The Captain William Smith 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

site in

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

, United States. Part of today's

Minute Man National Historic Park Minute Man National Historical Park commemorates the opening battle in the American Revolutionary War. It also includes the Wayside, home in turn to three noted American authors. The National Historical Park is under the jurisdiction of the Nat ...

, it is associated with the revolution's first battle, the 1775

battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

. Believed to have been built in 1692 (or possibly a decade or so earlier), in what was then

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

, it is believed to be the oldest house in Lincoln. It is located on North County Road, just off

Battle Road Battle Road, formerly known as the Old Concord Road and the Bay Road, is a historic road in Massachusetts, United States. It was formerly part of the main road connecting Lexington, Massachusetts, Lexington, Lincoln, Massachusetts, Lincoln and ...

(formerly the Bay Road), a few hundred yards east of the

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 ...

and the contemporary Samuel Hartwell House. Its first known occupant was

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...

Benjamin Whittemore (d. 1734). It was latterly the home of Captain

William Smith William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University C ...

(1746–1787),

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of 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. Min ...

Captain William Smith House, 1692
–

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

and the only brother of

Abigail Adams Abigail Adams ( ''née'' Smith; – October 28, 1818) was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, the second president of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. She was a founder o ...

, wife of the prominent patriot

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

. The house has been restored by

to look as it would have in 1775. William and Elizabeth Dodge purchased the home as a rental property in 1758. When they moved to

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, they gave the house to their only daughter, Catharine Louisa Salmon. Catharine married William Smith in 1771. The couple lived in the house with their three children: Elizabeth, Louisa Catharine and William Jr. Their African slave, Cato, is not believed to have fought in the battles of Lexington and Concord, but on April 24, 1775, he enlisted as a soldier in Smith's newly formed company in the

6th Massachusetts Regiment The 6th Massachusetts Regiment also known as the 4th Continental Regiment was raised on April 23, 1775, under Colonel John Nixon outside of Boston, Massachusetts. The regiment would see action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, New York Campaign, Ba ...

commanded by Colonel

John Nixon John Nixon is the name of: Politicians *John Nixon (MP), Member of the Long Parliament in England, representing Oxford City 1646–1648 * John T. Nixon (1820–1889), U.S. Representative from New Jersey *John William Nixon (1880–1949), Unionist p ...

. He died in

New Castle, New York New Castle is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 18,311 in the 2020 United States census, an increase over 17,569 at the 2010 census. It includes the named hamlets of Chappaqua and Millwood, but residen ...

, in January 1777. Smith died in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

on September 3, 1787, aged 40, after abandoning his wife and (now six) children and becoming an alcoholic.''John Quincy Adams''
Paul C. Nagel – ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' Smith's father, Revd. William Smith, had assumed ownership of the family house in 1780. Catharine, who left Lincoln in 1795, survived her husband by 37 years; she died in 1824. The house had a series of owners before it was added to the Minute Man National Historic Park in 1975. (Manuel Silva purchased the property in 1924. A hog farmer, Silva had about four hundred swine at the time of his 1945 death. It is believed his wife divided the interior into four apartments around 1956.)

Architecture

The cove

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

visible below the roofline of the front façade is one of only four surviving examples remaining in Massachusetts (the others are the nearby Whittemore-Smith House, and also in Danvers and Marblehead).CAPTAIN WILLIAM SMITH HOUSE, Minute Man National Historical Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts
–

File:Period_reenactor_at_the_Captain_William_Smith_House.jpg, A period reenactor in the house's west parlor

Battles of Lexington and Concord

Captain William Smith House Minute Man National Park

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 is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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

Old North Bridge The North Bridge, often colloquially called the Old North Bridge, is a historic site in Concord, Massachusetts, spanning the Concord River. On April 19, 1775, the first day of the American Revolutionary War, provincial minutemen and militia comp ...

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, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...

and

William Dawes William Dawes Jr. (April 6, 1745 – February 25, 1799) was an American soldier, and was one of several men who, in April 1775, alerted minutemen in Massachusetts of the approach of British regulars prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concor ...

were detained by a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

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, Massachuse ...

, 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, Samuel, and his family. Mary Hartwell, Samuel's wife, then relayed the message to Captain William Smith.''Battle Road: Birthplace of the American Revolution'', Maurice R. Cullen (1970) 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

Captain William Smith House, Virginia Road, Lincoln, Middlesex County, MA
–

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith House, Captain William Buildings and structures completed in 1692 Residential buildings completed in the 17th century Houses in Lincoln, Massachusetts Massachusetts in the American Revolution American Revolutionary War sites in Massachusetts 1692 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay Minute Man National Historical Park