Coburn 2- 0-0
Jonathan Varnum 18-0-0"
[Names of men hired not given]
-
Ephraim Coburn Hired John Taylor Thomas Goodhue
Jonathan Varnum 10 Dolars Solomon Osgood 10 Dolars
Asa Coburn 20 Dolars
Hired Asa Coburn
Jabesh Coburn 20 Dolars
Ezekiel Richardson 10 Dolars
Isaac Clement 10 Dolars
Hired Isaac Clement
Moses Goodhue 5 Dolars
Timothy Frye 10 Dolars
Robert Coburn £4-10-0 Lawful Willard Coburn 10 Dolars
Hired Elijah Hildreth
Capt. Josiah Richardson 8 Dols.
David Richardson 10 Dolars Capt. Stephen Russell 7 Dolars Hired Brintwood Brown
£4-0-0 Lieut. Aaron Coburn
Hired Benjamin Barron
Thomas Varnum
One third of a Capt Varnums
man hired by Company
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"The names of Those that Went into the Continental Army the year 1777 with Capt. James Varnum and others for 3 years.
Isaac Clement
Josiah Wood
Oliver Hall
*Hinksman Richardson
Jesse Coburn
Asa Coburn
Seth Ditson
Joshua Jones
Daniel Abbott Jr. John Dodge
Samuel Perkins 1
Joshua Atwood
Thomas Thissell
Benjamin Barron
Moses Richardson
Joseph Bussell
William Hildreth Jr.
Jonathan Hamblett
John Taylor Jr.
Elijah Hildreth."
Also in private journal kept by John Varnum "31 Mar. 1777. Town meeting to raise men for the army for 3 years. Voted to add to their bounty 100 dols. A committee was chosen and authorized to give security to each man that enlisted for 3 years 30€ lawful money over and above what ye bounty of the state is. A number enlisted. 8 may Wm Hildrith, Hinesman Richardson, Joshua [Josiah] Wood and Josiah [Joseph] Bosell went to Concord and passed muster. Richardson returned home, Hildreth and Wood went to Cambridge, Asa Coburn set out for Cambridge the same day."
Also in Lieut. Ephraim Coburn's journal : "Those that went under Capt. Reuben Butterfield to the Jersey 3 months.
Samuel Cummings
Doctor James Abbott
Toothacre
Samuel Mears
Josiah Crosby
Josiah Wood
Hinksman Richardson
William Abbott
Samuel Brown"
These men were not letter writers and some could not write their names so that little can be learned from private correspondence, but there can be no doubt that the Dracut men took an active part in the stirring scenes and the battles
*Reported died July 6, 1778, his term of service from May 16, 1777 to July 6, 1778.
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HISTORY OF DRACUT
and marches of the campaigns that preceded the surrender at Saratoga. These men served at different times and in different places and all journeys must be taken on foot. As the postal service was in its infancy, tidings of the absent ones would be received only at long intervals.
After the victory at Saratoga which encouraged the patriots, there were several engagements during the year in which the Americans were unsuccessful, and at the close of the year they went into camp at Valley Forge. The account of the sufferings of the soldiers is familiar to us. The cold was intense, their shelter was in huts, many of them constructed of boughs, while clothing, blankets and food were difficult to procure. In all these trying experiences Dracut men bore a part.
Lossing, the historian, has left on record a fitting tribute to their patriotism: "If there is a spot on the face of our broad land where Patriotism should delight to pile up its highest and most venerated monument, it should be in the bosom of that little vale on the banks of the Schuylkill. There in the midst of frost and snows, disease and destitution, Liberty erected her altar, and in all the world's history we have no record of purer devotion, holier sincerity, or more pious self-sacrifice than were there exhibited in the Camp of Washington. The courage that nerves the arm on the battle field and dazzles with its brilliant but evanescent flashes, pales before the steadier and more in- tense flame of patient endurance."
Washington in a letter to Congress dated at Valley Forge, December 22, 1777, says: "Had a body of the enemy crossed the Schuylkill this morning, as I had every reason to expect, the divisions which I ordered to be in readiness to march and meet them could not have moved." Two of the divisions were those of Generals Varnum and Huntington. General Varnum upon receiving the order wrote to General Washington: "According to the saying of Solomon, hunger will break through a stone wall. It is, therefore, a very pleasing circumstance to the divi- sion under my command that there is a probability of march- ing. The men must be supplied or they cannot be commanded. The complaints are too urgent to be unnoticed. It is with pain that I mention this distress as I know it will make your excel- lency unhappy."
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The citizens of Dracut sympathized with the suffering sol- diers and sent a load of clothing to them, as we learn by an entry in the town records. "To the Treasurer of Dracut, Pay to Jonathan Jones £44-16s-8d for his going with a load of clothing to Valley Forge." This was a long journey for a team which was very likely an ox team, but it must have brought cheer and comfort to the men in camp. General Varnum was a brother of Capt. Joseph Bradley Varnum, who, in later years, held in the militia the rank of General. At a meeting of the voters of the town, held February 2, 1778, it was "voted to send each soldier who enlisted in the service for three years, or during the war, one pair of shoes, one pair of stockings and two shirts." Also "voted to raise 600 dollars to purchase them and transport to the said soldiers in the army." Thus assuming expense that at a later time would be borne by the government.
The British were in occupation of Newport, R. I., about three years from December, 1776, to the end of the year 1779 resisting all attempts of the Americans to dislodge them. Dracut men took part in a campaign during these years. Lieut. Ephraim Coburn's journal is further quoted.
