The Samuel Hartwell House is a historic

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

site associated with the revolution's first battle, the 1775

battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord ...

. Built in 1733, in what was then

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

, it was located on North County Road,''Lincoln'' – Lincoln Historical Society (2003) just off Battle Road (formerly the Bay Road) in today's

Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States Census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits. The town, located in the MetroWest region o ...

, and about 700 feet east of

Hartwell Tavern Hartwell Tavern (also known as the Ephraim Hartwell House) is a historic American Revolutionary War site associated with the revolution's first battle, the 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord. It is located on North County Road, just off Bat ...

, which Hartwell built for his son, Ephraim, and his newlywed wife, Elizabeth, in 1733. The site is part of today's Minute Man National Historic Park. The 240-year-old Samuel Hartwell House was destroyed by fire in 1973, and all that remains is the central chimney stack.

History

The building, whose main façade faces south, was originally constructed as a home for Samuel Hartwell (1666–1744) and his first wife, Abigail Stearns.''Hand-book of Hartwell Genealogy, 1636-1887'', Lyman Willard Densmore (1887), p. 89 Abigail died in 1709, and Hartwell remarried three times, to Rebecca (died 1714), Margaret Tompkins (died 1723) and Experience Tarbox (who survived him). Built on land purchased in 1694 from Richard Rice (1608–1709), only the central chimney of the Samuel Hartwell House still stands, amongst a basic reconstruction of the building.Samuel Hartwell House site
- NPS.gov When Samuel died in 1744, aged 78, Ephraim inherited his portion of the family farm. By 1749, the farm was one of the most productive in Concord and consisted of 141 acres."The Hartwell Tavern and the Hartwell Family in Closer Detail"
- NPSHistory.com The property was part of Concord until 1754, when the town of Lincoln was incorporated. After Samuel's grandson, also named Samuel (1742–1829), married Mary Flint in 1769, his father, Ephraim, gave him the house. The Hartwells lived there until 1785. Thomas John Dee purchased the farm around the turn of the 20th century. After his death, it passed to his son, who sold the property and a few acres of its land in 1925 to Marion Abbie Fitch, a Boston schoolteacher, and Jane Hamilton Poor, an architect. They converted it into a restaurant called

Hartwell Farm Hartwell Farm was a restaurant in Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1925 by Marion Abbie Fitch, a Boston schoolteacher, and Jane Hamilton Poor, an architect,''Lincoln'' – Lincoln Historical Society (2003) it occupied the 173 ...

Remains

File:Samuel Hartwell House, 2023.jpg, The remnants of the Samuel Hartwell House File:Minute Man National Park 02.jpg, Chimney and hearth File:Battle Road 2023.jpg, Looking west along Battle Road from the Samuel Hartwell House to Hartwell Tavern

Battles of Lexington and Concord

The

took form before dawn on April 19, 1775. Soldiers passed by the house on their way to

, and again on their way back to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Three of Ephraim and Elizabeth Hartwell's children — Samuel, John and Isaac — were in the Lincoln

minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

that fought at

Old North Bridge Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

and on the battle road. All three later served in the Revolutionary War.

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to ale ...

and

William Dawes William Dawes Jr. (April 6, 1745 – February 25, 1799) was one of several men who in April 1775 alerted colonial minutemen in Massachusetts of the approach of British army troops prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the outse ...

were detained by a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

patrol nearby during the "Midnight Ride" to Concord of April 18.

Samuel Prescott Samuel Prescott (August 19, 1751 – ) was an American physician and a Massachusetts Patriot during the American Revolutionary War. He is best known for his role in Paul Revere's "midnight ride" to warn the townspeople of Concord, Massachusetts ...

, who was also riding with them, escaped by jumping his horse over a wall and into the woods. Prescott emerged at the Hartwell Tavern, awakened Ephraim and informed him of the pending arrival of the British soldiers. Ephraim sent his black slave, Violet, down the road to alert his son and his family. Mary then relayed the message to Captain William Smith, commanding officer of the Lincoln minutemen,''Battle Road: Birthplace of the American Revolution'', Maurice R. Cullen (1970) who lived a little to the west and whose home still stands along Battle Road. The minutemen received the notice in time, and arrived at Old North Bridge before their enemy. Prescott made it to Concord.

References

Bibliography

External links

"The Hartwells of America"
June 27, 1942 – HartwellClan.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartwell House, Samuel Buildings and structures completed in 1733 Residential buildings completed in the 18th century Houses in Lincoln, Massachusetts Massachusetts in the American Revolution 1694 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay Buildings and structures demolished in 1973 Minute Man National Historical Park Burned houses in the United States