June 28, 2016
My name is Nathaniel Hayford. My ancestors came on the Mayflower and I fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
War had not been officially declared, but when I heard of the British attack on our citizens at the Battle of Lexington I enlisted. On 17 June 1775 – the Battle of Bunker Hill – I was there. I remember the day well.
My story is recorded in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives:
“On the day of the battle of Bunker Hill [I] was stationed upon Winter Hill, under Capt. Scott.”
The Revolutionary War actually wasn’t declared for another year. The war wasn’t easy – afterward, when I’d “recount the sufferings and privations [I] endured while fighting for [our] liberty” to my friends, they “shed tears to hear [me tell of it].”
I “served five years in the war of the Revolution, and was in most of the principal battles fought to secure the independence of this great republic.”
I was born in Pembroke, Massachusetts, in Plymouth County. My 4th-great-grandparents were John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden who came over on the Mayflower. Now in 2016, my family has lived here in America for almost 400 years.
After the war I moved from Massachusetts and “lived in Tamworth [New Hampshire for] more than sixty years.” I can say that I “enjoyed uninterrupted good health through [my] long life, and [was] able, the past winter, to cut and carry in most of the wood [we] burned” to keep warm.
I “died in Tamworth, N.H., April 25, 1851” and [I left] a wife, the partner of [my] youth, to mourn [my] loss.”
My gravestone is still there in Tamworth. Though broken, it was repaired.
accessed 30 March 2016), Nathaniel Hayford, 1851; Burial, Tamworth, Carroll, New Hampshire, United States of America, Chocorua Cemetery; citing record ID 145593499, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com
My story is preserved in GenealogyBank’s newspapers.
Your ancestors’ stories come alive as you read them in old newspapers – you can almost hear them telling their story as if they were right here with us. Find and preserve their stories and pass them down in the family.
Note: An online collection of newspapers, such as GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives, is not only a great way to learn about the lives of your ancestors – the old newspaper articles also help you understand American history and the times your ancestors lived in, and the news they talked about and read in their local papers. Did any of your ancestors fight in the Revolutionary War? Please share your stories with us in the comments.
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