"May ye 8 1777
Those that went under Capt Minot of Chelmsphord to Rhode Island 3 months
Moses Clement Daniel Jacques
Saul Coburn
Jepthey Coburn."
In 1778 another expedition was planned under the com- mand of General Sullivan. A company from Dracut served in this expedition under Capt. J. B. Varnum in Col. McClintock's regiment, General Lovell's Brigade during July and August, 1778. The roll was as follows :
Capt Joseph B. Varnum First Lieut. Temple Kindal Second " Abraham Stickney Sergeants John Robins Reuben Lewis
Sergeant G Flagg Lane Corporal Asa Spaulding
60 Jno. Haywood
Oliver Bowers
66 Oliver Farmer.
David Austin
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HISTORY OF DRACUT
PRIVATES
John Betty
William Parker
Clerk of Company
Chester Parker John Shed
Eben Hunt
Amos Bradley
Jonathan Woodward
Jesse Butterfield
Timothy Bancroft
Jeptha Coburn
Oliver Coburn
Saul Coburn
Nathaniel Ingalls
Ephraim Crosby
Thompson Baron [or Bacon]
Benjamin Danforth
Jno. Boman
William Danforth
Jesse Auger [or Anger]
James Davis
Simeon Parker
Josiah Fletcher
John Webber
Levi Fletcher
Ebenezer Leman
Edward Farmer
Jonathan Foster
John Gordon
David Merrill
Jesse Haywood
William Spaulding
Jonathan Hunt
Jno. Dunn
James Harvey
Andrew Hall
Paul Hill
John Johnson
James Louis
Thomas Goodwin
Samuel Cory
Abraham Jaquith.
John Perham
Some of the names on this roll were not those of Dracut men, while several can be identified as belonging to this town. Col. Louis Ansart, whose biographical sketch appears in an- other chapter, served for a time as an aide-de-camp to General Sullivan, and his service in this campaign comprised the only military duties in which, to any extent, he performed. A bri- gade was detached from the main army and despatched to Gen. Sullivan's assistance. This was under command of General James Varnum, a native of Dracut and brother of Capt. J. B. Varnum as before stated. On February 16, 1778, five men being needed to complete a guard at Boston, Jabish Coburn, Nehemiah Flint, Amos Bradley, Jr., Ephraim Wright and Benjamin Bowers were drafted. Nehemiah Flint hired William Abbott, paying him $30, to take his place.
(See Page 197)
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At a meeting of the town, May 22, 1778, it was voted £1535- 10s to pay the nine months', six months', and six weeks' men that went into the service. Also to give the men that went to the defence of Boston, in February, 1778, £6 for three months, also to pay the men that went on guard in April for three months £8 and to the men now on guard at Cambridge £14. In ex- planation of the action of the voters as recorded, Mr. A. C. Varnum has left a record which informs us that "these men were called out by the General Court for the defence of Boston, Cambridge and Watertown, where large military stores were on account of the troops that had been stationed there, having at the request of Washington joined in the expedition to cap- ture Gen. Burgoyne at Saratoga."
In Town and County Continental rolls these additional names are found :
Benjamin Bowers age 18 Jona. Osgood age 17
Jeptha Coburn 19 Chester Parker " 25
Daniel Clement 18 Dudley Davis " 16
General Philip Reade, in "The Hildreth Family," writes: "Mass. Revolutionary Rolls show that Israel Hildreth served as a private from Oct 19 to Nov 23 1779 at Claverack N. Y. in Capt. John Porters company of the 2d Mass Bay militia Col. Samuel Denney. The company marched 200 miles to reach Claverack. Israel Hildreth advanced £341 to the town to help equip the soldiers. He cruised with Wingate or Thomas Newman until about the summer of 1779."
Under date of March 3, 1780, an order was given to the selectmen by the treasurer "Pay to Capt. Stephen Russell £824 to pay to the men that listed to go to Claverack," also same date "Pay to Captain Russell £249 that he found to be paid to the men that went to Boston, and one man going to Rhode Island."
In state archives, "Dracut July 17 1780 Received of the Committee of Dracut for hiring men a note of hand of 60 bushels of Indian Corn for our doing a 3 months turn in the army for said Town
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HISTORY OF DRACUT
Ebenezir Sawyer
Jonas Prescott Barrett
Geo. Kelley
Jonathan Barker
Reuben Sawyer
Christopher Williams
Dudley Davis
Jonathan Parker Jr.
Jacob Atwood
Joshua Thissell
John Curtis
John Hancock
Asa Hall
Wm Clough
There are recorded in the State Archives a "List of Six months Continental men 1780
Daniel Clemens [Clement ]
Thaddeus Coburn
John Mercey | Massey]
Moses Davis
Oliver Jones
Samuel Abbott
Joshua Bradley
Reuben Richardson
Reuben Coburn
Samuel Elliott
Wm Gould
Timothy Kelley
David Harvey
Ephraim Lindsay."
Also from State archives: "We the subscribers do hereby acknowledge that we have each one of us respectively received of the Committee of Dracut to procure men for the war, in said town 100 bushels of Indian Corn for our doing a 6 mos. turn for said town to the Continental Army."
This was signed by all the men who signed the above ac- knowledgement except Timothy Kelley and Ephraim Lindsay. It is interesting to know the amount paid for service in the army.
"Dracut March ye 22d 1781. We the subscribers Received of the town of Dracut Three Hundred Dollars in Specie, in money and in notes from the Town Treasurer in full for doing Three years Service in the army.
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