USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynn > Lynn in the Revolution, Part II > Part 19
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After his return to Lynn he engaged as a farm hand in the employ of a Boston man who owned land beyond the British lines. Being a friend of the colonies, his employer was of much use to the patriot cause. Many a load of farming tools, driven through the British lines by the innocent farmer-boy of Lynn, arrived in the patriot army with provisions or war material. He was thus engaged at the time of the battle of Bunker Hill. About January 1, 1776, he returned to Lynn, and enlisted in the company of Captain Ezra Newhall for one year. He was with the company at the evacuation of Boston, was on guard duty during the summer, and marched with it to New York. He was in the retreat with Washington across New Jersey, and took part in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. On January 1, 1777, the greater part of the Lynn men were discharged, and set out for home. In com- pany with a comrade from Cape Cod, Joseph Richards purchased a horse, and the two men came home by the "ride and tie" method. By arrangement one would ride a certain distance, tie the horse, and pro- ceed on foot. The other would then take the horse and ride beyond the first, and in turn tie the horse and walk on. In this way each was to ride half the distance home. On reaching Worcester, however, the comrade forgot to tie the horse, and Mr. Richards was obliged to walk the rest of the way to Lynn. He left Worcester early in the morning, and crossed Village Square, Lynn, soon after nine at night, having walked fifty-four miles during the day.
In 1777 he again enlisted, this time in Captain Miles Green- wood's company, Colonel Jacob Gerrish's regiment, and served three months.
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On February 25. 1779, he was married by Rev. Mr. Treadwell to Martha Burrill. daughter of Theophilus and Mary (Hill) Burrill, born July 23. 1750. She was the daughter of his nearest neighbor. living in the old homestead still standing on Essex Street. She died soon after the birth of a daughter. Martha. He was married. second. by Rev. Mr. Treadwell. December 21. 1780. to Lydia Witt. a young woman who had been living in the family of his first wife. By this marriage he had nine children. Lydia. Sarah. Joseph. Deborah. Elizabeth. John. Richard. Rebecca. and Rebecca. His son Richard was the inventor of the first sole-cutting machine. Joseph Richards is described as a man of noble presence. over six feet in height. large in proportion, and " strong as two common men." For some time he was employed with his brother Richard as a ship carpenter at alem .- an industry which was then at the full tide of its glory. The brother> walked to and from their work every day. Finally. meeting with a severe accident. Joseph settled down to farming. taking the south- easterly half of his father's farm and building a house for himself and family. About forty years ago this house was removed to Fayette Street. and soon after torn down. In it he reared his large family. and from it be buried his wife. Lydia. who died December 4. 1810. His daugh- ters. Betsey and Rebecca, then successively kept house for him. His life subsequent to the Revolution seems to have been an uneventful one. He was an industrious farmer. a quiet neighbor. and a good citizen. His home was dearly loved by his grandchildren, and a warmı welcome always awaited them. His last days were spent with his son. Richard. who built the house on Olive Street afterwards owned and occupied by Dr. Asa T. Newhall. When Lafayette visited Lynn. August 31. 1824. the old soldier was thought to be nearing the close of his life. It was supposed that the procession would pass from Broad Street through Chestnut and Olive. and. in order that his wish to see the distinguished general might be gratified he was brought to lui- door in a chair. For some reason. however. the line of march was changed. and to his great disappointment his view was only a distant one. His death occurred September 28. 1828. at the age of seventy- one years. He was buried in the Eastern Burial Ground where a commanding stone bears the inscription :-
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This Monument Sacred to the memory of MIR. JOSEPH RICHARDS, Who made his exit from this scene of mortality Sept. 28. 1824. Aged 71 years.
"The hopes of life were his, the joys and fears. The clouds and sunshine of its smiles and tears. For him was friendship's generous hand unclosed, And round his home the joys of love reposed. Now all are vanished and beneath this sod, Silent he waits the mandate of his God."
