Stolen Plaque Recovered

The Old Belfry Plaque

Some good news for the Lexington community and for history buffs everywhere - the bronze plaque that marked the site of the Old Belfry that was stolen recently from Lexington Battle Green has been recovered safe and sound as reported here in the Wicked Local News from the Lexington Minuteman. Apparently a sharp eyed passerby spotted the plaque lying in some overgrown bushes a few feet from the edge of the road on Waltham St. in Lexington. With the help of Sgt. Chris Barry of the Lexington police the plaque was picked up and is now back in its rightful hands. It is not known how long the plaque had been laying there before being found.

History Under Fire

Brandywine National Park

The latest issue of Preservation magazine has this story, entitled "History Under of Fire", which reports that many states are responding to budget deficits by closing important historic sites. The magazine, published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, focuses on Pennsylvania where a number of important Revolutionary War battlefields and other historic sites have been closed. Volunteer organizations have stepped into the breach to keep these important places open to the public, but there is real fear that the loss of funding will lead to deterioration of the properties and even permanent closings.

Historic Plaque stolen from Lexington Green

Bronze Plaque Stolen

A nearly 100-year old bronze plaque marking the former site of the Old Belfry on Lexington Green was stolen sometime last week, as reported in the Boston Globe and elsewhere. The plaque was mounted on a large boulder on the Green in 1910. The 20-inch by 20-inch plaque was inscribed with a drawing of the Old Belfry and the following inscription: ''The site of the Old Belfry from which the alarm was rung, April 19, 1775. This tablet was erected by the Lexington Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution 1910."

The original belfry was moved to a nearby hillside where it was destroyed by a storm. A new belfry was built in its stead where it still stands today. It is assumed that the plaque was stolen by vandals for the intrinsic value of its metal, but it may very well end up in the hands of an unscrupulous collector.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941, on a Sunday morning, aircraft from the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked the U.S. Army and Naval forces stationed in Hawaii. Most notably the attack centered on the naval ships at Pearl Harbor. Over two thousand soldiers and sailors were killed in the surprise attack and several warships were sunk or damaged.

Speaking to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, President Franklin Roosevelt on December 8 called for a declaration of war upon Japan and famously referred to December 7 as "a date that will live in infamy". With the declaration of war by Nazi Germany on December 11 the United States was finally, reluctantly drawn into a world war.

Samuel Clemens born

Samuel L. Clemens
(1835- 1910)

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on this date in 1835 in Florida, Missouri. His family moved to Hannibal, Missouri when he was four and it was growing up in this small town on the banks of the Mississippi that formed the basis for his famous novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Clemens later achieved his childhood dream of becoming a pilot on a Mississippi river steamboat.

When the Civil War shut down river traffic Clemens went west and began his career as a newspaper reporter and writer in earnest. He adopted the pen name Mark Twain, a term used on the Mississippi for water depth (two fathoms). During his lifetime Samuel Clemens achieved world wide fame for his novels and writings. He died on April 21, 1910 in Redding, Connecticut.