A Brief Biography
By Bill Poole
There were three Wellingtons who stood on Lexington Common on April 19, 1775, Benjamin, his brother, Timothy, and first cousin, Enoch. They were all descendants of Roger Wellington, or Willington, the great, great grandfather of Benjamin the subject of this essay. He was the first of this family to immigrate to
Massachusetts. His birth date is estimated at 1609 from a document he signed in 1676 in which his age was given as about 67, and also from his death record of March 11, 1697/98, in which his age was given as 90. His parentage and origins are in some dispute, but it is certain he was born in England and came to Massachusetts during the Great Migration of the 1630s. He settled first in Boston and then moved to Watertown, MA, where he married and started a family.
Roger was granted a 20 acre homesite on July 25, 1636, which it is said is now part of Mt. Auburn Cemetery.
An Homestedd of Sixteen Acres more or les bounded the East with Edward Goffe the Northeast with John Warrin & the Pond the Northwest with William Gutterig Edmund White & Simon Stone the Southeast & North with his owne Meddow Abram Browne William Bridges & Simon Stone. 2
He then purchased seven other lots totaling 145 acres. On April 4, 1659, he bought for £100 a dwelling house and 12 acres of land in Watertown, and on November 29, 1669 he purchased for £50 a house, barn and about 10 acres of land in Cambridge. That town then comprised a much larger area than today, encompassing the towns of Cambridge Village, now Newton, West Cambridge or Menotomy, now Arlington, Cambridge Farms, now Lexington, and Little or South Cambridge, now Brighton. Some of Rogers’ Cambridge lands were in what is now Lexington.
Roger was a plasterer by occupation, and served Watertown in several capacities, including Hog Reeve, Fence Viewer, Surveyor, Constable and Selectman in 1678-79, 1681-84, and 1691. He also was a corporal in the militia, and is almost always referred to as Corporal Willington in the Watertown town records. Despite his standing in the community, Roger occasionally ran afoul of the law. He was complained of for having an insufficient fence and fined 10 shillings.3 Not keeping fences in good shape allowed animals to graze on others property and was a continual source of complaint. More seriously, he was charged with not giving a sufficient account of the tax rates “to great dissatisfaction both to pastor and selectmen.” Two individuals were appointed
“to deale with him to bring him to a more tollarable account or else to p[re]sent him to the grand
jury.”4
Apparently satisfaction was given since Roger was trusted with assessing the rates in the following years. Another infraction was noted in 1664, but this concerned Roger’s eldest son, John. To wear clothing that was extravagant or considered to be above one’s social status was a fineable offense. The first Massachusetts Bay Colony law limiting excessive dress was passed in 1634, and prohibited citizens from wearing “new fashions or long hair, or any thing or like nature,” such as silver or gold hatbands or belts, cloth woven with gold thread or lace, shirts with short sleeves or sleeves slashed to show undergarments, great boots, and silk hoods or scarves. Apparently, John Wellington, a young man of 26, must have either defied propriety or exceeded his station in life by dressing inappropriately or wearing something considered to be finery.
“At a meetinge of the Select-men att Joseph Tayntors 11(8)1664… Roger willington & John wilington; being warned to the meetinge of the selectmen: Upon Complaynt of sum delinquence about Fashon of John willingtons aparill: & not apearinge: they weare Fined 5s apiece: for non appearance.”5
Sometime before 1638, Roger married, Mary Palgrave, daughter of Doctor Richard and Anna (maiden name unknown) Palgrave of Charlestown. Mary was born about 1619 in Norfolk, England. She and Roger had six children: 1. John, born July 25, 1638; 2. Mary, born February 10, 1640/41; 3. Joseph, born October 9, 1643; 4. Benjamin I, Great Grandfather of Benjamin Wellington, the subject of this essay, born about 1646, 5. Oliver, born November 23, 1648; and Palgrave, born about 1653.6
Roger died on March 11, 1697/98 and Mary died on January 21, 1695. They were both buried in Watertown’s Old Burial Ground, now called the Arlington Street Cemetery. Their grave markers apparently have not survived.
