A series of articles by the Reading Antiquarian Society
Yes, it’s already past April 19, but maybe we should tell one more story that might be unknown to many. In 1874, Lilley Eaton published a history of Reading. Its full title is Genealogical History of the Town of Reading, Mass. Including the Present Towns of Wakefield, Reading, and North Reading with Chronological and Historical Sketches from 1639 to 1874. It is more than 800 pages long and is an incredible source of information.
There is an appendix which is over 100 pages long and is therefore often overlooked. But several pages of the appendix are dedicated to information about the American Revolution. On pages 702-3 is a story about some of Reading’s militia and minutemen, including Timothy Wakefield, Joseph Bancroft, Nathan Parker, Jonathan Weston, and possibly others, who chose a different route on April 19, direct to Lexington, and encountered the British on their retreat.
In the interest of accuracy, we are going to quote from Eaton’s history.
“Capt. Weston related to his grandson, Sumner Weston, that he was employed near where the Lynnfield Hotel1 now is, and that a man rode up on the morning of the 19th and gave the alarm. He immediately went to his house, which was then the last house in Reading, on the way to Stoneham,2 took his gun, and, accompanied by Mr. Thomas Sweetser, who lived in the first house in Stoneham, they proceeded on their way till they reached the retreating redcoats. Shielding themselves behind a rock near a stone fence, they commenced firing upon the regulars. They were so intent upon their patriotic work that they did not observe the approach of the enemy’s flank guard until they were almost upon them. Mr. Sweetser discovered their approach and, with a word of warning to Weston, who sat with his ammunition in his hat before him, started for a place of safety. Weston was so absorbed in his business that he did not recognize the note of alarm till it was repeated and emphasized by Col. Nathan Parker,3 who came up at that moment, when the trio, mid the whistling balls of the guard, made their escape unharmed to the woods nearby.”
1 The Lynnfield Hotel, built in 1804, was located on Salem Street near Route 1
2 Jonathan Weston lived on the east side of Main Street, and in 1775, he was not yet a Captain
3 Nathan Parker, in 1775, was not yet a Colonel
Hugh Lord Percy, a British Colonel, 1400 troops, two cannons, and 48 cannon balls left Boston early on the morning of April 19 to support the British forces that had marched to Lexington and Concord. They arrived in Lexington at about 2:30 in the afternoon as the retreating British forces were arriving. Percy’s troops and the cannons fired at the colonists, allowing the British troops to reach safety behind his lines. It was the first use of artillery in the American Revolution. The Bancroft family descendants had a cannonball and a canteen that they believed were connected to that day. The cannon ball is mounted to a plaque on which is written “This cannon ball was fired at the Reading Minutemen’s Company by Percy’s guns in the battle of Lexington, and was located by Joseph Bancroft who afterwards found it and brought it to Reading, and it has been in his family ever since.” The canteen is labeled “Water canteen carried by Lt. Joseph Bancroft of Reading, Massachusetts in the Revolution – was with him at the Battle of Lexington in 1775.” (Remember that most of the Reading men met the retreating British at Merriam’s Corner in Concord and then skirmished with them as the troops fled back to Boston. The “Battle of Lexington” being referred to here is the fight that took place during the retreat, not the early morning conflict at Lexington Green.) Clinton Bancroft was a direct descendant of Joseph, a noted Reading historian, a secretary of the Reading Antiquarian Society, and lived in Reading until shortly before his death in 1949. He is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
So, what happened after the battle? Some Reading men returned to their homes that night. Others remained in Boston as the Siege of Boston began. Joseph Bancroft, mentioned above, is listed as having served 10 days. This would lead us to believe that he stayed. Boston was now surrounded by Colonists from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
In Part 6, we will give more details about how Reading and other towns were required to help support the colonists during the Seige.
