Dear MUNROE cousins, Revolutionary War Buffs, Scots Prisoner of War (SPOW) Researchers, and Family Historians

Munroe Tavern before the "Red Coat Museum" renovation

Earlier this week I received this very interesting email from a reader whose mother lives on Tavern Lane in Lexington, Massachusetts.  She read my blog post “Rebranding History”*  from 2011, which described the renovations of the Munroe Tavern in Lexington from a historical home of the Patriotic MUNROE family into “The Redcoat Museum”.    I’ve been watching how the home the Munroe family donated to the Lexington Historical Society has changed its mission from honoring this family that lost so much during the Battle of Lexington, into a museum honoring the British Regulars that attacked their homestead and village.

The Munroe Tavern was formerly a place to honor the MUNROE family.  It told the story of the William Munroe (1742 - 1827) Family, descendants of William Munroe (1625 - 1718) who was a Scots prisoner of War from the Battle of Worcester in 1650.  He was sold into servitude in Massachusetts, but ended up being a property owner in Cambridge Farms, now the town of Lexington, Massachusetts.  William Munroe, 4th, was the militia leader during the Battle of Lexington in 1775.  His home, the tavern, was used by the British as a field hospital and headquarters on the day of the Battle.  The British Regulars then killed his handyman and set the house ablaze before abandoning it upon their flight back to Boston. 

This reader now wrote to me about more changes at Lexington’s Munroe Tavern:

“Since the rebranding of the Munroe Tavern and the opening of the new wing in 2011, the Lexington Historical Society has moved forward and is planning to construct another addition to your family's house.  They plan to expand Munroe Tavern with a barn-like structure featuring a massive display window typically found in retail stores.

 Last week the Society received a variance from the Lexington Board of Appeals to place the new 32 X 24 foot structure a distance of just 7.3 feet from Tavern Lane -- instead of the required 30 feet.  The new addition will house Lexington historical archives that are currently residing in the basement of the Hancock-Clarke house.  After being refused by other Lexington locations, the Society selected Munroe Tavern to build the archive structure.  The Tavern will continue to operate as the Redcoat Museum.

 My Mother lives on Tavern Lane and she is opposed to constructing another addition to Munroe Tavern because it will change the character of the Tavern and the neighborhood.  There is a meeting scheduled on Thursday, February 4, with Lexington's Historic Districts Commission (They oversee the Munroe Tavern Historic district and other notable town districts.) to review the Historical Society's expansion plans for the Tavern.

 We wanted to see if you would be interested in voicing your opinion regarding the changes planned to Munroe Tavern.   We also are interested in your advice on how we can persuade the Commission to stop the construction changes to the Tavern.

 In my Mother's title search documents for her Tavern Lane house there is a copy of the will from James S. Munroe.  In his January 26, 1911 will, as you know, he donated the Tavern to the Lexington Historical Society.  In reading his will I wonder how Mr. Munroe would have weighed in today on the new construction planned to his house.  His will states:

  “…This device is made upon the express condition that said Historical Society shall keep the premises in good repair and forever maintain the same in substantially their present or original condition, shall pay all taxes and other municipal charges and assessments, if any, which may be levied thereon, shall appoint a suitable custodian to have charge thereof, and shall at stated and suitable times open the house for the inspection of the public.  Said Society shall make reasonable rules and regulations for the care of said Munroe Tavern as it may deem expedient, and shall have the right to charge a reasonable admission fee.  If, however, said Society shall refuse to accept this devise, or in case of such acceptance, shall cease to exist, or shall fail to comply with the conditions herein set forth, I give, devise and bequeath said real estate to the Town of Lexington upon the same conditions, but if said Town shall refuse to accept said devise, or having accepted said devise, shall not comply with the conditions herein set forth, I devise said real estate to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts upon the same terms and conditions as above set forth but if said Commonwealth shall refuse said gift, then I device said real estate to my heirs at law… " "

In a separate email she also wrote:

“Here are details on this week's meeting:  The Historic Districts Commission will be holding a public hearing on Thursday, February 4, at 7:10 pm "with respect to the exterior architectural changes of 1332 Massachusetts Avenue (the Tavern), which is located within the Munroe Tavern District."  Also here is the email address for submitting letters to the Commission: historicdistrictscmsn@lexingtonma.gov”

The Public Meeting Notice is at this link:
http://www.lexingtonma.gov/sites/lexingtonma/files/uploads/2016-02-04-hdc.pdf 
and will be held at the Selectman's Meeting Room, 1652 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, Massachusetts at 7 PM.  

