American and Lawrence Family History

We left our beautiful Boston southshore campsite and drove northeast to the Concord and Lexington Massachusetts area, the hotbed of the American Revolution.  This is also were Pat's ancestors called home and (as we found out) participated in Concord's North Bridge battle with the British, " The Shot Heard Around the World", as Minutemen.  Is was interesting learning how her family and our nation's history was intertwined.  As Paul Revere rode through the countryside from Boston to Concord alerting the Minuteman of the British troops  moving toward Concord, Pat's ancestors were among those who answered the call.  As a side note, did anyone know that Paul Revere was actually captured by a British unit on his ride to Concord?  He was captured and released after the British heard the church bells ringing alerting the colonist of the British march, they thought there was no reason to keep him since their surprise was overtaken by events.  The Lawrences were involved throughout the revolution and fought many of the major battles in the Massachusetts Bay colony which included parts of New Hampshire and Connecticut.  We were in the area to verify family connections and dates but also enjoyed learning the history of the beginnings of our country.    

 

 

Our campsite at Hanscom AFB, just 4 miles from Concord.

Minuteman statue at the North Bridge, Concord, MA.  It was an amazing fact that over a 1000 colonist answered the first alert and call from well over 30 nearby villages, leaving their families in the middle of the night to ride and march to Concord and Lexington.  They were called Minutemen because they signed up to respond to the call for liberty at a minutes notice.  The colonist drove the British back to Boston from Concord starting the American Revolution.

The British lost two soldiers and the colonist lost 3 men at North Bridge.  The colonist took their dead back to their villages for burial but the two British soldiers are buried at the North Bridge site. 

Our reason for being here was to do family research and we were able to visit libraries and city halls in Groton, MA., Cambridge MA, and Killingly, Connecticut.  Spending hours reading books and going through land, marriage, birth and death records to ensure our facts are correct and that we are following the right ancestors.  Our search has resulted in yet another twist, we have to go to Luzerne county in Pennsylvania.  Another change of travels plans, we were going to drive south from Massachusetts but now we will go to New York City area (a backyard side trip)) then drive toward Pennsylvania before we eventually go south to visit family in South Carolina.  We may have to go back to Ohio/Indiana before driving south but that is the way it is as you following the genealogy of your family. 

Our next post will be of our side trip to the Big Apple!  It has been a long time since we visited New York City and really want to go by the World Trade Center memorial and  experience the hustle and bustle of the "City".  We are now staying in New Jersey and plan on taking the ferry across the harbor from New Jersey to Manhattan.  While we are in New Jersey we also want to visit the Jersey beaches and maybe drive down to Atlantic City, stay tuned for our next post, reporting to you our NYC and New Jersey experience!