A Biographical Sketch
By Bill Poole
The name Moses Harrington has caused a great deal of genealogical confusion. There were a number of individuals by that name living in Massachusetts in the mid-18th century. There were three Moses Harringtons’ in Lexington alone. Most of the citations that appear in family genealogical trees confuse Moses Harrington, born in Lexington September 18, 1749 and the subject of this study, with both his first cousin Moses, born March 22, 1754, and Captain Moses Harrington born in Watertown October 22, 1733 as well as his son, also known as Captain Moses, born in Grafton, November 8, 1759.1
The three Moses’ from Lexington were all alive on April 19, 1775. Moses, Sr. born January 6, 1709-10 in Cambridge Farms, now Lexington, was in his mid-60s and thought not to have taken part in the activities of that day. His son, Moses Jr., and his first cousin, Moses 3rd, did, however. Their names appear on the Minute Men Monument on the grounds of Buckman Tavern in Lexington, and on April 25, 1775 both signed their names to an affidavit testifying as to what took place on Lexington Common.2
The three Moses Harringtons from Lexington were all descendants of Robert Harrington — the first of the Harringtons to come to Massachusetts. Robert settled in Watertown in 1642 where he married Susanna George on October 1, 1649. Susanna predeceased Moses on July 6, 1694, and he died May 17, 1707.3 Their gravestones can be seen in the Old Burying Ground in Watertown.4 Robert and Susanna had thirteen children, the second of whom was John, born August 24, 1631.5 He married Hannah Winter at Watertown on November 17, 1681. She died July 17, 1741 and he followed on August 24, 1741.6 They lived in that part of Watertown that became Waltham and are buried in Grove Hill Cemetery in Waltham.7 They had twelve children, the second of whom was John, born October, 1684, died November 29, 1749-50.8 He married Elizabeth Cutter of Cambridge Farms (Later Lexington) on April 12, 1705. Elizabeth was born March 5, 1680-81 and died February 8, 1749-50.9 Their burial site is unknown. John and Elizabeth had nine children the third of whom was Moses born January 6, 1709-10, died January 11, 1787.10 Moses married twice. His second wife was Sarah Frost born January 2, 1718-19, died May 12, 1759. Moses and Sarah had eight children, the second of whom was Moses Jr., the principal subject of this essay, born September 24, 1741.11
Moses married on April 28, 1774 Mary Reed daughter of William and Abigail Stone Reed, born July 17, 1751. If the records are correct their first child, Mary, was born just over three months later.
The children of Moses and Mary Reed Harrington:
1. Mary , born 23 July 1774; married 29 or 30 Nov. 1792, Joseph White
2. Sarah, born 22 Aug. 1776; married 8 June 1798 Thaddeus Hall of Chelmsford, MA.
3. Caleb, born 6 July 1779; moved to Charlestown; married 17 Dec. 1806 Dorcas Frost.
4. Betsey, b. 16 Apr. 1782; d. unmarried 13 Jan. 1811.
5. Moses, born 2 May 1785; died unmarried May 1824.
6. William, born 1 Sept. 1789; baptized 7 Sept. 1788; died 14 May 1824
7. Oliver, born 26 Apr. 1791; died unmarried 25 Oct. 1834.
8. Edmund, b. 21 Feb. 1794; “left town and never returned.”12
A little less than a year after his marriage and ten months after the birth of his first child, Moses stood on Lexington Common on April 19, 1775 as one of a small band of Lexington townsmen facing an angry and nervous group of Redcoats. He was joined there by eight other Harringtons — four first cousins, three third cousins and his only brother Caleb, age 23.13 [ See flowchart below] Before the Regulars arrived Caleb went to the meeting house, either to help distribute the powder stored there or replenish his own supply. As the Recoats rushed onto the Common the rest of the Harringtons were already standing in line or hastening to join their comrades when the firing began. Moses’ first cousin Jonathan was shot down and died near his own home that stood on the edge of the Common. Moses with most of the other members of the militia quickly abandoned the field. However, in addition to Jonathan six other men from Lexington lost their lives and nine were wounded. It was probably after the Regulars had departed and the survivors returned to assist the wounded that Moses learned that Caleb had been killed while attempting to escape from the Meeting House. It is difficult to imagine Moses’s thoughts as he gazed at the body of his beloved brother. Nor can we conceive of his emotion as Caleb’s body was hastily buried with the other dead and the site concealed with brush to avoid the bodies being desecrated by the King’s troops following their expected return. 14
Robert (c. 1616-1707)
Daniel (1657-1728) John (1651-1741)
Robert (1685-1774) John (1684-1750)
Robert (1719-1793) Jonathan (1722/3-1809) Henry (1711/12-1791) Moses (1709/10-1787)
Daniel Thaddeus Jonathan Thomas John Jonathan, Jr. Moses 3rd Moses, Jr. Caleb
(1739-1818) (?-1789?) (1758-1854) (1747-?) (1739-?) (1744/45-1775) (1754-1835?)(1749-1821) (1751-1775)
The nine Harringtons who responded as members of Captain Parker’s Company.
