The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1881-06-29

4 WV 90 - N4 W
wards us, and their leader shouted, "Disperse,
YOU rebelslp We stood still. He repeated the
order with an oath, fred his pistol and or.
dered his men to shoot. Only q few obeyed
Nobody was hurt, and we supposed their
guns were loaded only with powder. We
had been ordered not to fire first, and so we
stood still. The angry leader of the Regu.
lars then gave them another order for them
to fire, when a volley killed or wounded sew
eral of our company. Seeiag the regula- IS en-.
deavoring to surround us, Captain Parker
ordered US 70 retreat. AS we fed, some shots
were sent back. Joe and / climbed a fence
near by. Climbing over, Joe fell upon q
heap of stones, and crushed in his drum
head. His hand was bleeding badly, and
he found that a bullet had carried off a part
of his little finger. Eight of our men had
lost their lives
"Where was Adams and Hancock all this
timer" l inquired.
"Not far off" he replied. "When the first
shots were heard, they were advised to fy to
a place of safety, for there lives were too
valuable to the public to be lost. At first
they refusedto go, but, were finally persuad-
ed, and retired to a thick-wooded hill not
far of. Dorothy Quincy went with her
lover. They were married In the fall. 1t
Is said Sam Adams. hearing the firing on the
Green, exclaimed: 'Whata glorious morning
for America is thisr' L have no doubt he said
so, for it was just like him."
"You said two of your blood-relations
persisted in that fight" L observed.
yes" he replied; "they were Jonathan
and Caleb Harrington. Caleb and Joe
Conner, who lived a mile from Lexington,
had gone into the Meeting House to get some
~A--lo- 1871 -. lzf4 Nh IL - q.
to the gallery when the British reached the
Westinghouse. They flew to the door,
and started on q run for the COM
pany. Caleb was shot dead at the west end
of the meeting house, but Joe, though
wounded, escaped. Jonathan had stood
his ground with the rest. His house was
near the Meeting House. He was in front
of his own house when the Regulars fired
the third time. He was shot in the breast
and fell. His wife Ruth stood looking out
OF the window, with their only child, nine
years old, by her side. She saw her husband
fall and ran out to help him. He raised up,
stretched bis arms toward her, fell again
and was dead before she could get to him.
Obi it was too cruel, too cruel 4"
"There were brave men in that little
band of patriots" 1 remarked.
brave men" said the old man, his mild
eyes beaming with unusual luster, 'braver
men never lived. Not one Of them left his
post until Captain Parker, seeing it was
useless to fight against so many Regulars,
told them to disperse. There was one man
who wouldn't go, even then. 1t was Jonas
Parker, of this town. He lived near Parson
Clarks. He had said he would never turn
from an enemy, and he didn't. He had
loaded his musket, put his hat, containing
powder, wadding and bullets, between his
feet, and so faced the Regulars. At the sec
ond fire he was wounded and fell on his
knees. Then he fired his gun; and though
he was dying, he reached for another charge
in his hat, when a big red-coat killed him
with a bayonet on the very spot where
Jonas first stood.
"Rare pluck" 1 answered. 'sThe names
of such men should never be forgotten"
"They never will be" replied the old
patriot excitedly. "Their names are cut deep
in marble on the little monument down von-
der on the green-Robert Monroe, Jonas
Parker. Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harring-
ton, Jn., Isaac Muzzy, Caleb Harrington,
John Brown and Asahel Porter. Should the
marble perish, their names are cut deeper
in the memory of Americans"
"You said it was a warm night when
Paul Revere rode from Cambridge to Lex
ington," Isaid.
ayes" he replied: at was a very early
spring. Young leaves appeared on the
first of April. The grass on the village
green was so tall on the morning Of the
10Th that it waved in the light wind
that was blowing. At noon that day, when
the British were driven from Concord, the
quicksilver was $50 in the shade and the
door yards were bright with dandelions.
The minute-men made it better than that
full 1902 in the shade-for the British be-
fore they got back to Cambridge that even
ing.
did you serve in the army afterward2"
inquired.
"No," he said; "father went to the War,
and / stayed at home to help mother take
care of things, for 1 was the oldest boy. ]
played the fife sometimes after that when
the young men in the neighborhood were
training for the fight"
By permission of Mr.. Harrington 1 drew
a likeness of him sitting in his rocking-chair;
and under it he wrote with a trembling
hand, which he attributed to the use of the
ak that morning:
JONATHAN HARRINGTON,
Aged ninety, the Sth of July, 1913.
His brother Charles, two years younger
than he, came in before / had finished the
sketch. l could not but look with wonder
and reverence upon these strong old men
children OF one mother, who had borne
three sons and five daughters-who had
nearly grown to manhood when the old
War for Independence broke out. 1 babe
them farewell, received from the old tifer
the benediction "God b~lesssyoul" went back
to the village green, sketched the monu-
ment, and called upon their kinsman, Abb
jah Harrington. who was a lad fourteen
years of age at the time of the skirmish. He
saw nearly all the fight. He had two BROTH
ers in it, and had been sent by his mother,
trembling on account of her sons, to watch
the fray at a safe distance, and obtain tor
her information concerning her brave boys.
From Mr.. Harrington's 1 went to the
house of Parson Clark, where l found Mrs.
Margaret Chandler, a remarkable intelligent
old lady, then 50 years of age. She had
lived in that house ever since the Revolution,