History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

settlement. Every settler was of necessity a soldier
encamped in a hostile country. Every generation
had a war, and the martial spirit of New England
has never flagged. As a little town, the Medford
contingent was naturally joined to the troop of
some neighbor. In 1658 the Medford men were
allowed to join the Cambridge band instead of the
Charlestown troop. It is greatly to be regretted
that no one has made use of the abundant records
remaining, to prepare a suitable account of the mili-
tary organizations of colonial times.
As a matter of curiosity we insert a copy of a
petition from the wife of a worthy citizen, who sur-
vived the perils of war to be for many years the
deacon of the church at Medford and the ancestor
of a (|uite numerous family. The writer was a niece
of Eev. John Eliot, and may have iioped to obtain
special favor througli her influential relative.
Indian Enemy, and is now with Major Swayne at
Newechawanick, and your Petitioner and her two
children are very weake and ill, and unable to help
ourselves and do any thing for our Belief and the
rest of the family, as severall of the neighbors can
and have informed your Honors. Doth therefore
humbly request the favour from your Honors that
her husband John Whitmore may be dismissed the
present service, and that your Honors would please
to pass your Order for the same, that he may re-
in the French and Indian wars as have been ex-
amined, but we cannot positively identify them.
There was a company of militia in ^ledford be-
fore the Revolution ;
and, when troublesome times
came, they were ready for duty. It was the eighth
company in the first regiment of the first brigade
of the third division. Seth BuUard was captain
William Burbeck, first lieutenant ; and Ezekiel
Plympton, second lieutenant. It belonged to Colo-
nel Thomas Gardner's regiment. In 1775 it was
commanded by Captain Isaac Hall. " This company
came out," says the adjutant-general, "on
;
16!)
the 19th of April, 1775, and were in service five
days, and were undoubtedly in the battles of Lexington
and Concord." The names of the men com-
posing the company on that memorable occasion
are all recorded on the muster-roll; and they were
all Medford men, as follows —
:
Isaac Hall, captain ; Caleb Brooks, lieutenant
Stephen Hall, ensign ; Thomas Pritchard, Isaac
Tufts, and Moses Hall, sergeants ; John Tufts,
Gershom Teel, and Jonathan Grcenleaf, corporals ;
Timothy Hall, drummer; William Farning, fifer.
Privates as follows : David Vinton, John Bucknam,
Isaac Watson, Jonathan Lawrence, Jonathan
Davis, Abel Richardson, James Tufts, Jr., Samuel
Tufts, 3d, Andrew Floyd, Benjamin Floyd, An-
drew Blanchard, Samuel Tufts, John Francis, Jr.,
Paul Dexter, John Smith, Abel Butterfield, Josinli
Cutter, John Kemp, Eleazer Putnam, James Buck-
nam, Jr., Aaron Crowell, Jonathan Tufts, Benja-
"Petition of Rachel Win fmore.
min Peirce, Thomas Wakefield, Jonathan Teel,
"To the Hon. Simon Bradstreet, Esq., Governor,
Aaron Blancliard, Richard Cole, William Binford,
and the rest of the Honored Magistrates now
Tiiomas Bradshaw, Daniel Tufts, Peter Tufts, Jr.,
sitting in Boston, The humble petition of
Ebenezer Tufts, Isaac Cooch, Daniel Conery, Rich-
Eachell Whitmore, wife of John "Whitmore.
ard Paine, William Polly, Peter Conery, David
"Whereas, your Petitioner's husband was im-
Hadley, Jacob Bedin, Joseph Clefton, Samuel
pressed into the Countryes service against the
Hadley, Jr., Moses Hadley, John Callender, John
Clarke, Andrew Bradshaw, Thomas Savels, Francis
Hall, and Benjamin Savils.
Each man received pay for five days' service,
except William Polly, wlio was killed in battle.
In the company commanded first by Captain
Isaac Hall and then by Caleb Brooks were six
other Medford men : Benjamin Floyd, James
Wyman, Jonah Cutler, John Smitii, W^illiam Bucknam,
and Jonas Bond. Tiiey served eight months
in 1775-76.
turn to his sick family, and your Petitioner shall,
In the War of 1812 eighteen Medford men en-
as in duty bound, ever pray, &c.
listed, three of whom were killed, including a son
[Oct. 1689.]
" Eachel Whitjiore." of Governor Brooks.
We find Medford names in such lists of soldiers After the Revolution there was a company of
militia in the town, which was disbanded in 1840.
The Medford Light Infantry was organized as an
independent corps in 1785, and resigned its charter
in 1828. The Brooks Phalanx lasted from 18-11 to
1849. The Lawrence Light Guard was formed
in 1854, and a large number of its members en-
listed in the national forces in 1862.
A Soldiers' Monument was dedicated September
6, 1866, to the memory of those who fell
in the war, and it bears the following names :
Lieutenant-Colonel J. G. Chambers, Lieutenant
William H. Burbauk, Edward Gustine, L. M.
;