And

“Letters should also be copied to fdagle@lexingtonma.gov  (the Commission's assistant who will make sure that everyone on the Historic Districts Commission gets a copy of the letter.)”

The Red Coat Museum in 2011

I will be writing to the Historic Districts Commission of Lexington with my opinions of the project.  I’m not optimistic because my email and mail from before the “rebranding” of the Munroe Tavern to the “Red Coat Museum” received canned replies not very sympathetic to Munroe family members and the descendants of William Munroe. It is my opinion that the original terms of the will were violated with the first rebranding of the Munroe Tavern, and this second renovation and addition are even further violations of the will. But, I'm not a lawyer. Just a descendant. 

I’d love to hear your opinions of the project, too.  Perhaps I will forward them all to the Historic Districts Commission in Lexington in another email.  Please leave your comments below.

For more information on the Munroe Tavern, you can scroll through all the blog posts I have previously written about this historic home here:

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search?q=munroe+tavern

*”Rebranding History” my previous blog post on the renovation of the Munroe Tavern into the Red Coat Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts : 

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/09/rebranding-history.html

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Dear MUNROE cousins, Revolutionary War Buffs, Scots Prisoner of War (SPOW) Researchers and Family Historians", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 3, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/02/dear-munroe-cousins-revolutionary-war.html:  accessed [access date]). 

Munroe Tavern becomes a Public Museum

The Munroe Tavern was built by William Munroe, Jr.(1669 - 1759) in  Lexington, Massachusetts in 1695.   William was the brother of my 6 x great grandfather, George Munroe.  William later sold the house.  His son, William Munroe III (1742 - 1827) bought the house in 1770 and ran a tavern.  During the Battle of Lexington, 19 April 1775, William was the sergeant of the Minutemen company in Lexington.  His family hid in the forest behind the house during the battle, and the British Brigadier General Earl Percy took it over as a field hospital.  Before leaving the tavern, the British troops shot John Raymond, the handy man who had stayed with the house, and tried to burn down the building.  You can see bullet holes in the ceiling of the dining room, remnants of the damage done by the British.

In 1789 the Munroe family entertained President George Washington in the Munroe Tavern when he came to visit Lexington and other places in New England that had seen battle during the American Revolution.  You can still see the room, tea service and furniture Washington used on display at the house. The family continued to run the tavern until 1858.

In 1911 the Lexington Historical Society was deeded the house by the last Munroe to live in the tavern.  It was added to the list of the National Register of Historic Places during the bicentennial in 1976.  In 2011 the house underwent extensive renovation and reopened as the Museum of the British Redcoats.  This was a controversial move, considering that the Munroe family home was almost destroyed by the British during the aftermath of the Battle of Lexington.

The Munroe Tavern is located at 1332 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, Massachusetts.  It is owned by the Lexington Historical Society and is open from April to October for guided tours.

1911 news clipping
unknown newspaper

The James Smith Munroe mentioned in this article is my 4th cousin, 4x removed.  His ancestor, William Munroe, Jr., (my 6x great grand uncle), built the tavern, and it was ultimately inherited by J. S. Munroe, who left it in his will to the Lexington Historical Society.  The first William Munroe (1625 -1718), our common ancestor, was a Scots prisoner of war, sold into servitude in Cambridge, and he later settled in Cambridge Farms, now known as the town of Lexington, Massachusetts.

Transcription:

Munroe Tavern Soon

to Open to Public

     Beginning Monday next the thousands

of pilgrims to historic spots in New

England will have a new point of in-

terest, and the equal thousands of auto-

mobilists will have a new place at

which to get afternoon tea.  I'dr on

that date is to be transferred into a

historical museum the famous Munroe

Tavern in Lexington, which, closed to

the public since about 1858, is now to be 

open every day throughout the warmer

monts and probably at inervals dur-

ing the winter.  Under the will of 

James Smith Munroe, who died Dec. 10

last the property has come into posses-

sion of the Lexington Historical So-

ciety, "which shall keep the premises

in good repair and forever maintain the

name in substanability their present

or original condition * * * and shall at

stated and suitable times open the 

house for the inspection of the public."

