The Historical Society hosted a program in front of the Centre Congregational Church to honor Revolutionary War veterans from the town who served during the first day of the war and are buried in the Old Burying Ground cemetery.
Historical Society member Alan Foulds, who coordinated the event, said that the program is part of a statewide effort from an organization called Revolution 250, sponsored by the Massachusetts Historical Society, that encourages municipalities to host vigils if any of their former residents fought in any of the battles that took place on April 19, 1775.
“38 people from Lynnfield went to the battle on April 19, and 15 of them are buried in the old cemetery,” Foulds said, adding that three other veterans who fought on that day but were not originally from Lynnfield are also buried there. “So the bottom line is there are 18 people in that cemetery, who went to the Battle of April 19.”
Foulds said that the event is a “kickoff to the 250th anniversary of American Independence,” as the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord will be next year.
At the event, the names of those buried in the cemetery were read, and lanterns were lit as each name was read.
Direct descendants of some of the veterans buried also attended the event. One of them was Daniel Townsend Muse, who lit the lantern for Daniel Townsend.
Townsend was one of three veterans who were killed at the Jason Russell House, “the site of the bloodiest fighting of the American Revolution” in Menotomy (now Arlington), according to a statement from the Historical Society.
Tony Wellman was also there to light a lantern for Thomas Wellman.
Foulds also mentioned some events that the Historical Society has planned for the near future.
“Sometime next spring, we’re going to have a mock town meeting,” Foulds said. “It’s going to resemble a town meeting from just before the war started. All of the records show them talking about the upcoming problems with Great Britain.”
Foulds added that next year, “characters will come to life” and there will be a play in which each of the people in the cemetery will tell their story of who they were, what their lives were like, and what they did for a living.
He also said that there will be an event after the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution called “If This House Could Talk,” inspired by an event held in Reading, at which the Historical Society will make placards, ask people to write a story of their house on them, and put them on their lawns.
“So we’re not talking about ‘George Washington slept here,’ it’s whatever the story of their house is,” Foulds said. “Maybe it was built as a warehouse of a railroad. Maybe some famous person lives there or something.”
At the vigil, Historical Society President Ron Sarro started the event with some trivia about the Revolution. Veterans’ Services Officer Bruce Siegel and Lynnfield Post 131 Commander Tom Bogart also spoke at the event.
Emma Fringuelli contributed to this report.