Benjamin I, along with John Guy were warned to appear before the Selectmen for “ meaking youse of the woode of a tree that stood in the highway” and “thay wear adjudged to pay a fine of 5s to the towne.” On November 9, 1675 he was appointed as a surveyor of swine, cattle and fences in Watertown, and on November 4, 1675 he received 4 shillings for work he performed on the “mill bridg.”7
On January 16, 1683/84 he was chosen a tithing man, quite a powerful position in Colonial New England. Tithing men were responsible for the observance of the Sabbath Day and maintaining order during the services. They would bring attention to the authorities those who were lax in attendance.8 However, despite his having served as a fence surveyor, at a meeting of the Selectmen on April 10, 1685, he was complained against by his neighbor Thomas Underwood, for neglecting to put up his portion of a fence between their properties. The two disputants appeared before the Selectmen and agreed:
“That Benjamin willington should meake and maintain his particular fence betweene them twaine and that it should be a sufficient fence to fence Thomas Underwoods Corne & pasture all the yeare so far as Consarns him betwene his land and goodman underwoods: Thomas Underwod allso ingageth that he will makeup and maintaine That fence which he now chargeth Benjamin willington with all his proportion belonging unto general fields.9
On november 2, 1685, Benjamin I was chosen a hog reeve, responsible for taking up and impounding swine that were wandering uncontrolled and perhaps raiding others fields. The following year on November 23, 1686, rules for controlling swine were adopted “and Nathaniel Bright and Benjamin Willington are chosen to see that these orders are attended this year: and to have Thear Salary as formerly.”10 On march 21, 1693/94, Benjamin was appointd to the very important position of ”First Constable,” resposible for keeping order in the town and supervising the other constables.11
Benjamin I married on December 7, 1671 in Watertown, Elizabeth Sweetman (Swetman) Born January 6, 1646/7 prerhaps in Cambridge, Daughter of Thomas and Isabel Cutter Sweetman. They had eight children, all born in Watertown: 1. Elizabeth, born December 29, 1673; 2. Benjamin Sr., grandfather of Benjamin, the subject of this essay, born June 21, 1676; 3. John, born July 26, 1678; 4. Ebenezer, birth date unknown but mentioned in his father’s will; 5. Ruhamah, born about 1680, mentioned in her father’s will, died July 1, 1772, age 92, married Joseph Brown; 6. Mehetabell, baptized March 4, 1687/88; 7. Joseph, baptized January 4, 1690/91; and 8. Roger, birthdate unknown, but mentioned in his father’s will12.
Benjamin’s I’s will was dated July 13, 1709 in the eighth year of the reign of Queen Anne, who came to the throne on March 8, 1702. Thus, 1709 seems to be correct, except that the probate record is dated 30 Jan. 1709. With the double dating at that time between January 1 and March 25, we can presume the probate was done in Jamuary 1710, so that Benjamin I died sometime between July 13, 1709 and January 1, 1710.13 The inventory of his estate was valued at £439 17 shillings and 05 pence.13
Benjamin Sr. grew up in Watertown, then moved to the part of Cambridge Farms that later became Lexington, where his marriage to Lydia Brown on January 18, 1698/99 is the first Wellington entry found in the Vital Records of the town.14 This was over a dozen years before the town was incorporated in 1713. They were admitted to the church in Lexington in 1705. “He was very popuar and held office as assessor for sixteen years, from 1716-1727, 1729, 1731 1733, 1737, 1738, and treasurer 1727-29. He was representative to the General Court 1728-31.15 From the Watertown Records of the town meeting of April 15, 1723 we find Benjamin Sr. acting as one of the two representatives for Lexington to review the bounds between Lexington, Watertown and Weston.
