Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-08-02
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A Romance of Concord 4
and Lexington.

q 10y ~ A~A ~A9 A"9"
4 A Romance of Concord &
and Lexington.
8 BY L. G. Woodberry. b
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Well, as | was saying, this is the
way it came about: | was n young
thing then. just turned IS. Your grand
father had been my playmate, hero
and protector from the time that l was
old enough to 60 to school. | had new
er thought Of marrying any one but
him, and so when he asked me to be
his wife, why. of course, l said Yes"
Well, 1t was In the spring Of 17T5
that we were to be married. Mother
and | spent the winter getting my
things made up. and | had as fine an
outfit rs a girl could possibly have In
those days. The day set for the we'd
ding was the 10th Of April-yes, the
very day on which the battle Of Lex
ington occurred, as have good reason
to remember.
Those were anxious dnys for us.
remember how serious my father and
brothers used 70 look as they discussed
the events which were then taking
place. Their only conversation was
about rights. stHI.. ys and taxes.
When the towns began TO raise min
utemen," why, Of course, we raised a
company in our town, and your grand
father and my brothers were members
OF It. We girls could not stand guard,
of course so In order to show our pa
triotism we all signed paper In which
we agreed not to have anything to do
with the men Of the town who refused
to join the company.
The 10Th OF April was a beautiful
day, though q warm one for the sea
SON We were all up early that morn
ing, for there was a great deal to be
done II was about o'clock In the
forenoon when my mother, who had
been looking over some linen, suddenly
raised her head, exclaiming as she did
SO, "Why, Mary. was that the meeting
house bellT
what can IL meanT ! cried, and,
running 10 the window, caught sight
Of our neighbours sons, Joe and John
Eaton. running down the road with
their guns Across the way Harry
Wright was plowing the field. The
boys called out to him as they passed,
and, without stopping TO unhitch the
horse. be seized his gun and was off
across the fields.
"It is an alarm motherT cried.
"rhe boys are down by the brook"
- In ,,.In Of raorh
them. Run and tell themp
Without delay | hurried TO the kitch-
en-, and, scIzing the horn, | ran out of
the house and started for the brook,
which was some distance from the
house. | blew a blast on the horn as !
ran, and as the boys caught sight Of
me | pointed toward the road. where
several men could be seen running
with their guns. The boys understood,
and, waving their hands to me, they
were off across the field to the road.
"What do you suppose the matter
is" asked mother when | returned to
the house.
81 do not know" was my reply but
am going TO find out" And / ran out
| OF the house and took n short cut across
the fields to the meeting house, which
was to be the gathering place II the
alarm should ever be sounded. !, for
one, had never expected TO hear any
alarm, for at home we hoped for
peaceful settlement OF the difficulties.
| But when | reached the church and
saw the whole town gathered ON the
green the mems stern dir and the wo-
| mems pale faces frightened me, and
began 10 fear that something serious
was the matter.
What is III Where are they GO
mgr asked. And as spoke the men
came hurrying out OF the meeting
| house, where they had heard a few
words from Parson Smith, and, mount
| Ing their horses, rode Off as fast as
| they could go. I looked for your grand
| father, but he was not there. Catch
Ing sight Of nay father, ran to him.
"Have you seen HenryP Chats your
| grandfather | asked.
Henry was at the tavern when the
messenger rode through here" replied
my father, land, as he had his horse
with him, he rode away without wait
| Ing for the company TO assemble"
You may imagine my feelings as
turned TO go home This was my we'd
| ding day, and the man who was 10
marry me had ridden off without
word, knowing, too, that he might new
or return, If all they were saying about
| fights and resistance was true.
My father had reached home before
me, and as ! opened the door ! heard
mother ask. do you think II IL any
| thing serious, father"
81 am afraid 1t may be, WIFE" he
said. "Thc messenger said that Gov
| ernor Gnge has sent some OF the kings
troops 10 destroy the supplies which
| hnve been stored at Concord. If the
report II true, there viii be resistance,
and If IT comes to that 1t win be very
| serious business for us.H
My mother kept her fears 20 herself
| and did her best to make me feel that
| It would come out all right, but those
hours were the most anxious ] ever
| spent. So through the day we watch
ed aud waited for news.
The first news that came 10 us from
! the fight at Lexington and the other
| o'clock In the afternoon, when some
| mlnutcmen from another town stopped
! at the tavern Oh their way home. They
! told the story Of the day TO the little
crowd Of anxious women who eagerly
| questioned them for news Of some dear
one.
/ My father would not let me 20 down
| % the tavern, but went down himself
| and brought us the news. can see
| him now hurrying along the road.
something unusual has happened,
! Mnryw exclaimed my mother. u new
| cr saw your fathcr look 80 excited
1 hastcncd down the path TO meet
| him.
| bad news. my child; bad rc,'s" he
| exclaimed. There has been an en-
counter with the kings troops" And
| then, readlu.. the question IN my eyes.