RICHARDS, WILLIAM,-son of John and Lydia (Phillips) Richards, was the oldest of the three brothers who went out from the Richards homestead on the Lexington alarm. He was born November 5. 1733, probably on the old place called in later years the "Stetson Estate," of Swamp- scott. Here he lived up to the time of his marriage, April 24, 1754. by William Collins, Esq., to Tabitha Williams. On the morning of April 19. he marched with his company, that of Captain William Far- rington, toward Concord. and is credited with two days' service. He was also matross in Captain Winthrop Gray's company, Colonel Craft's (artillery) regiment: abstract for advance pay. etc .. sworn to at Boston, June 8, 1776.
RICHARDS, WILLIAM, Jr.,-was son of William and Tabitha (Williams) Richards, and younger brother of James. He was born December 17. 1756, and married June. 1785, Jerusha Alley, daughter of Jacob and Huldah (Newhall) Alley, born in 1764. This William Richards lived at one time at the foot of Market Street, near the site of the present Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad station. The house is said to be still standing on Sea Street. He died October 18. 1832, and his wife died February 25, 1841. Her grave is unmarked in the old Western Burial Ground, and he is probably buried beside her. All that is known of his Revolutionary service is identical with that of his brother James, they having marched together in Captain Farrington's company on the alarm of April 19, 1775, and received pay for two days' service.
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RICHARDSON, EBENEZER,-son of Ebenezer and Rebecca, was born in Wo- burn, June 16, 1746-7; married by Rev. Mr. Treadwell, February 5, 1778, to Lois Bacheller; children, Anna, Jonathan, Lois, Ebenezer, and Henry. His home was in Wyoma, in the house still standing near the beginning of Lynnfield Street, called the old Wyoma house. There were but three houses in Wyoma at Elmi Richardes that time, and his farm extended back from Broadway toward the Lynn Woods. After the war he was a sailor, and his old chest and sailor's thimble are still preserved in the hands of his descendant, Mr. Frederick A. Gordon. The death of his wife occurred January 29, 1821, and his own death January 9, 1832. The records of the Pension Office show that he was granted a pension, April 30, 1818, at the age of seventy-one years, at $8.00 per month. His record as preserved in the Pension Office in Washington indicates that he was a private in Captain Addison Richardson's company, Colonel John Mansfield's regiment, from April to December, 1775; also in the same company, Colonel Israel Hutchinson's regiment, from Janu- ary, 1776, to May, 1777. In the month of November, 1776, he was taken prisoner at Fort Washington and detained in the city of New York as such until May, 1777, when he was liberated by parole. In his last days he lived in South Danvers. One winter day he started to walk from thence to Woodend, Lynn. Upon his arrival at his son's house on Chestnut Street he was taken sick, and died of pneumonia at the end of four days. The funeral was held at the house, and a long procession of chaises went down the road to the old Western Burial Ground.
Mr. Richardson often described the Lexington alarm, and claimed that he saw General Warren killed at Bunker Hill, pointing out the spot to his grandson, whom he desired to visit the spot every year. This the grandson did until he was eighty-one years of age. Eben- ezer Richardson has been described as a very pleasant man, tall, quite stout, and bald. Ile always wore a little cap and earrings. RICHARDSON, ELEAZER, son of Eleazer and Susanna (C'arter) Richard- son, was born in Woburn, June 29, 1746; married, September 8, 1768, Mrs. Catherine Newhall. She died January 10, 1785, and he married, second. Mary Walker, daughter of Joshua and Mary Walker, born December 9, 1758, died January 1, 1788; married, third, in Boston,
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Unitideinter. , james Réunion of Boston, in the Country of
and one that in camerana Mib: It was a founded company commanded to inplace Addio Questionsyou in the in vorher l' Eleciment, commanded by Chach Forma tive is - that i will know, Plasser Muchastien, Then a istdie in the same reamint; and how how to have done dating at work from January 1776, and it November of the same with Newyork , where we heft in confinement un' the may following. 1 .
