Notes for Ebenezer Burgess: From Mass Soldiers and Sailors of the Rev. War: "There was an Ebenezer Burges from Harvard, MA in the Revolutionary War. He was a Private in Capt Joseph Fairbank's company, Col. Asa Whetcomb's Regt which marched on the Alarm of Apr 19, 1775 to Cambridge. He was only in service two days. There was a Solomon and a Thomas Burges from Harvard in the same Regt." Solomon and Thomas Burges were probably his sons by first wife Hannah Laughton.
From the Mass Archive, Revolutionary Rolls, XII,74: " The Lexington Alarm Men of Harvard. The Provincial Regt of Foot of Alarm men under the command of Col. Asa Whitcomb, whereof Joseph Fairbank is Capt, who marched to Cambridge on ye 19 April last in consequence of the Alarm is as follows: Eben'r Burges" (Note: To those that think Ebenezer Burges is too old, note that the Alarm called on all men in Harvard from 16 to 65)
From American Genealogical Research Institute published in 1978 Heritage Press, Inc- List of Patriots found in BURGESS FAMILY HISTORY Beenezer Burgess born 1715 died 21 December 1807 private in MA unit married to Rachel Farnsworth
From an unsourced history blog www.answerway.com on the internet dated 11/02/02 by Curious98:
The alarm spread with great speed throughout the countryside all through the night of the eighteenth and the early morning hours of the nineteenth. As the British column of 700 red-coated soldiers marched westward in the darkness toward an objective that only their commanders knew, they began to hear bells ringing in the distance ahead of them, and alarm guns being fired to waken the population. Not long after midnight several of the militia companies along the road to Concord had already heard the town bells and heard the alarm guns, and had gathered at their appointed meeting places to find out what was happening. As the network of alarm riders fanned out across the countryside, the remoter towns to the north, west, and south received the alarm as well, some later in the morning, some not until mid-day. It reached the north shore town of Beverly about eight o’clock in the morning, and twenty-year-old minuteman Simeon Dodge mustered with his company and headed for the road to Concord. The town of Groton, just west of Concord, heard the news about the same time. Forty-one-year-old Lieutenant Zechariah Fitch had to leave behind his wife, who was nine months pregnant, to lead his Groton minutemen toward Concord. Thirty-nine-year-old Lieutenant Job Shattuck, another Groton farmer, gathered his men and marched as well. The same scene was repeated in every town across the colony that morning. Even old men responded to the alarm: in the town of Harvard, west of Groton, sixty-year-old Ebenezer Burgess left his farm and headed for Concord with his militia company. The town of Lexington lay right along the road to Concord, and the Lexington militia had already assembled on the town green while it was still dark. There was confusion about what exactly was happening, and it wasn’t certain how far away the British troops were, or whether in fact the whole thing might have been a false alarm. But it was no false alarm, and just as the sun was rising, about five in the morning, they saw the long British column coming up the road toward them. The British vanguard formed up in a battle line on Lexington green facing the militia, who numbered only thirty-eight. A British officer ordered the militia to drop their weapons and disperse. They did begin to disperse, but they didn’t drop their weapons, and then from somewhere a shot was fired. To this day, no one is certain where the shot came from. It may have been from the British lines; it almost certainly wasn’t from the Lexington militia. It may have been from a bystander, or it may have been an accidental misfire. Whatever its origin, that first shot started the British soldiers firing, without orders, into the dispersing militia. When the smoke cleared from those very few minutes of confusion, eight Lexington militiamen had been killed and nine wounded. Some bled to death on the front steps of their houses around the edge of the green. This attack had not been planned, and the British officers, many of whom still did not know their mission’s objective, grew worried. Their commander now told them that they had several more miles to go to the west. As the sun rose, they could see in the distance men moving across the open countryside from all directions heading toward Concord. When the British column arrived at Concord they had very little success with their principal mission. Nearly all the arms had been hidden away and many of the cannon had been buried in the freshly-plowed fields. One British detachment moved to the northern part of the town and secured a bridge there while an advance party went across the Concord River to search farm houses on the