Keeping Alive the Principles – Steady and solemn refusal…

Every April we re-enact the alarm and muster of April 19, 1775. Captain William Smith arrives by horse at the White Church in Lincoln, and the church bell rouses us from nearby houses, to muster in Lincoln Center. Early the following Monday morning, we muster by Bemis Hall, and after a salute to the patriots buried in the cemetery, we march to Concord along Sandy Pond Road, the same route taken by the original minute men of Lincoln. We are proud to be an example of “steady and solemn refusal to be subject to the whims and caprices of any man or body of men.

Perpetuating the Memory…

It wasn’t about Glory or Destiny in 1775

Educating All Citizens, Especially Our Youth

And on a Sunday in late April, we assemble at Pierce House in Lincoln, along with a contingent of British Redcoats, and march to the Lexington Road cemetery for a ceremony honoring the Lincoln patriots and British soldiers buried there. We believe that if we could ask Sippio Brister, Josiah Parks, or John Hoar…or any of the patriots buried in Lincoln about why they acted as they did…they would not talk about glory or about destiny, or being remembered. Instead, they would talk about the right to self-determination. They would say, “It isn’t just about taxation, but about my rights and responsibilities to participate in law-making, based upon moral principles.”

In appearances that bring us the greatest pleasure, we offer interpretative programs for school children in Lincoln and surrounding communities, to raise interest in America’s past. All our members share an enthusiasm for colonial history, and especially for stories about the vivid characters in the Revolution. These include stories of Paul Revere’s capture by the British in Lincoln, of Mary Hartwell’s courage and compassion, of Capt. William Smith’s tragic decline from patriot to pauper, of James Nichols’ desertion from the ranks of the minute men at the North Bridge — and many more. We also discuss and debate the larger issues of the day that provoked the Revolution. And not the least, we offer an introduction to the equipment and the life of a citizen-soldier among Lincoln’s minute men on that historic day in 1775.