HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESIDENT Ron Sarro leads residents from the library to the Town Common during the Patriots Day on the Common celebration on April 19. (Dan Tomasello Photo)
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Two hundred residents came together to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution during the Lynnfield Historical Society’s Rev250 celebration last weekend.
The Historical Society kicked off the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution’s beginning by putting on the original one-act play “Shadows of 1775” at Centre Congregational Church on Friday, April 18. Written by Historical Society First Vice President Dianne Foulds and directed by her brother, Society member/Rev250 Committee Chair Alan Foulds, “Shadows of 1775” is about Lynn Enders from 1775 telling their stories about the opening day of the American Revolution. Lynnfield was previously known as Lynn End when the town was part of Lynn.
The Society’s Rev250 celebration continued with the Patriots’ Day on the Common celebration on Saturday, April 19. The event began with the Historical Society partnering with the Lynnfield Moms Group and the Lynnfield Public Library by holding children’s events that included making tri-corn hats and coloring at the library. Historical Society member Patricia Campbell also read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” to the children and families in attendance.
The Town Common featured signs set up as part of a “Patriot Gallery” that gave a history lesson of Capt. Nathanial Bancroft’s Company, which is also known as the Lynn End Militia. Bancroft’s Company fought the Royal troops in Menotomy, now known as Arlington, on April 19, 1775. Bancroft’s Company lost three Lynn End residents during the battle: Daniel Townsend, William Flint and Thomas Hadley.
Townsend, who was killed at the Jason Russell House, is buried at the Old Burying Ground across from the Town Common. Flint and Hadley are both buried in Arlington.
The Society also hosted a Patriots’ Scavenger Hunt and a needlework demonstration on the Common.
After Historical Society President Ron Sarro led library attendees to the Town Common, Alan Foulds gave a history lesson about Lynnfield’s own midnight rider, Dr. Martin Herrick.
“Exactly 250 years ago today, Martin Herrick rode in to let the town know that the British regulars were on the march,” said Foulds.
Foulds said on April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren heard that the British Army was going to march to Concord to “confiscate the arms and ammunition stored there.”
“He was also worried about the patriots Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were staying in Lexington that night,” said Foulds. “He called two express riders to his house, William Dawes and Paul Revere. He asked them to ride out to Concord to warn them and also to alarm the countryside, and all of the captains and colonels along the way. The two riders decided to take separate routes to double the chances that at least one of them would get through.”
Foulds said Revere took “the northern route, which was right through Medford Square.”
“While he was there, he stopped and alarmed the local militia captain, Isaac Hall,” said Foulds. “He then went right next door to the home of Dr. Simon Tufts, who was a teaching doctor. At the time, he had two medical students living with him. There was John Sprague of Malden and our hero, Martin Herrick. Revere asked both of them to ride north to spread the alarm. Sprague went up to Malden while Herrick headed in this direction. As Herrick left Medford, he hugged the shoreline of Spot Pond because he knew that is where the Stoneham captain lived.”
After Herrick warned his friend, former classmate and Reading Minutemen Capt. Dr. John Brooks at a home on Haverhill Street, Foulds said Herrick “headed to his next destination, Gowing’s Tavern, right here in Lynn End.”
“Gowing’s Tavern is gone,” said Foulds. “It was right up the road about where 82 Summer St. is today, just across from Parsons Avenue. Legend has it that he rode up to the house with his horse panting wildly. He yelled, ‘Stand to your arms. Stand to your arms. The regulars are out.’ And with that, the 16-year-old drummer, Benjamin Adams, beat the drum to call the militia together. It has been said that he beat it so hard that it was heard a mile-away. And from there, the message was passed on even further, as single shots were fired off into the pre-dawn sky. In all, 38 of Captain Bancroft’s Company assembled at the tavern. Under Bancroft’s command, they marched down here to the Common to retrieve their gunpowder, which they had stored in the Old Meeting House. I say old, because even back then it had been here for 60 years already. And after that, they marched off to the battle.”
Historical Society member Ann Marie Greenleaf, who lives on Lowell Street, rode a horse and wore Colonial attire to reenact Herrick’s ride to the Common with Captain Bancroft’s Company. The company also reenacted marching off to battle and returning home.
The event’s attendees gave Greenleaf and the rest of the company a round of applause.
Foulds said Herrick and Bancroft’s Company came together 250 years ago to “stand against tyranny, stand against the king, and to stand for liberty, freedom and democracy.”
After Bancroft’s Company marched down South Common Street, the Patriots’ Day on the Common’s attendees walked to the Veterans Memorial for a mourn of arms and a wreathe-laying ceremony in memory of the Lynn Enders who lost their lives during the American Revolution. Danvers Historical Society President David McKenna also demonstrated how to load a musket and fire it.
Veterans Services Officer Bruce Siegel thanked the 200 residents for attending the Patriots Day on the Common celebration.
“I want to thank everybody who was involved in the marching and the demonstrations,” said Siegel. “Everything went beautifully. I would like to thank Ron Sarro, Alan Foulds and all of the members of the Lynnfield Historical Society for hosting this important event. On this 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, we honor Lynnfield’s heroes and remember the sacrifices they made so that we could be free. Today, we reflect on the courage and sacrifice of those who stood up for freedom in the Revolutionary War. Their bravery laid the foundation for the liberties we often take for granted. We will never forget the brave militia members from Lynnfield who fought this fight for all of us.”
Sarro also sang and performed several 18th century music songs on acoustic guitar, including “Revolutionary Tea.”
“The tax on tea was 4 pennies a pound,” said Sarro. “This did not go over well.”
The Patriots Day on the Common celebration concluded with the Reading Community Concert Band (RCCB) performing patriotic music. Stephen Bloom, who is also Lynnfield Middle School’s music director, also serves as the RCCB’s director.
Foulds said in an interview with the Villager that he was pleased with the turnout for the “Shadows of 1775” play performance and Patriots’ Day on the Common celebration. He noted that the descendants of Bancroft’s Company, including Daniel Townsend, John Hart, Zerubbabel Hart and Thomas Wellman, attended the event.
“We had a nice day and a great turnout,” said Foulds. “We had a lot of descendants from the militiamen come, which was great.”
Foulds thanked the Rev 250 Committee and the Historical Society for helping make the “Shadows of 1775” play and the Patriots Day on the Common celebration a huge success.
“We worked on it for almost two years,” said Sarro. “We had people come out of the woodwork to be part of the play. That was great. And a lot of them became the militia today.”
Historical Society member Helen Breen agreed.
“What a great day for Lynnfield,” said Breen. “Kudos to the Revolution 250 Committee of the Lynnfield Historical Society for such a fun-filled, historic event. It’s wonderful that our own Minutemen could perform their ‘Mourn Arms’ drill at the site of our beautiful new Veterans Memorial, binding those who fell and served in the Revolution with our present day patriots.”