April 15, 1723. At sd. Meeeting the preambulators for this present year made their return as follows. We the Suscribrs, being appointed by the Selectmen of Watertown, to go
preambulating wth the Selectmen of the adjacent towns or othrs of their appointing, have accordingloy done the work. April the 8th 1723, we meet with Jonan Hastings and Stephen Hastings for Cambridge and began at a mark near the Charles River and thence Renewing the marks to Lexington, where we meet with Benja. Wellington & Benja. Smith for sd
Lexington, and Renewed the markes between Watertown and Lexington till we came to Weston and there we mett with Daniel Warren and Benja Harringtn, for Weston. April 12eh we met with Abraham Jackson Richard Ward and Ensign John Spring for Newton and renewed the marks between Watertown and Newton
Richard Coolidge
Thomas Livermore16
Benjamin Sr. was married three times. His first wife was Lydia Brown, born March 31, 1677 in Watertown, daughter of Jonathan and Mary Shattuck Browne. Lydia died on May 13, 1711. He then married in Lexington on December 25, 1712, Mrs. Elizabeth Stevens Phipps, born August 21, 1675 in Roxbuty, MA, daughter of Timothy and Sarah Davis Stevens, and widow of Samuel Phipps. Elizabeth died on January 7, 1729/30 and he then married, thirdly, in Lexington on October 21, 1731, Mary Whiting.17
Children of Benjamin Sr. and Lydia Browne: 1. Benjamin, born in Cambridge Farms, May 21, 1702; 2. Lydia, born in Cambridge Farms, August 24, 1704; 3. Kezia, born in Cambridge Farms, March 28, 1707; and 4. John, born in Cambridge Farms, November 12, 1709.
Children of Benjamin Sr. and Elizabeth, Stevens Phipps Wellington: 5. Abigail, born in Lexington, MA, July 19, 1715; and 6. Timothy Sr., father of Benjamin, the subject of this essay, born in Lexington, July 27, 1719.
Children of Benjamin Sr. and Mary Whiting Wellington: 7. Mary, born in Lexington, October 20, 1732; and 8. Oliver, born in Lexington, April 14, 1735.18
Mary, his seventh child was born when Benjamin Sr. was 57 and Oliver when he was 60. When he died, his children with Lydia were in in their late twenties to mid thirties. Those with Elizabeth were 23 and 19, but he left Mary with two young children ages six and three. I do not yet know if Mary married again. The Vital Records of Lexington do not indicate that she did. Perhaps, she relied on the suport of her step-children.
Benjamin Sr., Lydia and Elizabeth were buried in Lexington’s Old Burying Ground. There apparently is not a gravestone there for Mary, and there is also no record of her death in Lexington.19
I do not know anything about Mary’s birth of parentage, but there was a Mary daughter of Oliver and Anna born in Billerica on May 4, 1695 and another Mary daughter of Jonathan and Rachel born in Dedham on April 13, 1694.
Here lyes Buried ye MOMENTO MORI Here lyes ye Body Body of BENJAMIN FUGIT HORA of Mrs Elizabeth WELLINGTON Who HERE LYES ye Wellington Wife departed this Life Nov. BODY OF LYDIA of Mr Benjamin 14th Anno Dom. 1738 in WEELLINGTON Wellington Who ye 63rd Year of his Age WIFE TO BENJAMIN aged Died Janry. 7 1730 in ye 34 Years & 5 weeks 54th Year of her Age 6 Dayes died May 13th 1711
The Wellington’s had gradually moved from the Mount Auburn area of Watertown, where Roger’s homestead was located, up current Belmont Street, then along today’s Trapelo road, where Joseph’s land was located, and then into southeast Lexington where according to A. Bradford Smith in his article entitled “Kite End,” the Wellington homestead stood at the Junction of Pleasant Street and Concord Avenue, then known as the Concord Road.12 This is the homestead on which Benjamin Sr. had lived since 1698.20
1830 Map of Southwest Lexington by John G. Hales
The unnamed road shown intersecting with “Concord Road” is today’s “Pleasant Street” in Lexington. At this intersection was the “Wellington Homestead” indicated by the arrow. Concord Road is now Concord Avenue.