other side. The small detachment at the North Bridge watched as hundreds of militia began to assemble on a nearby hill. In the center of the town the British search parties set fire to some gun carriages they had found, and the militiamen at the North Bridge saw the plume of smoke and believed the troops were beginning to burn the town. They marched forward to the bridge and the British opened fire. The Americans returned fire, and several more were killed on both sides. The British detachment was driven back to the center of the town, and soon the entire British force began to march back the way it had come, down the long road to Boston. By the hour, more and more militia and minuteman companies were arriving from the surrounding countryside, and the British retreat turned into a brutal rout, a battle three hundred yards wide and eighteen miles long. At every turn of the road a militia company was waiting and fired into the British ranks. The British were fired upon from many houses along the road, and in response their advance parties began burning nearly every building they came to. In the village of Menotomy, between Lexington and Cambridge, the fighting was especially fierce, and the exhausted and terrified British soldiers forced almost every house along the road and killed all the inhabitants. Young Simeon Dodge’s company of Beverly minutemen encountered the British column at this point, and he survived one attack only by hiding in a cellar. About eight o’clock on the evening of the nineteenth, the British column finally reached the safety of its own lines across the river from Boston. They had been marching for almost twenty-four hours, the last six hours under heavy fire. They had suffered more than 272 casualties, including sixty-five killed. The Americans had suffered ninety-four casualties, including fifty killed. Twenty-three towns had at least one member of their militia killed or wounded.
From the People of Harvard from the year 1731 - " Joseph Fairbank was first Representative to the Great General Court and one of the first Selectmen of Harvard. He lived on a farm adjoining his father's on the north and on a cul de sac road. Ebenezer Burges set his dwelling on the same road in 1751 when he bought the farm of John Whitcomb. Only the cellars of those homes remain. The Fairbank house is now owned by Andrew Fairbank and has been preserved."
From Holbrook Microfiche for town of Harvard: The First Congregational Church in Harvard, MA under Rev John Secomb lists Ebenezer Burges as the owner the following pews by order of importance and tithe: 21 May 1750, side gallery in the foreseat. 17 May 1766, fifth seat below (not in gallery) 2 Jan 1775, second seat below
At Harvard town meeting 3 Mar 1755 Ebenezer Burges was elected Tything Man along with Johathan Cole, Joseph Fairbanks, Nathenael Farnsworth. He was elected Harvard Constable 14 Feb 1751 and elected for Inferior Court Harvard jury 25 Mar 1754.
According to the New England History and General Register of July 1871, Ebenezer Burgess served in the French and Indian wars at the first siege of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia in May-June1745 while serving with the New England expeditionary force, 3rd Massachusetts Regiment, lead by Col. Jeremiah Moulton, 9th Company, under Capt. Bartholemew Trow, Lt. Jonathan Miller, and Ensign Joseph Fairbanks. They won the battle over the French fortress and according to one account "our Army Marcht To ye Citty the Colours were flying the Drums Beating Trumpets Sounding Flutes & Vials Playing . . . ." Thus the army celebrated "the greatest Conquest, that Ever was Gain'd by New England" while "ye French men and women & Children on ye Parade they Lookt verry sorrowful."
According to the internet history page of Louisbourg: "Col. Jeremiah Moulton this day left with 270 men to attack St. Peter's, destroying that settlement." We learn from our "Third Anonymous Mass. Soldier," ibid., in his May 3rd entry, that "Col. Moulton and party returned from St. Peters they burnt the town and demolished the fort took a few women and children prisoners one of our part straggling carelessly into the woods was killed by an Indian. Ten prisoners brought in. One of the cannon of the Grand Battery split wounded 5 men."
Ebenezer Burgess' gravestone in the Harvard Central Burial Grounds has this epitath: "Cease dear friends to weep for me, For Christ has died to set me free." The gravesite is remembered by a placque from the Sons of the Revolution as one who fought in the War of Independence.
According to Middlesex County records, Ebenezer Burgess, at age 15 requested and was granted guardianship by his uncle Daniel Monroe on 15 September 1729. The document states his father, who was from Nantucket, MA had died in Lexington, MA. Presumably his mother, Eleanor Monroe, had died earlier also.