Perhaps Moses was motivated by revenge and joined with Captain Parker’s men when they ambushed the Regulars during their harried return from Concord at the site now known as Parker’s Revenge. According to Charles Hudson both Moses and his cousin, Moses 3rd, served with Captain Parker’s company for five days from May 6 to May 10, 1775 at Cambridge. Thereafter, neither Hudson nor the records in Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War distinguish between the two cousins and the service recorded there could be for either one. It includes five days at Roxbury from March 4 to March 8, 1776 as a sergeant in Captain John Bridge’s Company, Colonel Eleazer Brooks’s regiment; and two months and nine days at Rhode Island from May 10 to July 10, 1777. Hudson also has Moses taking part in the “Eighth Campaign Three Months to the Jerseys” with no date given.15
Moses died on May 10, 1821 and his wife Mary on October 23, 1822. It is not known at this time where they are buried. Moses 3rd disappears from the record following the single service entry in Hudson in which he was specifically named. Perhaps an investigation of other sources will reveal more. The Lexington Vital Records list the death of an apparently unaccounted for Moses in February 1835 and this may be he.16
Footnotes
1Charles Hudson, History of the Town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts from Its First Settlement to 1868, Revised and Continued to 1912, Two Volumes, Lexington Historical Society, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1913. Volume II, Genealogy, pp. 275-6; New England Historic Genealogical Society, Watertown, MA Vital Records, “Moses Harrington Son to Edward and Anna Harrington born the 22d of October, 1733;” Franklin P. Rice, publisher, Vital Records of Grafton, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, Stanhope Press, F.H. Gilson Company, Boston, 1906, p. 67, “Moses ,son of Moses and Mary, November 8, 1759. [Watertown in C.R.].” Lexington, Massachusetts, Records of Births Marriages and Deaths to January 1, 1898, Part 1 from Earliest Record to End of 1853, Wright and Potter, Boston, 1898, p. 32. [Hereafter referred to as Lexington Vital Records.]
2 Vincent Kehoe, We Were There, April 19th, 1775: The American Rebels, Vin Kehoe Enterprises, Chelmsford, MA. c1974 – 75, p. 87.
3 Henry Bond, Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston: To Which is Appended the Early History of the Town, With Illustrations, Maps and Notes, New England Historic-Genealogical Society, Boston, 1860, pp. 272-3.
4Photos of their gravestones can be seen at:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20992084
5Bond, p. 273.
6Ibid., p. 273-4.
7A photo of their gravestone can be seen at: http://www.onebigfamilytree.com/showmedia.php?mediaID=3350&cemeteryID=105
8Hudson, Genealogies, pp. 273-74.
9Ibid.
10Ibid., p. 274; Vital Records of Lexington, Massachusetts, p. 32
11HUdson, p. 275.
12Hudson, p. 277; Lexington Vital Records, pp. 33-34.
13Hudson, pp. 272-280.
14New England Historic and Genealogical Society, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 31 for the year 1877, “Battle of Lexington with Personal Recollections of Men Engaged In It,” by Rev. A.B. Muzzey, pp. 377-393, Printed by David Clapp and Son, Boston 1877.
15Massachusetts Office of the Secretary of State, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, A Compilation from the Archives, Seventeen volumes, Wright and Potter Printing Company, Boston, 1896, Volume VII, p. 329; Charles Hudson, History of the Town of Lexington, Volume I-History, pp. 426, 428.
16Lexington Vital Records, p. 180.