This is Hales, 1830 map as adapted by Edwin B. Worthen
Timothy Sr. lived in his father’s home, and married on September 23, 1742, Rebecca Stone, born in Lexington on January 22, 1721, daughter of Jonathan and Chary Adams Stone.21 See the spreadsheet on page (8) for the unusual role of Chary Adams Stone within the Wellington family.
Timothy and Rebecca had 5 children all born in Lexington: 1. Benjamin, the subject of this essay, born August 7, 1743; 2. Chary, born July 12, 1745; 3. Timothy Jr., born April 13, 1747; 4. Abigail, born March 14, 1749; and 5. Ruhamah, born September 4, 1751.22
Timothy Sr. died 23 days after the birth of Ruhamah, on October 21, 1751 at age 32, leaving Rebecca with five young children ranging in ages from Benjamin age 8 to Ruhamah, a newborn. Rebecca married secondly at Waltham on February 14, 1754, John Dix of Waltham, born May 18, 1702, died June 11, 1787, son of John and Martha Lawrence Dix. John was a 51 year old widower with mostly grown children, but with two younger children ages eleven and eight or nine. Rebecca and John would have one child, Joel, born in Waltham, February 16, 1755.23
Timothy Sr. was buried in Lexington’s Old Burial Ground, and his epitaph reads: Here Lies Buried ye Body of Mr TIMOTHY WELLINGTON Who Departed this Life Oct. 21 Anno Domni 1751 Aged 32 Years.
Benjamin Wellington also lived on the old Wellington homestead. He was a dairy farmer and it is said “he was the first man to carry milk as far as Boston.24 Benjamin was responding to the alarm of April 19, 1775, and armed with his musket and bayonet headed to Lexington Common to join Captain Parker’s company.
His route was up today’s Pleasant Street to reach Massachusetts Avenue and from there proceed on to the common, a journey of a little over three miles. It was still dark, probably around 4:00 o’clock in the morning. The trip by automobile today is estimated at eight minutes, but in the dark and on a rutted dirt road, it would have taken Benjamin much more time.
Benjamin III’s route to Lexington Common
He was “within about 10 rods (150 ft) of the main road.”25 when he was accosted by a mounted British officer, Lieutenant William Sutherland of His Majesty’s 38th Regiment of Foot who described the meeting as follows:
“. . . saw a vast number of the Country Militia going over the hill with their arms to Lexington & met one of them in the teeth whom I obliged to give up his firelock & bayonet, which I believe he would not have done so easily but from Mr. Adair coming up . . .”26
David Hackett Fisher described the encounter in his book Paul Revere’s Ride:
“Lieutenant Sutherland suddenly collided with one of those inhabitants, a thirty-one year old Lexington militiaman named Benjamin Wellington, with his musket and bayonet in hand. Sutherland ordered the militiaman to give up his weapons, “which I believe he would not have done so easily,” Sutherland wrote, but from Mr. Adair coming up.” Outnumbered, Wellington surrendered. The British officers took his weapons and told him to go home, as if they were addressing an errant child. Wellington walked in the direction whence he came. When out of sight, he turned and ran toward Lexington center to warn his neighbors. Later he found another weapon and joined his company.”27
Frank Warren Coburn related essentially the same story but added a few details:
“Half a mile further along and about two miles from Lexington Common, Benjamin Wellington, one of Captain Parker’s Company of minute men, was captured. This took place very nearly at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Pleasant Street. Wellington was armed and on his way from home on Pleasant Street to join his company. Thus it was claimed, and rightly, that he was the first belligerent or armed man captured by the British. But for some reason he was allowed to depart, not towards the Common, but for home. He started towards home but when out of their sight, turned and passed northerly along the crest of the hills, parallel to the highway, and reached the Common just after Thaddeus Bowman, but ahead of the British.”28
Thaddeus Bowman was the last rider sent out by Captain Parker to attempt to determine the whereabouts of the British expedition. He discovered them less than half an hour away from Lexington Common and dashed back to inform Captain Parker. Benjamin arrived not long after to confirm Bowman’s report. If he did obtain a musket, he would have had to hurry to join the hasty assembly of the militia on the Common.