,
CERTIFICATE OF JAMES ROBINSON
Lynn in the Revolution
by Rev. Peter Thatcher, December 4, 1788, to Lydia Upham Grover. Ile had ten children by his first wife, Stephen Newhall, Eleazer Carter. John, John, Susanna, Catherine, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Ruth. He died in Woburn, February 1, 1808, aged sixty-two.
Appears as a private in Captain Ezra Newhall's minute company which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775.
RICHARDSON, SOLOMON,-perhaps son of Solomon and Abigail (Buxton) Richardson, of Salem, born in Middleton, June 7, 1755. He was taken prisoner at Fort Washington, according to Colonel Israel Hutch- inson's Orderly Book, November 16, 1776, but no other service is noted.
ROBINSON, JAMES,-born February 27, 1757, was a private in Captain Rufus Mansfield's 4th Lynn company, which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775; service, two days; also fifer in Captain Enoch Putnam's company, Colonel Mansfield's regiment; muster-roll dated August 1, 1775; enlisted May 10, 1775; service, two months, twenty-seven days, James Robinson also Captain Putnam's company; Colonel John Mansfield's (19th) regi- ment, commanded by Lieutenant-Col- onel Israel IIutchinson; company re- turn dated October 6, 1775. Ile became the first postmaster of Lynn. The house in which he lived was the old Burrill house previously occupied by Ebenezer Burrill, one of the "Sam Adams rebels." The house was situated on the northeast corner of Boston and Federal Streets, and in a little shop nearby the post-office was kept. The old house, which was torn down in 1885 by Eaton W. Lothrop, had been remodelled some time beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitant. The original house had been built, it was said, with an overhang upon the front of a foot or more. The north side was filled in with bricks, set up edgewise in clay, and the chimney was also partially laid in clay. The first wife of James Robinson, to whom he was married by Rev. Mr. Treadwell, May 6, 1779, was Lydia, daughter of James Newhall, known as "Squire Jim." She was born August 21, 1759. Children by her were James, Lydia, Abigail, John, Harriet, Lois, Janet, George, Moses, Charles, and Iloratio. Lydia, the wife, died in 1800. August 15, 1801, he married Mrs. Alice Gay, widow of Timothy Gay, of Boston, and there were three children by this marriage. After his second
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marriage he lived for a number of years in Boston. His wife was pos- sessed of considerable property, which at her death, about 1824. went to her children by her former marriage, and James Robinson passed the remainder of his life in reduced circumstances, with impaired mind and memory. He lived part of the time with his daughter, Mrs. Ward, of Salem. He was finally pensioned from January 8, 1828, at eight dollars per month. The Lynn Record of January 21, 1832, contained the fol- lowing notice: "In this town on Saturday last, Capt. James Robin- son, a Revolutionary pensioner and for many years one of our most re- spected townsmen, aged 75." Ile was first buried in an old tomb on the Elm Street side of the old Western Burial Ground, but was later removed to a lot on Lotus Path in Pine Grove Cemetery.
ROBY, LIEUTENANT HENRY,-son of Rev. Joseph Roby, was born October 14, 1757: married in Boston to Sarah Sloan, November 28, 1781. In Ilmy Roly 1806, when Lemuel Allen's will was probated. Henry Roby, who signed it, is noted as being "a long distance away from Lynn and out of State."
Ilis name appears on a receipt dated Salem, September 25, 1775, signed by said Roby, third sergeant, and others belonging to Captain Samuel King's company, for advance pay for one month; also ser- geant, Captain Samuel King's company: engaged July 14. 1775: ser- vice, six months, two days; company stationed at Salem and Lynn for defence of seacoast.
