Yesterday, 250 years ago, 77 patriots faced off against 700 British army regulars at Lexington, Massachusetts, in what would later be known as the first battle of the American Revolution—the Shot Heard Round the World. The Lexington Militia was a ragtag collection of local citizens ranging in age from 16 to 63, and most were our cousins or were related to them by marriage.
Many of the fighters could trace their own ancestors back to William Munroe, our 9th great grandfather, who I profiled in an earlier post. It is particularly ironic that this man, banished by England and sold as an indentured servant to the colonies, would spawn the men who took the first shots at the Redcoats. Munroe died in 1717 and was interred in the Old Burying Ground, just a half block from the Lexington Green.
The leader of the Lexington Militia, Captain John Parker, was our 2nd cousin 9x removed (on the Cross/Torrance branch). He reportedly gave the order at Lexington Green: “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” And it did, though after the initial shots, the outnumbered militia retreated to the surrounding countryside to pick off British soldiers as they marched west to Concord, then hastily back to Boston under a hail of musket fire.
The famous Lexington Minuteman statue was erected on the battlefield 125 years after the fight, but it is not of John Parker, as some believe; there is no known image of Parker—he died of tuberculosis five months after the battle and would never see American independence. He was buried in the same cemetery as William Munroe.
The Lexington Minuteman (1900) John Parker’s grave, 1729–1775
The patriots’ second-in-command, Lt. William Tidd, was one of only eight militiamen to fire a shot at the initial battle. He was married to Ruth Munroe, the great-granddaughter of William Munroe. (She’s our 2nd cousin 8x removed.) Ruth’s father, Ensign Robert Munroe, was third-in-command that day, and would be the only officer killed at the Battle of Lexington. He was 63 years old at the time. Two of his sons, John and Ebenezer Munroe, fought alongside him, and were two more of the eight men who fired shots that morning. John recovered his father’s body during the battle, which he found near the bodies of Isaac Muzzy and Jonathan Harrington.
Of the eight men who died at Lexington, I’ve found family connections to seven of them. Three are blood relations, and the other four are related to us by marriage. Here’s a little more about them:
John Brown (2nd cousin 1x removed of husband of 2nd cousin 8x removed): Brown was killed in the first volley of shots from the British. He was 24 and unmarried.
Samuel Hadley (2nd cousin 8x removed): Hadley was also killed in the initial deadly volley. He was a married farmer; he and wife Betty (Jones) Hadley had three young children, all under age five—Lucy, Betty, and Samuel. He was 28.
Caleb Harrington (paternal 1st cousin of wife of 2nd cousin 8x removed): According to a biography of Lexington patriots, “During the Battle of Lexington, Caleb had gone into the meetinghouse for more gunpowder with Joshua Simonds and Joseph Comee. All three found themselves in danger of being cut off from their company by the British. Caleb Harrington and Joseph Comee decided to make a run for it toward the Monroe House. Joseph Comee [ran] westward across the Common toward Marrett Munroe’s house and was hit in the arm with a musket ball but kept running through the Munroe house. Caleb Harrington headed in the same direction but was killed during his attempt to run. After Caleb fell, Joshua Simonds ducked back into the meetinghouse, and he laid down on the floor with his loaded musket jammed into a barrel of powder, ready to blow up the house if the British entered.” Caleb Harrington was 23 when he was killed.
Marrett Munroe House today
Jonathan Harrington Jr. (brother-in-law of 2nd cousin 8x removed): Harrington, a 31-year-old married farmer, assembled on the Green with three of his brothers—Thomas, Moses, and John—on that fateful day. Only Jonathan was shot, and reportedly raced back to his home where he died on the front steps in the arms of his wife, Ruth (Fisk) Harrington.
Harrington House today
Ensign Robert Munroe (1st cousin 9x removed): Robert Munroe, mentioned above, had fought in the French and Indian War, and was the oldest minuteman killed at Lexington Green. His body was first taken to the meetinghouse, but was removed when citizens learned that the British would be returning through Lexington on their retreat from Concord. He was temporarily buried in a common grave with the other casualties, but later moved to a tomb behind the Revolutionary War Monument, erected in 1799.
Isaac Muzzy (2nd cousin 8x removed): Izaac Muzzy (sometimes spelled Muzzey) was found dead near the body of Robert Munroe on April 19, 1775. He had joined the militia with his father John Muzzy, who survived the battle. He was 30.
Jonas Parker (husband of 1st cousin 9x removed): Jonas Parker was a first cousin to Capt. John Parker, and though 53 at the time, joined the militia at Lexington, as did his son Jonas Parker Jr. He was a widower—his wife, Lucy (Munroe) Parker, died in 1770. According to Sgt. William Munroe, “When the British troops came up, I saw Jonas Parker standing in the ranks, with his balls and flints in his hat, on the ground, between his feet, and heard him declare, that he would never run. He was shot down at the second fire of the British, and, when I left, I saw him struggling on the ground, attempting to load his gun, which I have no doubt he had once discharged at the British. As he lay on the ground, they run him through with the bayonet.”
The eighth militia casualty at Lexington, Asahel Porter, is a bit of a mystery—nobody has been able to construct his family tree. . . . and I’m not going to try.
There were many other family members who were there—some were wounded, others fired shots—but I’ll end with the youngest soldier that day, Jonathan Harrington Jr. (not the same as above), who was a 16-year-old fifer at the battle. After the initial fight, he joined in the pursuit of the British to Concord, then back through Lexington on their retreat to Boston. He later married, fathered eight children, and lived to the age of 95. He was the last surviving witness to the battle, and was the only Lexington Militia member to have been photographed—once alive and once dead. I think he looks like a citizen of Whoville in the living shot; he almost looks more alive in the shot taken just after he died.
Jonathan Harrington Jr. alive Jonathan Harrington Jr. dead
If you want to learn more about the Battle of Lexington, check out this helpful video of yesterday's reenactment:
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