Legal papers concerning the guardianship of Ebenezer Burgess from Middlesex county records:
#3579
April 15th 1729
Ebenezer Burgess in his 15th year son of William Burgess late of ye Island of Nantucket Cooper Decd has chosen for his guardian Daniel Munroe of Lexington in the county of Middx. yeoman (husbandman scratched out) George Munroe of sd Town, yeoman. Surety $200
Know all men by these presents, That We Daniel Munroe and George Munroe Yeomen both of Lexington in the County of Middlesex within the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England Are holden and stand firmly Bound and Obliged unto Jonathan Remington Esquire his Successors or Assigns, in the full sum of two hundred Pounds, To be paid unto the said Jon Remmington his Successors or Assigns, in the Office of Judge of the Probate Wills, and for Granting Letters of Administration on the Estates of Persons Deceased in the said Conty of Middlesex To the true Payment whereof, We joyntly and faverally bind Our Selves, and Our several and respective Heirs, Executors and Administrators, firmly by these Presents, Sealed with our Seals: Dated the Fifteenth Day of September Anno Domini, 1729.
The Condition of this Obligation is such, That if the above-bounden Daniel Monroe Nominated and Allowed to be Guardian unto Ebenezer Burgess a Minor in his fifteenth year of age a son of William Burgess late of Island of ye Island of Nantucket in New Eng. Cooper Deceased, shall and do well and truly Perform and Discharge the Trust and Office of Guardian unto the said Minor and that in and by all things according to Law; And shall render a plain and true Accompt of his said Guardianship upon Oath, and all and singular such Estate as shall come to his hands and possession by virtue thereof, and of the Profits and Improvements of the same, so far as the Law will charge him therewith (when he shall be thereunto Lawfully required) and shall Pay and Deliver what and so much of the said Estate as shall be found remaining upon his Account, (the same being first Examined and Allowed of by the Judge or Judges, for the time being, of the Probate of Wills, Exe.within the County of Middlesex aforesaid) unto the said Minor when he shall arrive at full Age; or otherwise as the said Judge or Judges by his or their Decree or Sentence pursuant to Law shall Limit and Appoint: Then this Obligation to be Void, otherwise to remain in full force. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------
The Last will and Testament of Ebenezer Burgess from Worcester county records:
#9049
Ebenezer Burgess Last Will & Testament filed January 5th 1808 Harvard
Proved and examined 3 Tuesday of May AD 1808
A. Paine
___ Bind by Book $4.0 fee for Debts
__________
WORCESTER ss. To all People to whom these Presents shall come, Nathiel Paine Esquire Judge of the Probate of Wills, &c. in the County of Worcester, within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, sendeth Greeting.
Knowe Ye, That on the 17th Day of May Anno Domini 1808 the Instrument, hereunto annexed (purporting the last Will and Testament of Ebenezer Burgess late of Harvard in the County of Worcester, deceased) was presented for Probate by Marret Burges and Loami Burges the Executors therein named; then present Francis Dickinson and Phineas Barnard two of the Witnesses thereto subscribed, who made oath that they saw the said Testator sign, seal and heard him declare the said Instrument to be his last Will and Testament, and that they, with Benjamin Kimball Esquire subscribed their names together as Witnesses to the Execution thereof in the said Testators presence; and that he was then (to the best of their judgment) of sound and disposing mind.
I DO therefore Prove, Approve, and Allow of the said Instrument as the last Will and Testament of the above named deceased, and commit the Administration thereof in all matters the same concerning, and of his Estate whereof he died seized and possessed in said County, unto Marret Burges & Loami Burges the before named Executors well and faithfully to execute the said Will, and to administer the Estate of the said deceased according thereto; who accepted their said trust, and have given Bond to pay the said Deceased Debts & legacies and to render an Account (upon Oath) of their proceedings, when thereunto lawfully required. In Testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal of Office, the Day and Year above written. Nathaniel Paine Jprob
WORCESTER ss. Recorded with the Records of Wills for said County. Per Wheeler Reg
In the name of God and men, I Ebenezer Burges of Harvard in the County of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts yeoman being of sound and disposing mind and memory Do make and _______ this my last Will and Testament, and principally and first of all I recommend my body to the earth to be buried in a descent Christian manner at the discretion of my executors and my Soul to God who gave it trusting in the merits of the Saviour for eternal life-------and as touching my worldly estate give demise and dispose of in the following manner that is to say---------- Imprimus I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Rachel all my household furniture, thirty pounds Lawful money and one cow to be delivered and paid her by my Executors at my decease.