The marker commemorating Benjamin’s capture, installed on the grounds of Sacred Heart Church at the corner of Follen Road and Massachusetts avenue in Lexington
Benjamin always “claimed the honor of being the first prisoner taken in the American Revolution.”29
Benjamin had additional service during the Revolutionary War, rising from private to sergeant to Lieutenant. He served during the siege of Boston and with the Northern Army at the Battle of Saratoga and the capture of General John Burgoyne.
From Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War:
WELLINGTON, Benjamin, Lexington. Private, in a detachment from Lexington Militia co. commanded by Capt. John Parker; service 5 days; detachment reported on command at Cambridge from May 6 to May 10, 1775, by order of Committee of Safety; also, Capt. John Bridge’s co., Col, Eleazer Brooks’s regt.; service from March 4 to March 8, 1776, 5 days; company stationed at Roxbury; also, Sergeant, Capt. Samuel Farrar’s co. Col. Reed’s regt.; engaged Sept. 29, 1777; discharged Nov. 7, 1777; service 1 mo. 10 days; company detached from Col. Eleazer Brook’s regt. to reinforce army under General Gates to the Northward.30
WILLINGTON, Benjamin. 2d Lieutenant, Capt. William Munro’s (3d) co., Col. Faulkner’s (3d Middlesex Co.) regt. of Mass. Militia; list of officers; commissioned June 7, 1780.31
Benjamin married in Lexington on December 4, 1766, Martha Ball of Waltham, born February 13, 1744/45, died September 7, 1830, daughter of Peter and Abigail Dix Ball. Abigail and Bejamin had ten children: 1. Mary, born September 22, 1767; 2. Abigail, born December 22, 1769; 3. Benjamin, baptized in Waltham, July 13, 1772 and is prsumably the child who died December 5, 1775; 4. Oliver, baptized in Waltham, November 13, 1774 and is presumably the child who died August 29, 1777; 5. Benjamin Oliver, born August 23, 1778; 6. Peter, born May 31, 1781; 7. Richard, born July 14, 1783; 8. James (twin), born December 12, 1785; 9. Patty (twin), born December 12, 1785; and 10. Isaac, born December 15, 1787.32
Abigail bore children over a 20 year period from the age of 22 or 23 when her first child was born, to age 42 or 43 when her last child was born. The custom of honoring a deceased child by giving the name to another was quite usual, and Abigail and Benjamin took the opportunity to honor their deceased children, Benjamin and Oliver, by naming their fifth child Benjain Oliver.
According to A. Bradford Smith, in an article he presented before the Lexington Historical Society entitled “Kite End,” Benjamin built a home for his sons Benjamin Oliver and Peter who remained in Lexington, while his other sons removed to Medford.
“The next place, on the corner of Concord avenue and Pleasant Street, is the “Wellington Homestead” since the year 1698 . . . The house occupied by the present representative of the family was built in 1802 by Benjamin for his two sons Benjamin O. and Peter.” 33
Sadly, and surprisingly, I have not yet found the burial places of either Abigail of Benjamin. One would think they would have been buried in Lexington’s Old Burying Ground, particularly since both Benjamin’s father, Timothy, and his brother, Timothy, are buried there.
NOTE
Lexington was a very close knit town with multiple family connections. David Hackett Fisher has used the term “cousinage” to describe the interwoven relationships of Colonial communities. Almost everyone seemed to be connected directly or by marriage to everyone else. There were three Wellingtons on Lexington Common on of how families could be connected. April 19th, 1775 and they were first cousins, but they were related to other families by the ties of “cousinage.” There were four Brown cousins on the Common as well, and you can see in the spreadsheet below an example
Footnotes
1Watertown Vital Records at https://archive.org/details/watertownrecords01wate/page/n5/mode/2up Vital Records from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 102, p. 97; Torrey, Clarence Almon, original Manuscript “W”-page 133; Torrey, Clarence Almon, New England Marriages to 1700, Volume 3, page 1624, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 2011, p. 1624; Robert Charfles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995, Volume 3, page 1375.