ROBY, REV. JOSEPH,-son of Joseph and Priscilla Roby, was born in Boston, May 12, 1724. He graduated at Harvard College in 1742. receiving the degree of A.M .; married February 23, 1732, by Rev. Andros Elliot, Mrs. Rachel Proctor, of Boston. His home was on what is now the main street of Saugus, at that time a mere lane. The old house in which joseph Roby he lived and died was torn down some twenty years ago, but the great elm- tree in front, which he planted. still remains to add beauty to the town street. His children were: Joseph, born February 17, 1753; Rachel, born June 2, 1758; Mary, born December 20, 1755; Henry, born October 14. 1757; Thomas, March 2, 1759; Elizabeth, July 18, 1763; and Sarah, March 27, 1767. During his long pastorate he performed the marriage cere-
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CAPTAIN JAMES ROBINSON
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mony for nearly three hundred couples, many of whom came from the First Parish. His wife, Rachel, died March 8, 1792, and on the 7th of August, 1792, he was again married, this time by Rev. Peter Thatcher to Mrs. Zeruiah Marston, widow of Captain Manasseh Marston, of Boston. Four days after the battle of Lexington the people of Lynn chose a committee to consult measures of safety. The committee con- sisted of Rev. John Treadwell, minister of the First Parish, Rev. Joseph Roby of the Third Parish, and Deacon Daniel Mansfield. On the next Sunday, by recommendation of the Provincial Congress, all men
ROBY HOUSE, SAUGUS
who lived within twenty miles of the seacoast went to church armed. Parson Roby religiously followed these instructions, appearing at meet- ing with his musket under one arm and his sermon under the other. Most of the men of his parish had responded to the alarm of April 19, 1775, and many were soon enrolled in the Continental Army. His sons Henry and Thomas enlisted, and did valiant duty. His son Joseph had previously taken part in the Boston Tea Party, and his daughters, Rachel and Mary, were given in marriage to soldiers in the army of Washington. In 1789, when President Washington journeyed through
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Lynn, Parson Roby was one of those presented to him at the Newhall tavern. Hon. Nathan Mortimer Hawkes, whose graceful pen has left a delightful sketch of the old parson, well says: "Mr. Roby was an exemplar in many ways of the compact force of organized Puritanism. He made himself a part of the people to whom he dedicated his life-work. With the early teachers there was no drifting about from parish to parish. When his calling was assured, it was to live and die and be buried with his own. Such men as he identified themselves with the air, the soil. the traditions of the locality, becoming as it were a part of all."
His last days were unfortunately passed in continned sickness, which gradually brought him to his end. Ile died on Jannary 31, 1803, in the eightieth year of his age, in the house where he had lived for fifty years. His wife died January 12, 1820, aged eighty, and they are buried in the old churchyard at Saugus Centre, just beside the village green, on which stood the old church to whose wants he had ministered. A tall black stone, bearing the emblems of death, marks his grave and has the following inscription :-
"Sacred to the memory of Rev. Joseph Roby, who departed this life Jany 31st, 1803, in the eightieth year of his age, and 51st of his ministry in this Parish. "Through life a lover of learning and virtue, a sincere friend, a kind and affer- tionate husband and parent, and a devoted Christian.
"By a constant practice of the Christian and social virtues, he rendered him- self greatly beloved and respected in the various walks of domestic life. Reader, wouldst thou be honored in life and lamented in death, go and do likewise."
"No pain, no grief, no anxious fear, Invade these bounds, No mortal woes Can reach the peaceful sleeper here, Whilst angels watch his soft repose. So Jesus sleeps, God's dying son Past through the grave and blest the bed; Then rest dear Saint, till from his throne The morning break and pierce the shade."
ROBY, JOSEPH, Jr.,-son of Rev. Joseph Roby, was born in Saugus, Feb- ruary 19, 1752; married May 1, 1803, Relief Curtis, of Hanover, N.II. He was in the Boston Tea Party. Removed to New Hampshire.
ROBY, THOMAS,-son of Rev. Joseph Roby, was born in Saugus, March 2, 1759. Appears on a receipt dated Salem, September 25, 1775, signed by said Roby and others belonging to Caplain Samuel King's com-
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pany, for advance pay for one month; also private, Captain Samuel King's company, enlisted July 14, 1775; service, six months, two days; company stationed at Salem and Lynn for defence of seacoast .- Mass. Rolls.