Item I give and bequeath to my son Ebenezer Burgess thirteen pounds six shillings & Eight pence to be paid to him or to his heirs in two years after my decease by my Executors.
Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Hannah Stearn wife of Jonathan Stern Eight Shillings to be paid her in two years after my decease by my Executors.
Item I give and bequeath to William Burgess Betsey W. Burgess Caleb R. Burgess and Acis Burgess all children of my son William Burgess, Twelve Shillings to be paid them in equal shares by my Executor in two years after my decease.
Item I give and bequeath to my son John Burgess Six pounds thirteen Shillings & four pence to be paid to him or his heirs in two years after my decease by my Executors.
Item I give and bequesth to my son Solomon Burgess Six pounds thirteen Shillings and four pence to be paid to him or his heirs in two years after my decease by my Executor.
Item I give and bequesth to my son Thomas Burgess four pounds to be paid unto him or his heirs in two years after my decease by my Executor.
Item I give and bequeath to Sarah Foster my daughter and wife of Abraham Foster Six pounds thirteen Shillings and four pence to be paid unto her or her heirs in two years after my decease by my Executor.
Item I give and bequeath to Josiah Burgess and Nathaniel Burgess children of my son Josiah Burgess deceased Four pounds to be paid unto them in equal shares in two years after my decease by my Executors.
Item I give and bequeath to Marret Burgess and Loammi Burgess my other sons all the rest and residue of my Estate both real and personal that I may die _________ of to be equally divided between them.
And I do hereby constitute and appoint my two sons Marret Burgess and Loammi Burgess my Executors to this my last Will and Testament and do hereby revoke de annul and make void all former Wills and Testaments by me made and declare this to be my last Will and Testament.--------- In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Eighteenth day of September un the year of our Lord one Thousand seven hundred and Ninety five.
Signed Sealed published pronounced and disclosed by the testator to be his last Will and Testament in presence of --------------------- Benja Kimball his Francis Dickinson Ebeneser X Burges Phinehas Barnard mark ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------
To the Honer. Nathaniel Paine Esqr. Judge of Probate for the County of Worcester.
We the subscribers Legatees named in the last will and testament of Ebeneser Burges late of Harvard in said County deceased hereby certify to your Honor that we are sattisfied and content with the legacy bequeathed to each of us in said deceased will and pray your Honor to approved said Will that the same may be executed----- Harvard Decm. 26th 1809--- her Rachel X Burges mark
Ebenezer Burges John Burges Solomon Burges Sarah Forster --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Both Ebenezer Burgess and his father William were baptized at and were members of the First Church of Cambridge, MA. Ebenezer was baptized by one of the early ministers, Nathaniel Appleton in 1729. This church, which eventually became a Unitarian-Universalist Church at Harvard University has an interesting history. The following was taken from the new Church's web page:
The first Meeting House was built in 1632 near the corner of the present Dunster and Mt. Auburn Streets. Thomas Hooker became the first minister in 1633. In 1636, he and most of his flock moved to Connecticut. A new church, the First Church in Cambridge, was gathered on February 1, 1636 under Reverend Thomas Shepard, a significant leader of the great Puritan migration to New England in the 1630's. In the first Meeting House were held the sessions of the General Court of Massachusetts which banished Anne Hutchison from Massachusetts in 1637.
By order of the General Court of Massachusetts, Harvard College was founded in 1636. A year later, because of the influence of Thomas Shepard, the college was located in Newtowne (Cambridge), where the students might profit by his evangelical preaching.
The second Meeting House, 1652, and the third, 1706, and the fourth, 1756, stood in what is now the College Yard, in the corner now occupied by Lehman Hall. In 1775, George Washington worshiped in the fourth Meeting House. In 1825, General Lafayette was received there with an address of welcome by Edward Everett.