     Since the acceptance of the bequest

by the society  a special committee has

been actively at work putting the house

into shape.  Four rooms, together with

the great rambling garret, will be open

to the public from May to November,

every weekday from 10 AM to 6 PM,

and on Sundays from 8 to 6 PM.

The Lexington Historical Society Munroe Tavern website http://lhsoc.weebly.com/munroe-tavern.html

Some previous blog posts I have written about the Munroe Tavern:

Rebranding History http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/09/rebranding-history.html

5 November 1789, George Washington Dined Here!
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/11/5-november-1789-george-washington-dined.html

You can help with Munroe Tavern Renovations 
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/09/you-can-help-with-munroe-tavern.html

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/03/munroe-tavern-becomes-public-museum.html

Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

You can help with Munroe Tavern Renovations

Munroe Tavern, Lexington, Massachusetts

Even if you don’t have roots in Lexington, Massachusetts, most Americans feel an affinity to the history of the area.  Tourists from all over the world have come to Lexington, and many visit the properties owned by the Lexington Historical Society.  On the morning of 19 April 1775 these homes heard the “shot heard ‘round the world”.  One of these was the Munroe Tavern, which holds a special place in my heart since I am a Munroe descendant.  This Tavern was a meeting place for patriots, stood on the road where the British advanced and retreated to and from the battle, and was confiscated by the British as a headquarters and field hospital, only to be unsuccessfully torched by the fleeing Regulars.   Several years later George Washington visited the Munroe family and dined at this home.  It is now part of the collection of homes owned by the Lexington Historical Society.

When I was a child I loved visiting the tavern, before I knew that my Munroe family members were those Munroes. There is a bullet hole in the ceiling of the tavern room left by the unruly British when they tried to trash the home.  The tour guides always told scary tales of how the family hid in the woods behind the home while the crippled handyman left behind in the home was murdered by the British.   Great stuff for the imagination! And it was even better to find the family connection.  This was one of my first genealogy discoveries when I started tracing my family tree in high school.  William Munroe, the tavern owner, was the orderly sergeant of the Lexington minute men.

The Munroe Tavern reopened this summer with a new name “Museum of the British Redcoats and Munroe Family Home”.  The museum is having its grand re-opening ceremony on September 25^th, 2011 from 2 – 3 PM.   The town of Lexington voted to grant $400,000 at their town meeting towards this project.   The Lexington Historical Society, celebrating its 125^th anniversary,  is raffling six hand painted chairs on November 19^th at their gala evening at the Lexington Depot building to further fund the restoration project.  You need not be present to win a chair.  Tickets are $10 a chance.   

Genealogical Information:

        William Munroe b. abt. 1625 Scotland d. 27 Jan 1718 Lexington, MA

                         m. Martha George (abt 1636 – abt 1672)

                     |                                                                     |

George Munroe (1672 – 1747)                       William Munroe (1669 – 1759)

m. Sarah Mooer (1677 – 1752)                       m. Mary Cutler (1681 – 1713)

                     |                                                                     |

Andrew Munroe (1718 – 1766)                       William Munroe (1703 – 1747)

m. Lucy Mixer (1727 – 1783)                         m. Sarah Mason (1714 – 1785)

                                                                            (tavern builder and owner)

                   |                                                                       |

Major Andrew Munroe (1764 – 1836)            Sargeant William Munroe (1742 – 1827)

m. Ruth Simonds (1763 – 1840)                          m1. Anna Smith   m.2. Polly Rogers

                  |                                                          (inherited the tavern from his father)

Luther Simonds Munroe (1805 – 1851)

m. Olive Flint (1805 – 1875)

                  |

Phebe Cross Munroe (1830 – 1895)

m. Robert Wilkinson (1830 – 1874)

(my 3x great grandparents)

For more information:

Munroe Tavern

1332 Massachusetts Avenue

Lexington, Massachusetts

Fundraiser:

 Pat Perry    p-perry@comcast.net

 Christina Gamota   christinag16@verizon.net

or the Historical Society at office@lexingtonhistory.org

phone: 781 – 862- 1703

The Lexington Historical Society home page www.lexingtonhistory.org   

The Munroe Tavern link http://lhsoc.weebly.com/munroe-tavern.html

The 6 painted chairs up for raffle http://lhsoc.weebly.com/6-painted-chairs.html

A Wicked Local story on the 125^th Anniversary of the Lexington Historical Society http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/features/x1314056934/Lexington-Historical-Society-celebrates-125th-birthday#axzz1XVHgiD2m

Wikipedia article on the Munroe Tavern http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munroe_Tavern

-----------------

Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Visiting Our Ancestors in Lexington, Massachusetts

 

This summer we took our granddaughter to see Lexington, Massachusetts.  She had been reading a book called Sam, the Minuteman, by Nathaniel Benchly.  This is an "I can Read" level 3 book about a fictional young man that witnessed the Battle of Lexington. One day while she and I took turns reading this book I mentioned that her ancestors were at this battle, and that the houses of some family members still stand in Lexington.  A few months later we took a short day trip to see these sights! 

The first place we visited was the Munroe Tavern.  It was owned by members of the Munroe family.  Seven members of the family were mustered on Lexington Common on 19 April 1775.  Our ancestor, Andrew Munroe, was only eleven years old on that day.  This was about the age of Sam, the Minuteman in the book.  We don't know if Andrew witnessed the battle, but chances are that he was nearby.  His two uncles, Robert Munroe and Jonas Parker (husband to his Aunt Lucy Munroe), were the first two men killed on Lexington Green. His cousin William Munroe (1742-1827) owned the Munroe Tavern.

On 19 April 1775 William Munroe had to leave his family and join the minutemen on Lexington Green.  He left his wife and children, and a handyman named John Raymond.  The British Regulars marched right down the road in front of the house towards the town common.  The women and children fled to the woods, and John Raymond stayed to protect the house.  The British killed Raymond, and commandeered the tavern as a field hospital.  On the retreat, after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the house was used to treat the British wounded, and then it was set on fire when they left. Fortunately the house survived. 

In 1789 President Washington toured the new United States and stopped in Lexington, Massachusetts to have a meal with the Munroe family at their tavern.  The table, chair, and even the dishes Washington used were carefully preserved by the Munroe family. These items are still on display at the Munroe Tavern, on the second floor. I've also blogged about this event, and you can read about it HERE. 

In the tavern room, on the first floor, the British Regulars shot a bullet into the ceiling.  The Munroe family preserved this evidence of the event and it is still visible today.  

The downstairs part of the Munroe Tavern is a museum dedicated to telling the story of the Battle of Lexington from a British viewpoint. This was a controversial move by the Lexington Historical Society several years ago.  The upstairs rooms tell the story of the Munroe family and their view of that day nearly 250 years ago. In the bedroom are many family artifacts. I blogged about the rebranding of the Munroe Tavern HERE. 

A colonial costume!  It was fun trying on different outfits at the Munroe Tavern.

Nana dressed as a "Redcoat"!

It was fun to bring my granddaughter to see these sights and to learn about her ancestors.  However, discussing war and death with an eight year old was interesting, too.  She had lots of questions. "Why did they fight?" and "Why did the Red Coats kill  John Raymond?" and "Why did the Red Coats fight the minutemen?" and the inevitable "Why do we have wars?".   If you bring young children to see battlefields and cemeteries, and if they see or read stories about war and oppression you must be prepared to answer these questions. And be prepared to answer the more philosphical questions about war with "Everyone has questions about that" or "I wish I knew that, too".  We weren't surprised at the questions, but tried to answer as truthfully as possible.  Not all history is easy. 

We placed pennies at the monument on Lexington Green where the slain minutemen are buried.

"This Monument is erected

By the inhabitants of Lexington,

Under the patronage & at the expense of

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

To the memory of their Fellow Citizens,

Ensign Robert Munroe, Messrs. Jonas Parker,

Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Junr.

Isaac Muzzy, Caleb Harrington, and John Brown

of Lexington & Asahel Porter of Woburn,

Who fell on this field the first Victims to the 

Sword of British Tyranny & Oppression,

On the morning of the ever memorable

Nineteenth of April, An. Dom, 1775.

The Die was cast!!!"