SHELDON, EPHRAIM,-son of Ephraim and Lydia Sheldon, was born in Read- ing, January 20, 1746, and came to Lynnfield with his parents in 1764. An Ephraim Sheldon was married by Rev. Mr. Roby, January 9, 1768, to Eunice Felt, and may have been this man. He is borne as a private on the roll of minute-men of Captain Bancroft, but it is not known that he saw further service in the war. His Entram & helden father died in Lynnfield, July 7, 1792, aged seventy-five, and he himself left Lynnfield soon after that date, and nothing more has been learned concerning him.
SHELDON, FRANCIS,-was probably born in Reading. He early appears in the records of the Lynnfield precinct, and was married May 26, 1774, to Mrs. Elizabeth Marston.
He is borne on the muster-roll of Captain Bancroft's company, but is not credited with mileage. This may indicate that he did not go with the other members of the company on April 19. He reported for duty, and was paid for two days' service. He also enlisted May 8, 1775, in Captain Enoch Putnam's company, Colonel John Mansfield's regiment, and served three months, doing guard duty during the siege of Boston.
After 1790 his name does not appear in Lynnfield records, but is last noted as "of Marblehead." Upon the death of Aaron Aborn, of Lynnfield, his wife Phœbe married Francis Sheldon, of Salem, Septem- ber 30, 1788.
SHERMAN, NATHANIEL,-second lieutenant, son of Nathaniel and Dorcas (Sawyer) Sherman, was born in Lynnfield, March 30, 1731. He mar- ried Susanna -, who died October 3, 1768, aged thirty-two. His chil- dren were Susanna, Rebecca, Dorcas, Keziah, Betty, and Lydia. His home was in the north part of Lynnfield, at the corner of the present Chestnut and Lowell Streets, but the small gambrel-roofed house was torn down many years ago. He served as clerk of the parish in 1760, 1761, 1765, and 1786; was selectman in 1782, 1786, 1789, 1793, and 1794, treasurer of the parish in 1788, and besides held other small
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offices. Little further is known of him except that he went with the Lynnfield company on the 19th of April, 1775. He died September 27, 1809, at the age of seventy-eight, and is buried in the old burial- ground at Lynnfield Centre. A marble stone and bronze marker of the S. A. R. were erected at his grave in 1904.
SMITH, AMOS,-private, son of Amos and Mary (Perkins) Smith, was born in Danvers, October 29, 1748. After the death of his mother, May 1, 1764, his father married, second, August 20, 1764, Abigail, daughter of Jonathan and Mercy (Hawkes) Hart, and removed to Lynnfield, where he took up his residence on the land of his father-in-law. Amos, Jr., was married April 4, 1771, by Rev. Amossmith Benjamin Prescott, of Danvers, to Mary McNuff, of Marblehead. He was a member of Captain Nathaniel Bancroft's company, and served with it on April 19, 1775. February 4, 1779, he enlisted from Danvers for three years in the Continental Army, joining Captain Page's company, Colonel Ebenezer Francis's regiment. He was promoted on May 18 to sergeant, and his com- pany was transferred to Colonel Benjamin Tupper's regiment. This regiment marched to New York, where it was quartered in and about West Point, guarding the Hudson and taking part in sundry skirmishes with the British. Sergeant Smith was transferred later to Captain Lithgow's company, but remained with the regiment, which was in camp at West Point, April 5, 1779. He had recently returned from a fur- lough of fifty days, during which time he had walked home to Lynn and Danvers. At the expiration of his enlistment, January 1, 1780, he again entered the service, enlisting for a year. During this time the treason of Arnold took place, and it is quite probable that he was present at the execution of Major André. On January 1, 1781, he again enlisted, this timne until the close of the war, his company being that of Captain Lunt, in Colonel Tupper's regiment. He is described at this time as being thirty years of age, 5 ft. 6 in. in height, with light eyes and dark com- plexion. He continued to serve as sergeant until the treaty of peace was declared, when he was honorably discharged by Washington. After five years of hard service he made his way back to his Danvers home. It may here be noted that Ins sister Nabby married Ebenezer Parsons, of Lynnfield, and his sister Polly, Ebenezer Hart, of Lynnfield, both Revolu-
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tionary soldiers. He became a captain of a vessel after the war, and was lost at sea, leaving a widow and three small children.