For a century, the doctrine preached by Shepard and his successors was Calvinistic. In the eighteenth century, a tendency towards a more liberal theology may be discerned. Although the Reverends William Brattle, 1696 - 1717, and Nathaniel Appleton, 1717 - 1784, were Calvinists they encouraged free inquiry and held a tolerant and catholic spirit towards those who differed on doctrinal matters. Appleton's successor, Timothy Hilliard, was Arminian rather than Calvinistic in theology.
For a century after the founding of the Town of Cambridge in 1630, parish affairs - the cost of the Meeting House and the support of the ministry - were a common responsibility of the whole community and were transacted in town meeting. In 1733, the First Parish in Cambridge was separately organized as a territorial parish. Within the town (parish after 1733) the church was a relatively small covenanted body of those admitted to full communion. Such costs as the maintenance of the meeting house and the salary of the town's "public teacher of piety, religion, and morality" (who was also the minister of the church) were met by regular assessments on all persons domiciled within the territorial limits of the parish (unless exempted because they were supporting Baptist or Episcopal worship). The power of the parish to assess the inhabitants for ecclesiastical purposes was abolished in Massachusetts in 1833. Since then the parish has been a poll parish, rather than a territorial parish.
The division between Calvinists and Arminians, which appeared in many churches of the Standing Order in the eighteenth century, reached a time of crisis and controversy in the period from 1805 to 1830. The minister of the Cambridge church at that time was the Reverend Abiel Holmes, 1792 - 1829, father of Oliver Wendell Holmes. He was orthodox in his views, but for three decades after his installation in 1792 he remained on friendly terms with the liberal or Arminian party. Beginning in 1826, however, he decided to break off relations with the liberals, and specifically to stop pulpit exchanges with the liberal or Unitarian ministers. After vainly attempting to persuade him to return to his earlier more inclusive practice, the Parish voted to dismiss him as its public teacher of religion and morality. By 1829, most of the Parish became Unitarian. Dr. Holmes and the more conservative members of his flock departed and founded the Shepard Congregational Society. In 1899, it was agreed that the church associated with that society should be called the First Church in Cambridge (Congregational), now part of the United Church of Christ, and this church, the First Church in Cambridge (Unitarian).
The Reverend William Newell was the first avowedly Unitarian minister, from 1830 to 1868. His immediate successor was Francis Greenwood Peabody, who had to resign because of ill health, but who later became a widely acknowledged leader of the social gospel movement. A longer ministry was that of Dr. Samuel McChord Crothers, from 1894 to 1927. Widely known as an author of familiar essays, he was also a preacher of rare quality who was able, in a simpler time, to attract a following from both the University and the Old Cambridge communities.
The fifth and current Meeting House was built in 1833, and Harvard College commencements were held in it until 1873. Here Presidents Everett, Sparks, Walker, Felton. Hill, and Eliot were inaugurated, and in 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson gave his Phi Beta Kappa oration on "The American Scholar". President Eliot was for many years a leading layman of this congregation. The Parish House was built in 1902, and the interior of the Meeting House remodeled in 1914. The Crothers chapel was dedicated in 1941.
More About Ebenezer Burgess: Adoption: 15 September 1729, By his Uncle Daniel Monroe. Baptism: 14 August 1720, Rev Nathaniel Appleton, First Church, Cambridge, MA.22 Burial: Harvard Central Burial Grounds. Census: 1790, Worcester County, MA (Harvard Town). Will: 1808, Probate records - From Harvard, MA, Worcester county record 9049.
More About Ebenezer Burgess and Hannah Laughton: Marriage: 04 October 1739, Lexington, MA.22
More About Ebenezer Burgess and Rachel Farnsworth: Marriage: 11 May 1762, Harvard, Worcester, MA by Rev Joseph Wheeler.23
Children of Ebenezer Burgess and Hannah Laughton are:
+William Burgess, b. June 1745, Lexington, MA, d., Lexington, MA.
Hannah Burgess, b. 06 February 1740/41, Lexington, MA24, d. 12 December 1744, Lexington, MA.
Ebenezer Burgess (b. 23 September 1714, d. 20 December 1807)
Notes for Ebenezer Burgess: