Medford Minute Men
Hillside Ave. and High St.
Medford, Mass. 02155
This memorial plaque on the corner of Hillside Ave. and High St. in Medford - in front of the Medford Library - has the following inscriptions and gives the muster roll of the Medford Minute Men who fought on April 19, 1775:(The plaque lists the names in alphabetical order with last name first. I have taken the liberty of listing the names in the more familar style with the christian (given) name first, followed by the family name).
Roster of the first Company Of Minute Men Who Assembled in Medford at the call of Paul Revere and Engaged in the Battle of April 19, 1775
Jacob Bredin, William Binford, Andrew Blanchard Jr. , Aaron Blanchard Jr. , Andrew Bradshaw, Thomas Bradshaw, Lieut. Caleb Brooks, James Bucknam Jr. , John Bucknam, Abel Butterfield, John Callender, John Clark, Joseph Clefton, Richard Cole, Daniel Conery, Peter Conery, Isaac Cooch, Jonathon Davis, Paul Dexter, William Piper Farrington, Andrew Floyd, John Francis Jr. , Corp. Jonathan Greenleaf, David Hadley, Moses Hadley, Samuel Hadley Jr. , Francis Hall, Captain Isaac Hall, Sergeant Moses Hall, Ensign Stephen Hall 4th, Drummer Timothy Hall Jr. , John Kemp, Jonathan Lawrence, William Polly, Sergeant Thomas Pritchard, Eleazer Putnam, Abel Richardson, Benjamin Savels, Thomas Savels, John Smith, Corporal Gersham Teel, Jonathan Teel, Daniel Tufts, Ebenezer Tufts, James Tufts Jr. , Corporal John Tufts, Jonathan Tufts, Sergeant Isaac Tufts, Peter Tufts Jr. , Samuel Tufts, Samuel Tufts 3rd. , David Vinton, Thomas Wakefield, Isaac Watson
Henry Putnam - Aged 62 - Killed in Action
ERECTED BY THE CITY OF MEDFORD ON THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY TO COMMEMORATE THEIR VALIANT SERVICE IN THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY
There are a number of things of interest in this muster roll. First of all, many members of this Minute Man Company were related to one another, which must have made it a tight knit group.
Secondly, the Minute Man Companies had been established to answer the call to arms on a "minutes notice", making them a kind of elite force (with known "revolutionary" leanings) within the Massachusetts militia. So it is interesting to notice how many members of this company were drawn from some of Medford's most prominent families, such as the Brooks and Tufts family's.
4 comments:
This is awesome! Can anyone help me know more about the Abel Butterfield from this list of Minute Men? I am trying to see if it is my ancestor. Do we know anything about his age, who his parents were?
Thanks
Hello. I realize this is a year late, but are you still looking for information?
I tear up a bit when I see this monument. My family is there: Isaac Hall, Moses Hall ( who was Moses Bridges Hall and my 4th or so, great-grandfather), with Uncle Isaac who was Captain; and called upon by Revere to round up the Minutemen and head to Concord, along with Stephen and young Timothy as a drummer boy. My grandfather, Malcolm Bridges Hall, had some original documents related to this, but, alas,they have been lost to time.
There has long been a transcription error for one of the Medford militia - Isaac Cook, born 1757, son of Joseph Cook is erroneously transcribed as Isaac Cook. Many records for this young man throughout the Revolutionary War as being of Medford. Father was Joseph Cook who died in 1778 and is buried in Medford.
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