SMITH, FRANCIS,-son of John and Elizabeth (Lynde) Smith, was born in 1716, probably in Cambridge, and was descended from Francis Smith, who was a freeman in Watertown in 1637. He evidently came to Sau- gus about 1746, in which year he married Sarah Boardman, daughter of William and Abiah Boardman, born Grasas Smilk May 11, 1722. She was a sister of Amos, the father of Colonel Amos Boardman. In 1750 Francis Smith was recommended to the Third Parish Church by the church in Cam- bridge, his wife Sarah being a member at the time. He was a mem- ber of Captain David Parker's Saugus company which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, and his name is borne on the muster-roll with that of his son Francis. After the war he removed to South Read- ing, where he married, second, 1785, Widow Sarah Bryant. He died in Wakefield, September 19, 1799, aged eighty-three, and is buried in the old cemetery there. His grave is marked by a stone with a suitable in- scription. 1lis wife, Sarah, is buried at his side, having died June 14, 1784. A marker of the S. A. R. was placed at his grave in 1904.
SMITH, FRANCIS, Jr.,-son of the above, is borne on the muster-roll of Cap- tain David Parker's Saugus company, but aside from his service of April 19, 1775, nothing is known of him. He was living in Saugus in 1800, being then under forty-five years of age.
STACY, EBENEZER,-was a private in Captain Parker's company, and served in it on the 19th of April, 1775. By the Saugus church records lie appears to have been married by Rev. Mr. Roby, July 9, 1772, to Dorcas Waite. He was perhaps the son of Ambrose and Mary Stacy, of Marble- head, baptized October 29, 1752.
He enlisted February 15, 1777, in Captain Wells's company, Colonel John Crane's regiment, as a gunner, and served one year. He then enlisted in Captain Allen's company, of the same regiment, and saw service in the Rhode Island campaign and in the campaign against Burgoyne. The privations of the Continental soldiers during this time were very great. Food was scarce, wages were paid in a depreci- ated currency which was hardly worth the paper it was printed upon, clothing was insufficient, and nothing but indomitable pluck held the
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regiments together. Desertions were almost as frequent as enlist- ments. We regret to record Private Stacy as a deserter, but such is the fact stated upon a muster-roll dated June 1, 1779. Nothing further is known of him.
STOCKER, EBENEZER,-son of John and Ruth (Breed) Stocker, and brother of Ephraim who was in the same company with him on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, was born February 9, 1749. His home at the time of the breaking out of the Revolution was on what is now Lincoln Avenue in East Saugus, in what was in later years a public Eben Shocker house known as "Sunnyside." He was married September 19, 1771, by Rev. Joseph Roby, to Abigail Newhall, and May 18, 1784, he was married a second time, also by Rev. Mr. Roby, to Mary Potter. His children, all by his second marriage, were Daniel, Polly, Patty, George, and Pamelia. His death occurred January 16, 1807, and that of his wife, Mary, Novem- ber 29, 1807. Mr. Benjamin F. Newhall described Ebenezer Stocker as "a man of sterling worth and integrity, and great energy of char- acter." From being a corporal in Captain Ezra Newhall's company of minute-men on April 19, 1775, he rose to the rank of colonel,-a rank, however, which was conferred upon him after the war. Dur- ing his active service he was known for the most part as Lientenant Stocker. He had the distinction of being one of the original mem- bers of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, having become a member in June, 1783, when the Massachusetts society held its first meeting on the 9th of the month at Newburg. The military record of Lieutenant Stocker given in detail is as follows :-
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