The Unheard Voices of April 19, 1775
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On the morning of April 19, 1775, 71-yearold Martha Moulton witnessed a terrifying scene: hundreds of red-coated British Regulars marching into the town of Concord. These men were on orders from British General Thomas Gage to seize and destroy contraband military supplies stockpiled by the Provincial Congress. The ensuing conflict between the Regulars and Provincials sparked the American Revolution. For Moulton, the sounds of the fife and drum signaled imminent danger. By her account, the army of Regulars, “in a hostile manner, entered the town and drawed up in formation before the door of the house where I live...” While several companies split up to secure the North and South Bridges and search James Barrett’s farm, the remainder hunted for Provincial military supplies in the town center. They set on fire or threw in the mill pond what little they found, including wooden spoons, barrels of shovels, and cannonballs.
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Discover CONCORD
| Spring 2021
BY ERICA LOME
Moulton watched in disbelief as the Regulars set fire to the gun carriages by the Town House, which spread to the building itself. Describing herself as an “unfortunate widow” and “very infirm,” she then “put her life, as it were, in her hand” and begged the men to put out the fire, knowing that it endangered the entire row of houses, including the school house. At last, “by one pail of water after another, they sent and did extinguish the fire.” Moulton recounted this brief episode in a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts to seek reimbursement for damages to her home. This legal document, tucked away in the state archives, provides historians a wealth of detail about the events of April 19th. Letters, diaries, and interviews also offer first-person insights into what people experienced on that day. Yet while these documents reflect a range of perspectives—Provincials, Regulars, men, women, young, ABOVE: Amos old— many voices Barrett powder remain unheard. horn. Concord The historic record Museum Collection, is weighted toward Gift of Frederick S. the most powerful Richardson, Peter members of 1770s H. Richardson, and Joan R. Fay 1994.63 society: landowning white men. The contributions LEFT: Living of women and the Historian Nick Johnson, April less wealthy are 19, 1775 Gallery, harder to track. The Concord Museum most significant omission, however, is that of people of color, especially if they were enslaved. In 1775, Concord was home to about 1,500 inhabitants,
including at least 24 enslaved men, women, and children. Concord’s white residents considered themselves British, not American. Their daily life reflected British fashions and customs, and this extended to the exportation of lumber, tobacco, and fur in exchange for goods and enslaved labor. Uncovering the experiences of the enslaved inhabitants requires deep investigation. While people of color are not easily located in the archives, they left their mark on the material world. Objects provide clues about how they lived and worked in Concord and help to tell a more inclusive story about those who risked everything on April 19th. A high chest in the collection of the Concord Museum offers one way of thinking about Concord in the 1770s. One of about a dozen pieces produced at Thomas Barrett’s sawmill by an unknown woodworker, this elegant form belonged to the upper echelon of Concord society. However, its construction was not at all typical. Most notably, the maker did not use any glue, thus adding many hours of work to the building process. The extra expense was apparently not added to the cost of the chest, suggesting the maker was not compensated for their work, nor were they brought up within New England’s cabinetmaking tradition. The exact identity of this maker may be a mystery, but the signs point to them being enslaved by Barrett, who used their labor to produce highly-sought-after furniture for the local economy. Based on the inscribed date of 1776 on the inside of the chest, it’s entirely possible that its maker joined the extended Barrett family at the North Bridge on April 19th, fighting for the liberties denied to others in their community.