On our way back walking from the Lexington Green we saw this house facing the battlefield.  We wondered if this was another member of our Munroe clan.  When I was home I looked up the names Marret and Nathan Munroe.  They were father and son.  Marrett Munroe (1713 - 1798) was married to Deliverance Parker, the sister to Captain  John Parker of the Lexington Minutemen, and cousin to Jonas Parker mentioned above.  Marret's son Nathan Munroe (1747 - 1829) served under Captain Parker's command on the day of the battle across the street from his house, with six other Munroe men. 

For the truly curious:

The Munroe Tavern at the Lexington Historical Society website:   https://www.lexingtonhistory.org/munroe-tavern   

The Munroe Tavern at Wikipedia:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munroe_Tavern_(Lexington,_Massachusetts)  

and several blog posts:

"Rebranding History" 26 September 2011  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/09/rebranding-history.html  

"Surname Saturday - Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts" 30 June 2012   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/surname-saturday-munroe-of-lexington.html  

"Cousins at the Battle of Lexington" 15 April 2010    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/04/cousins-at-battle-of-lexington.html  

"Read how a family history fib spread in 1889, and is still spreading today!" 29 January 2015 (about Washington's visit to the Munroe Tavern in 1789)   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/read-how-family-history-fib-spread-in.html    

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Visiting Our Ancestors in Lexington, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 12, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/09/visiting-our-ancestors-in-lexington.html: accessed [access date]). 

Rebranding History

The first William Munroe arrived in Boston in 1651 as a Scots prisoner of war, sold in chains as an indentured servant by the British government.   William Munroe, the fourth (1742 – 1847), ran a tavern in Lexington.  On the morning of 19 April 1775 William also served as the second in command at the battle on Lexington Green.   Many family members, Munroes and extended kin, participated in the fight.

New signage at the Munroe Tavern

After a defeat in nearby Concord, the British were on the retreat as they came through Lexington a second time, later that afternoon.  Most of the townspeople were hiding.  With her husband William off fighting, Anna (Smith) Munroe abandoned the tavern, and hid in the woods with her children, and one was only about a week old.  The British met up with Earl Percy and his reinforcement troops and took over the tavern as a field hospital for about two hours.  They nursed wounded soldiers, and rested before retreating back to Boston.  Before they left the Munroe home they killed the caretaker, John Raymond, and tried to torch the tavern.  Several other homes in Lexington burned to the ground, but the tavern was saved.

A new plaque laid in memory of
John Raymond, tavern caretaker

The Munroe Tavern in Lexington, Massachusetts has been a museum showcasing the 18^th century Munroe family and life as tavern keepers during the American Revolution.    It was donated by the Munroe family to the Lexington Historical Society in 1911, along with family mementos, including items used by George Washington when he visited the tavern in 1789, family china, portraits, documents, and furniture. Thousands of tourists and school children were able to tour the tavern.  On a middle school field trip I remember hearing the story of the battle, and the family, and how the British tried to destroy the home before moving on down the road.  A British bullet hole in the ceiling was a favorite. On a family visit I remember viewing documents and family items, and the docents would show me where other Munroe descendants had signed the guest books.

Over the weekend I attended the museum house re-opening.  Since my last visit to the Munroe tavern over five years ago the Lexington Historical Society has changed the focus of the museum. According to their website it has undergone “an extensive restoration that included rebranding the Munroe Tavern with the new subhead: ‘Museum of the British Redcoats and Munroe Family Home’” Rebranding!  That word seems cold, just like the decision by someone to remove all the family items I found so charming. Now the museum tells the Munroe family story second to the story of the British Regulars.  With the new changes I will now need an appointment to see items donated from the Munroe family.  The sign outside now reads “British Field Hospital and Headquarters, April, 19 1775”.   Two hours of occupation by the British trumps centuries of Munroe family history?

I’m not against telling the story of the British soldiers in the American Revolution.  In fact, I love discussing the war as more of a civil war, with brother against brother and stories of how families were torn apart by the politics.  There were many, many Loyalists in Boston and Massachusetts, and it’s about time some of their stories were told at museums showing this side of the conflict.  However, this was an odd decision to take a family home, owned by a family who was so staunchly anti-British, who suffered greatly at the hands of the regulars, and turn it into a museum focusing on the soldiers who tried to burn down their home.  And to take all the mementos donated with love, and to put them into permanent storage?  According to Elaine Doran, the collections manager for the Lexington Historical Society, there are no plans to display them anymore, other than possibly loaning a few to an exhibit in Concord next year.