2 Bond, Henry M.D., Genealogies of the Families & Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1860, Volume. I, p. 627; https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wellington-43. 3Watertown Historical Society, Watertown Records Comprising the First and Second Books of Town Proceedings with the Land Grants and Possessions also the Proprietors’ Book and the First Book and Supplement of Births Deaths and Marriages, Watertown, Mass. Press of Fred G. Barker, 1894, Volume 1, p. 76.
4Watertown Records, Volume 1, p. 77.
5Ibid., p. 83.
6Bond, p. 627; Hudson, Charles, Bi-centenary Edition History of the Town of Lexington Massachusetts in Two Volumes, Volume II, Genealogies, Lexington Historical Society, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press, 1913, pp. 726-27.
7 Watertown Records Volume 1, Comprising the First and Second Books of Town Proceedings with the Land Grants and Possessions Also the Proprietors Book and the Fiirst Book and Supplement of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Watertown Historical Society, Watertown, Mass. Press Fred G. Barker, 1894, pp. 114, 125 and 141. 8Watertown Records Volume 2,Comprising the Third Book of Town Proceedings and the Second Book of Births, Mariages and Deaths to the End of 1737, Also Plan and Register of Burials of Arlington Street Burying Ground, Watertown Historical Society, Watertown, Mass., Press of Fred G. Barker, 1900, p. 16. 9Ibid., p. 21.
10Ibid., pp. 23 and 29.
11Watertown Vital Records
12Ibid.
13Middlex County, MA: Probate Papers, Court, Land and Probate Papers, 1648-1871, Case Number 24037, Volume Middlesex Cases 24000-25999, page 24037: 1-6.
14Vital Records of Lexington, MA to the End of the Year1897 at https://archive.org/details/lexingtonmassrec00unse/page/n5/mode/2up
15 Hudson, Genealogies, p. 728.
16Watertown Records, Volume 2, p. 303.
17Hudson, Genealogies, p. 728; Lexington Vital Records.
18Ibid.
19Brown, Francis H., M.D., Lexington Epitaphs, A Copy of the Epitaphs in The Old Burying-Grounds of Lexington, Massachusetts, Lexington, The Lexington Historical Society, 1905, pp. 162-3. 20Smith, A. Bradford, “Kite End,” Proceedings of the Lexington Historical Society, and Papers Relating to the History of the Town Read by Some of the Members, Volume II, Lexington, Mass. Published by the Historical Society, 1900 p. 120; Elizabeth Castner, “The Wellingtons of Trapelo Road,” Reproduced by the Waltham Historical Commission, with permission from the Waltham Public Library.
21Hudson, Genealogies, p.730
22Idid.
23Vital Records of Waltham, Mass to the End of the Year 1850 at https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofwa00walt
24Hudson, Genealogies, p. 730.
25 Hudson, Charles, History of the Town of Lexington from First Settlement to 1868, Revised and Continued to 1912 by The Lexington Historical Society, Volume I, History, p. 748.
9
26 Kehoe, Vincent J.R., “We Were There April 19, 1775 The American Rebels,” Self-Published, January 1, 1975, “Deposition of John Munroe December 28th, 1824,” pp. 141 and 14.
27Fischer, David Hackett, Paul Revere’s Ride, Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press, 1995, page 187 and footnote 10, p. 399.
28Coburn, Frank Warren, The Battle of April 19, 1775, in Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Cambridge, Somerville, and Charlestown, Massachusetts, Lexington, Mass. U.S.A., Published by the Author, 1912, p. 58; also see Elias Phinney, History of the Battle of Lexington On the Morning of the 18th April, 1775, Printed by Phelps and Farnham, Boston, p. 19; Allen French, The Day of Lexington and Concord, The Nineteenth of April, 1775, Boston, Little, Brown, and Company, p. 97; and Arthur Bernon Tourtellot, William Diamond’s Drum, Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Co., Inc. p. 115
29Hudson, Genealogies, p. 730.
