in 1759. Mr. Monroe had there the rank of Ensign; and in the following year, received a Lieutenancy. He served in the regiment of Col. Saltonstall, of Haverhill; and at the departure of our army for Montreal, received orders to remain at the head of a detachment of men, for the purpose of completing the repairs of the fortifications at Crown Point. Lieut. Monroe continued at Ticonderoga till his discharge in May, 1763, under Capt. Ormsbury, or Amsbury, to whom the command of the fort had been committed.

"Several other persons belonging to this town, whose names I have not learned, were in service at different times during the French wars, some of whom did not live to return."

CHAPTER VI

NORTHBOROUGH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

The patriotism of Northborough is proverbial. She has always been foremost in taking an advanced stand on questions touching the national honor. Her voice has always, and early, been raised in protest against encroachments upon the nation's rights. She has always been jealous of those rights and zealous in supporting them. The rafters of her old Meeting-house and her old Town Hall have many times rung with the eloquence of her debaters. Nor has she been content with patriotic words. She has, on every occasion, supported her words with deeds. We have, in the previous chapter, shown that, while still under the dominion of Great Britain she aided the mother country in her wars against France, in what are known as "The French and Indian Wars." In this chapter we shall attempt to show that when the mother country began to treat her transatlantic colonies as undutiful children, and to exploit them for her own advantage without a thought for the rights of her children, those children, conscious of their rights, turned on their mother and demanded that she recognize them.

*

Northborough did not lag behind other towns in this matter. As early as February, 1773, some of her citizens waylaid a pedler and burned his tea before his astonished eyes,* as a protest against what they considered the unjust tax which had been laid upon it. Up to that time their protests had been the murmurings of an angry and dissatisfied people. But on March 22, of that year (1773) their grievances took on an official character. On that day, in town meeting assembled, the citizens of Northborough registered their pent-up feelings in the following votes:

"The vote was put to see if the District would concur with the town of Boston, as the said town has stated the rights of the colonists at their meeting Oct. 28, 1772, and sd rights as then stated by sd town exhibited to this District by a printed pamphlet sent to the Selectmen of this District. Passed in the affirmative.

"The Articles are as follows: viz.-This District taking into consideration a pamphlet presented to them by order of the

*See "The Northborough Tea Party."

town of Boston, in which the rights of this Province are stated; and also, a list of grievances and infringements of those rights by Administration at home. After mature deliberation thereon came to following votes, namely:

"1st. Voted, as the opinion of this District, that the rights of this people are very justly stated in sd pamphlet, and that ye grievances and infringements therein pointed out are real and not imaginary ones, as too many endeavor to insinuate.

"2nd. Voted, as the opinion of this District that it is the indispensable duty of all men and all bodies of men to unite and strenuously to oppose by all lawful ways and means such unjust and unrighteous encroachments made or attempted to be made upon their just rights, and that it is our duty earnestly to endeavor to hand those rights down inviolate to our posterity as they were handed to us by our worthy ancestors.

"3rd. Voted, that the thanks of this District be given to the town of Boston for this, their friendly, seasonable and necessary intelligence, and that they be directed to keep up their watch and guard against all such invaders and encroachers for the future.

"4th. Voted, that Capt. Bezaleel Eager, Dr. Stephen Ball, and Mr. Timothy Fay be a committee to make answer to the Committee of Correspondence at Boston, informing them of the opinion of this District in this matter."

The above action took place in 1773 — two years before the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and three years before the Declaration of Independence. Toward the end of that year it began to be rumored that a Provincial Congress was about to be held; and while the matter was yet in the rumor stage, Northborough, on January 9, 1774, "elected Mr. Levi Brigham a delegate to represent said District at a Provincial Congress whenever or wheresoever met." It was also "put to vote to see if the town would adopt and strictly adhere to the several resolves of the Continental Congress Association and Provincial Congress as represented to us in the public prints." It passed in the affirmative. And to make sure that those resolves should be "strictly adhered to," so far as their town was concerned, it chose the following representative citizens a committee "to inspect those persons who may violate those rules:

Capt. Bezaleel Eager
Dea. Paul Newton

Henry Gaschet

Seth Rice, Jr.

John Ball
Samuel Wood
Artemas Brigham
Gillam Bass

Thaddeus Fay

We do not know whether the word "preparedness" as we use it today, was talked of at that time; but the above vote proves that Northborough believed in it, and governed herself accordingly.

The Provincial Congress was not held however, until October, 1774; but when it was held it marked the end of Royal rule in Massachusetts. It, in itself, was a strong revolutionary measure, in that it was a revolt against the tyranny of the Royal Governor (Governor Gage). Among other acts of tyranny, he had fortified Boston Neck; and the Provinicial Congress protested vigorously against it. It also protested against recent acts of Parliament, which the colonies regarded as unlawful. But perhaps the most significant act of that Congress was its authorization of the enrollment of twelve thousand minute-men and the mobilization of a large quantity of ammunition and other military stores. Governor Gage in his turn, naturally protested against these acts, but no attention was paid to his protestations. In the meantime, August 24, 1774, a special and very urgent meeting of the town was called to act upon the following articles:

"1st. To see if the town will appoint a Standing Committee of Correspondence to correspond with the town of Boston agreeable to the other towns in this County and Province, as its a measure that has had a tendance to serve to strengthen the Union of the Province & Colonies as much as any plan yet adopted.

"2nd. To see if the town will take under consideration the letter lately received from the town of Boston voted at their last meeting.

"3rd. To see what steps the town will take in regard to the persons that still refuse to sign the agreement; whether the town will choose a committee to wait on them and know whether they will sign or not, and set a certain time for that purpose, in order to make return to the Committee of Correspondence at Boston how many signers there are."

This must have been a rousing, patriotic meeting-one that shows our revolutionary forbears at their best. They were roused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm; and it requires no stretch of the imagination to believe that the old Meeting-house rocked with an eloquence such as had never rocked it before. Of course they chose a "Committee of Correspondence"; and we append their names that the present inhabitants of Northborough may know them:

Bezaleel Eager
Seth Rice, Jr.

Gillam Bass

Levi Brigham
John Ball

"It was proposed to the town [at this meeting] that we are determined to defend our charter rights and privaleges at the risque of our lives and fortunes, and that the town desire the Committee of Correspondence to write to their brethren at Boston and inform them thereof." It is needless to say that the above proposal was quickly accepted.

This was in August, 1774. The Provincial Congress was held in October following. In November, it was "voted to buy 100 wt of powder, 300 wt of lead, and flints, 240." Here was no half-hearted, lukewarm patriotism. Nor was it a burst of enthusiasm which they regretted as soon as their ardor cooled off. Those men meant business. And the sequel shows that they supported their votes with their lives.

Shortly after this, in the spring of 1775, a company of minute-men was organized, who forthwith began to drill that they might be prepared for any eventuality. They did not have to wait long for that eventuality - for on the nineteenth of April, at about noon, news of the Battle of Lexington arrived in town. Curiously enough, the minute-men were gathering at the time for the purpose of listening to a patriotic address by their minister, Parson Whitney, who, we shall show later, was in thorough sympathy with the spirit of the times. Instantly their minds were made up. They repaired to their homes, bade good-bye to their families, and assembled at the home of their captain, Samuel Wood.* Here, their good parson commended them to the protection of God, in an earnest prayer; after which, to the sound of Joseph Sever's drum and Ebenezer Hudson's fife they started on their way to Boston. All this happened "within three or four hours" of the arrival of the news from Lexington.

We append the names of those fifty men:

*Captain Samuel Wood lived at the time at the corner of East Main and River Streets.