Dr. Phil Budden, UK Consul-General to New England

After promising I wouldn’t rush off and write a rant about my visit to the Munroe Tavern grand re-opening ceremony, I thought carefully about this story before posting.  I still haven’t changed my mind about how history has been re-written here.  In order to show two sides of the war, the Historical Society has put the “Museum of the British Redcoats” in a house where there were no good feelings about the British before, during or after the war.  The public will think there was some sort of reconciliation with the Munroe family.  School children will learn how the British suffered, but not about the suffering the regulars caused?  Even the United Kingdom Consul General to New England, Dr. Phil Budden, who spoke at the grand re-opening, gave incorrect information about the Munroe family and the events on that fateful day.  No one corrected him.  The Boston Globe reported “the historical society has renovated the tavern to accentuate the plight of the redcoats on April 19” but the article has only one short mention of the townspeople’s plight. 

Munroe family members signed depositions about the events on the day of 19 April 1775 that mirror the same horror eyewitnesses expressed at Ground Zero in New York City on 11 September 2001.  Our understanding of what happened in New York in 2001 reminds me of the battle of Lexington in 1775.  It will never be a “feel good story” because there really aren’t two sides of the tale, black and white, but many, many sides colored by all shades of gray because of different opinions and interpretations of what happened. And there has been no resolution or reconciliation yet to either story, even though the United Kingdom is now our greatest world ally.   I used to think that building a mosque at Ground Zero would be a healing gesture, but now seeing a British Redcoat museum in the home where my family members suffered, I’m not so sure… especially not if it means rewriting history. 

A colonial honor guard fires three guns to dedicate
 the memorial to John Raymond,
 killed at Munroe Tavern 19 April 1775

For more information:

Lexington Historical Society http://lhsoc.weebly.com/index.html

The Boston Globe article about the re-opening of the Munroe Tavern http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2011/09/25/lexingtons_restored_monroe_tavern_offers_british_perspective_of_first_day_of_the_american_revolution/?p1=Local_Links

Some of my previous blog stories about the Munroe Family:

William Munroe as a Scots Prisoner of War http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/08/ship-john-and-sara-prisoners-of-war.html

Munroe Family members who fought 19 April 1775 http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/04/cousins-at-battle-of-lexington.html   

Munroes of Lexington http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/11/other-mayflowers-voyage-3.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Rebranding History", Nutfield Genealogy, posted 26 September 2011, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/09/rebranding-history.html: accessed [access date]). 

5 November 1789, George Washington Dined Here!

The Munroe Tavern, Lexington, Massachusetts

President George Washington decided to visit every state in the union in 1789.  He started his tour in New England, and one of his stops was in Lexington to see where the first shots of the American Revolution flew on the town green.   During his visit in Lexington he stopped for dinner at the Munroe Tavern.  My Munroe ancestor, Major Andrew Munroe (1764 - 1836) served in the Revolution, but was too young to have participated in the Lexington battle.   His second cousin, William Munroe (1742 – 1827), lived at the tavern, and was the sergeant of the Lexington militia.  As sergeant, he was assigned to guard John Hancock and Sam Adams before the battle, and stood next to Captain Parker on the Green when the British arrived.

                When George Washington arrived in town, William Munroe and his daughters entertained him in an upstairs room of the tavern.  When I was a little girl, we would visit the tavern and see all the relics displayed from that visit.  The table was set with the china used that day, and Washington’s cup was under glass.  Even the petticoats the daughters had worn that afternoon were displayed with tender care.  Some of the details told at the museum in those days may be fiction based on a letter written in 1879 to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the event.  It doesn’t matter now, because the Munroe Tavern has been “re-branded” to become a museum telling the story of the British Regulars during the battle, and the Munroe family history has been put into permanent storage.

According to the letter, the children of the family were climbing trees to peek at the President dining upstairs.  One of the younger children had to be rescued from a tree by President Washington’s black servant.  Later evidence showed that these stories were probably true, but others were false, such as who dropped by during dinner, and names of townspeople he greeted on the Green.  George Washington may not have “slept here”, but he did leave a bunch of great stories behind in the Munroe family.

