Captain Joseph Guild represented

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

in the

Great and General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...

. He was also

town clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a To ...

for a total of four years, having first been elected in 1773. Additionally, he served seven terms as selectman, with his first election in 1768. On the morning of April 19, 1775, a messenger came "down the Needham road" with news about the battle in Lexington. Guild 'gagged a croaker' who said the news was false and in an hour" the "men of Dedham, even the old men, received their minister's blessing and went forth, in such numbers that scarce one male between sixteen and seventy was left at home." Aaron Guild, a captain in the British Army during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, was plowing his fields in South Dedham (today Norwood) when he heard of the battle. He immediately "left plough in furrow ndoxen standing" to set forth for the conflict, arriving in time to fire upon the retreating British.From the Aaron Guild Memorial Stone, dedicated in 1903, which stands outside the Norwood public library and reads: "Near this spot/ Capt. Aaron Guild/ On April 19, 1775/ left plow in furrow, oxen standing/ and departing for Lexington/ arrived in time to fire upon/ the retreating British".

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Works cited

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guild, Joseph Members of the Massachusetts General Court Year of birth missing Year of death missing Dedham, Massachusetts selectmen Dedham Town Clerks