30 Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, A compilation from the Archives Prepared and Published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth in Accordance with Chapter 100, Resolves of 1891, Boston, Wright & Potter, 1896-1908, Volume 16, p. 829.
31Ibid., Volume 17, p. 495.
32Hudson Genealogies, pp. 739-31.
33A. Bradford Smith, op. cit.
A long article on the Wellington Family appeared in The Cambridge Tribune Saturday ,November 15, 1913.
A red granite monument on the grounds of Sacred Heart Church at the corner of Follen Road and Pleasant Street in East Lexington is inscribed:
Near this spot at early dawn on the 19th of April 1775 Benjamin Wellington, a Minute Man, was surprised by British Scouts and disarmed. With undaunted courage he borrowed another gun and hastened to join his comrades on Lexington Green. He also served his country at White Plains and Saratoga. The first armed man taken in the Revolution.
Benjamin Wellington lived on the old Wellington homestead near the corner of Pleasant Street and Concord Avenue in Lexington. He was a dairy farmer and it is said “he was the first man to carry milk as far as Boston.”1 Benjamin was responding to the alarm of April 19, 1775, and armed with his musket and bayonet headed to the Common to join Captain Parker’s company.
His route was up today’s Pleasant Street to reach Massachusetts Avenue and from there proceed on to the Common, a journey of a little over three miles. It was still dark, probably around 4 o’clock in the morning. The trip by automobile today is estimated at eight minutes, but in the dark and on a rutted dirt road, it would have taken Benjamin much more time.
He was “within about 10 rods (150 ft) of the main road”2 when he was accosted by a mounted British officer, Lieutenant William Sutherland of His Majesty’s 38th Regiment of Foot, who described the meeting as follows:
. . . saw a vast number of the Country Militia going over the hill with their arms to Lexington & met one of them in the teeth whom I obliged to give up his firelock & bayonet, which I believe he would not have done so easily but from Mr. Adair coming up . . 3
David Hackett Fisher described the encounter in his book Paul Revere’s Ride:
Lieutenant Sutherland suddenly collided with one of those inhabitants, a thirty-one year old Lexington militiaman named Benjamin Wellington, with his musket and bayonet in hand. Sutherland ordered the militiaman to give up his weapons, “which I believe he would not have done so easily,” Sutherland wrote, but from Mr. Adair coming up.” Outnumbered, Wellington surrendered. The British officers took his weapons and told him to go home, as if they were addressing an errant child. Wellington walked in the direction whence he came. When out of sight, he turned and ran toward Lexington center to warn his neighbors. Later he found another weapon and joined his company.4
Frank Warren Coburn related essentially the same story but added a few details:
Half a mile further along and about two miles from Lexington Common, Benjamin Wellington, one of Captain Parker’s Company of minute men, was captured. This took place very nearly at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Pleasant Street. Wellington was armed and on his way from home on Pleasant Street to join his company. Thus it was claimed, and rightly, that he was the first belligerent or armed man captured by the British. But for some reason he was allowed to depart, not towards the Common, but for home. He started towards home but when out of their sight, turned and passed northerly along the crest of the hills, parallel to the highway, and reached the Common just after Thaddeus Bowman, but ahead of the British.5
Thaddeus Bowman was the last rider sent out by Captain Parker to attempt to determine the whereabouts of the British expedition. He discovered them less than half an hour away from Lexington Common and dashed back to inform Captain Parker. Benjamin arrived not long after to confirm Bowman’s report. If he did obtain a musket, he would have had to hurry to join the hasty assembly of the militia on the Common.
Benjamin always “claimed the honor of being the first prisoner taken in the American Revolution.”6
Benjamin had additional service during the Revolutionary War, rising from private to sergeant to Lieutenant. He served during the siege of Boston and with the Northern Army at the Battle of Saratoga and the capture of General John Burgoyne.