                The grandson of William Munroe, James Phinney  Munroe, was a recent MIT graduate in 1889 when he made up the fictional letter since he couldn’t find any actual family letters describing Washington’s visit to the Munroe Tavern.  He later sent many corrections to the Boston newspapers that published his fictional letters, but the myth lived on.  He later wrote a Munroe genealogy, and included his corrections to the story in his book A Sketch of the Munro Clan: Also of William Munro Who Deported from Scotland, Settled in Lexington, Massachusetts and some of his Posterity, 1900.  I married an MIT grad, and was surprised to see that J. P. Munroe also wrote the well known history of the Institute, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1902.

                The details of what happened during Washington’s dinner at the Munroe tavern may be lost to time,  It is still fun to know that on 5 November 1789, two hundred twenty three years ago today, the President of the United States was in my distant cousin’s house, and the children of the family were sneaking peeks at what was going on.  Since my Munroe ancestors still lived in town, near the tavern, maybe even one of my ancestors was doing a little peeking, too!

  

An article by the Lexington Historical Society about Washington’s visit to Lexington:

http://lhsoc.weebly.com/uploads/6/5/2/1/6521332/washingtons_dinner_at_munroe_tavern-d.pdf  

The Munroe Tavern website http://lhsoc.weebly.com/munroe-tavern.html

William Munroe at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Munroe_(American_soldier)

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To Cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "5 November 1789, George Washington Dined Here!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 5, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/11/5-november-1789-george-washington-dined.html

… Read how a family history fib spread in 1889, and is still spreading today!

The Munroe Tavern, Lexington, Massachusetts

Genealogy fibs spread on the internet, but this is nothing new… Read how a family history fib spread in 1889, and is still spreading today!

Several years ago I wrote a blog post about a fake letter written in 1889.  This “letter” was written by James Phinney Munroe, a recent MIT graduate and the new president of the Lexington Historical Society.  The Munroe family had a long history in Lexington, including being involved in the Battle of Lexington and their family tavern being used on the day of the battle as a field hospital by the British Troops.  When George Washington decided to visit all the states (all 13 of them) in 1789 one of his stops was in Lexington, where he had dinner at the Munroe Tavern.

The visit to the Munroe’s was fact.  You can visit the tavern in Lexington today and see the china dishes used by Washington for his dinner.  The dinner was served by Sarah Munroe and her sister, the daughters of the innkeeper, William Munroe.  The dishes were carefully preserved by the Munroe family, and donated to the Historical Society along with the entire tavern.  And so, when James Phinney Munroe, a descendant of this family, was celebrating the 100^th anniversary of Washington’s famous dinner at the Munroe tavern he decided to have a bit of fun and produced a delightful letter written by “Sarah Munroe”, along with a story about finding it in the attic.  This was published in the Proceedings of the Lexington Historical Society 1889.

Ha Ha!  The joke was on him.  The “letter” was reproduced all over New England, and all over America, but not with the accompanying explanation of how it was a joke for the anniversary celebration.  J. P. Munroe spent years writing to magazines and newspapers explaining the provenance of the “letter” but to no avail.  The story kept cropping up all over, even after his death in 1929.  And it spreads today, faster than wildfire because of the internet.

Just last week, J. L. Bell of the blog Boston 1775, questioned the fake letter by Sarah Munroe.  Of course it was fake!  A reader left him a comment, and she turned out to be a staff member of a Lexington museum.  He was set straight, and produced a second blog post for Boston 1775, see below for all the links.

I have seen the fake “letter” produced in genealogies online, even though the same James Phinney Munroe wrote the definitive genealogy on the Munroe family A Sketch of the Munro Clan: Also of William Munro who Deported from Scotland, Settled in Lexington, Massachusetts and some of his Posterity in 1900 and explained the provenance of the letter.  But I guess people would rather copy what they see online instead of checking with the Historical Society or books. 

Excerpts from “the letter” (How much would you like to bet that someone will copy this part of my blog post and ignore the above explanation?):

My ever deare Mary:-

I crave your patience in this Episle, as I must finish it to go by the Sunday Coach, and therefore indight it by a bad candle, dip’d I warrant, by Brother Jonas, who is ever slack in all except his play.  We have had great doings here.  Our Loved President has journied here to Lex. & has took dinner at our very House. I suppose you, in the great city of New York can have little interest in the small haps of a Country Town, but remember it is the birth-place of you, and of American Freedom!...

