Introduction: In this article, to continue yesterday’s Fourth of July celebration of patriotism, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about Revolutionary War vets celebrating in 1826. Melissa is a genealogist who has a blog, AnceStory Archives, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
On the Fourth of July in 1826 some remaining gallant soldiers who served in the Revolutionary War gathered in Newburyport, Massachusetts, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of American independence.
A preview of the day’s events, along with a list of the veteran soldiers participating, was published in the Newburyport Herald on the morning of the special day.
The day was going to be spectacular, a “National Jubilee” promoted by a salute of 24 guns from the Newburyport Artillery at sunrise (and repeated at sunset), a grand procession which included the soldiers and officers who fought in the war, and a dinner fit for lionhearts.
Plus, the day would feature a ceremonial speech by Hon. John Merrill. All the pomp and circumstance would include a military band amidst a decorated landscape.
As Robert Cross read the Declaration of Independence to the crowds that July 4, two significant signers, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, died that day.
A potent spark of energy must have awakened in the old war horses as toasts and tributes were made.
It was the same energy that roused them on one September night in 1765 when they were summoned to a meeting at the Wolfe Tavern to commiserate over the unfairness of the Stamp Act.
That same energy motivated the spirited privateers who were renowned in the port town. Some who attended the 1826 jubilee dinner were among the 17 clever Herculean wildcats who, via bravery and trickery, captured a British ship off Plum Island on 12 January 1776.
The event was recalled in the Daily Herald, revealing a few names present at the 50th anniversary celebration in 1826.
This article reported:
The ship was called the Friends, was owned in London, and commanded by Archibald Bowie, who remained for some time in Newburyport, living at the “General Wolfe Tavern.” After a while he returned to England.
It has been ascertained that the following named persons belonged to the crew of the boats which were successful in making the prize, viz: Captain Offin Boardman, Captain Joseph Stanwood, Captain John Coombs, Gideon Woodwell, Enoch Hale, Johnson Lunt, and Cutting Lunt.
The ships Friends and the brig Sukey were the first prizes brought into Newburyport. In the year 1799 or 1800, Captain Joseph Stanwood was owner of the great Dalton Farm (West Newbury), and Captain Boardman of the old Tracy Farm (called the Garrison), purchased from Capt. Tracy.
As the veterans made their toasts on July 4, Daniel Adams, a colonel of Moses Little’s regiment, uttered these words: “Our Union, Liberty, and Independence were defended by the best blood of every American.”
Moses Short raised his glass and spoke these words: “The Tree of Liberty watered by the blood of the Revolution – may our children suffer no canker worms to injure its sacred leaves.”
Short served in Capt. Silas Adam’s company and Col. Titcomb’s regiment. He married Abigail IIsley. Two of his daughters, Ruth and Abbey, along with other descendants of these patriots, were active in the Nathaniel Tracey Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. These daughters worked tirelessly to preserve their ancestor’s role in the fight for independence.
Short’s obituary was published in the Salem Gazette.
His obituary called Short:
…a revolutionary patriot, and one of the carriers of the Newburyport Herald for nearly half a century.
Another “bottoms up” toast during the 1826 celebration was from Nathaniel Ladd, who offered this sentiment: “May the surviving officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary army ever hold in grateful remembrance the hospitality of the citizens of Newburyport towards us who fought and bled to gain the independence which we are assembled this day to celebrate.”
Ladd was a Chief Justice and married Sarah Noyes. The couple bred a large family, as noted in the patriot’s obituary published in the Essex North Register and Family Monitor.
His obituary reported:
The descendants of the deceased were – children 12, grandchildren 44, great grandchildren 3.
Another participant in the 1826 celebration was Col. Edward Wigglesworth, who died just a few months later, on 8 December 1826. He left a diary which detailed his important military career. The Newburyport Herald reported on his funeral procession.
This article reported:
On Friday last were performed the last sad offices of respect and affection to the remains of the aged and venerable Col. Edward Wigglesworth. The early revolutionary services of the deceased, and the high estimation in which he was held by the Father of his Country, should hallow his memory in every heart. In accordance with previous arrangements, a procession composed of the municipal authorities, distinguished citizens and others, escorted by the two military corps of Infantry and Artillery, being formed at the Town Hall, moved to the Church in Temple Street, whence, after the performance of appropriate exercises, it proceeded to the place of internment…
The pall bearers were Lieut. Amos Pearson, Lieut. Jonathan Woodman, Lemuel Coffin, Captains Benjamin Gould, Philip Bagley, John Cook and Timothy Gordon, surviving officers and soldiers of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
If you are searching for your Revolutionary War ancestors in the Newburyport area, check out Old Hill Cemetery, 31 Greenleaf Street, Newburyport, Massachusetts.
This marker reads:
Within Lie Buried
Col. Richard Kent
Capt. William Davenport
Nathaniel Knapp
Colonial Soldiers
Nathaniel Tracy
Jonathan Greenleaf
Benjamin Greenleaf
Dr. John Barnard Swett
Stephen Cross
Gen. Ralph Cross
Capt. Jacob Perkins
Charles Herbert
Eleazar Johnson
Caleb Haskell
And more than fifty
soldiers and sailors
of the
Revolution
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Note on the header image: Fourth of July fireworks over the East Village of New York City. Credit: David Shankbone; Wikimedia Commons.