…Betimes Mr. Washington appered, bestriding a most handsome White horse.  He wore a military Habit, much like that of my Worthy Father, only gayer and with fine things, I mind not what they call ‘em, on the showlders.  His Hat he wore under his arm, and he bent himself to one side and the other as he Passed.  I promise you we huzzared stoutly, but he bowed not, only leaned, as one shd say, towards us… Then followed some Speech which I heard not, daring to venture no nearer than I was, being that I had an old Frock, and compeled to hold back Lucindy.  Soon the whole Troupe betook themselves to the Spot where the Blood was spilled…

…When we come to the house there stood my Father and step-mother at the tap-room Door, Anna and the naybors skulking in the parlour.  My Father looked grandly in his rejimentels and proud indeed I was of him as he led the way to the Dinner-room prepar’d for Mr. Washington in the upper room, looking toward your house.  ‘Twas arrang’d that my Step-mother dish the vittles in the kitch’n, yours should bring them to the stares the short way, thou knows’t, thro’ the shop & the Tap-room) and then my Father shod serve them to the gests.  ‘Twas permited me to stand in the corner betwixt the windos, to give what help was needed.  We had right fine feast, I can tell you…

…not just then arose a great cracking and howling.  We rushed to the Window and there in the butt’nwood Tree was Jonas, clinging to the frill of Lucindy’s skirt, and she dangeling in mid-air.  Before we could get out of the room one of the Black-men had climed the tree and caught Lucindy by the Neck like a Cat, and carried her down. The silly child had led Jonas into climing the Tree with her to look in at the dinner-room Window, and a limb having snapped she wod, but for Jonas, have broke her neck…

… I have burned 3 Dips, which is sinfull, & have set up long beyond Bell-ringing to send you this, so now I must stop.

Your ever affectionate

Sally

The genealogy of the Munroe family members in this story:

Generation 1:  William Munroe (1625 – 1718) m. Martha George (my 7^th great grandparents)

Generation 2:  William Munroe (1669 – 1759) m. Mary Cutler

Generation 3:  William Munroe (1703 – 1747) m. Sarah Mason

Generation 4:  William Munroe (1742 – 1827) m. 1. Anna Smith,  m.2.  Polly Rogers

Children: William, Anna, Sarah, Lucinda, Jonas, Edward

Generation 5: Jonas Munroe (1778 – 1860) m. Abigail C. Smith

Generation 6: James Smith Munroe (1824 – 1910) m. Alice Bridge Phinney  (“bequeathed to the Lexington Historical Society, on behalf of his brother William and himself, that part of the real estate known as “Munroe Tavern” and a parcel of land surrounding it, to be kept forever as a token of Colonial and Revolutionary Lexington”  from page 217 of The Genealogy of the Lexington Munroes, compiled by Richard S. Munroe, Florence, Massachusetts, 1986)

Generation 7: James Phinney Munroe, born 3 June 1862, the author of “the letter” to the Lexington Historical Society, supposedly written by his great aunt, Sarah Munroe, sister of his grandfather, Jonas (the one who didn’t make very good candles).

Links:

My blog post from Monday, November 5, 2012 “5 November 1789, George Washington Dined Here!”, where I mention James Phinney Munroe’s fake letter http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/11/5-november-1789-george-washington-dined.html  

J. L. Bell’s Boston 1775 blog post “President Washington in Sickness and in Lexington”, Friday, January 16, 2015 (where the author suspects the Sarah Munroe letter is fake) http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2015/01/president-washington-in-sickness-and-in.html

J.L. Bell’s blog post “The Real Story of the Fake Sarah Munroe Letter”, Wednesday, 21 January 2015 (more details about James Phinney Munroe’s fake letter by his dead great aunt, Sarah Munroe)  http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-real-story-of-fake-sarah-munroe.html

The Proceedings of the Lexington Historical Society (online version)  and James Phinney Munroe’s entry with "the letter", pages xxxvi - xxxvii  https://books.google.com/books?id=-fhk1Y1enZEC&pg=PR36#v=onepage&q&f=false

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/read-how-family-history-fib-spread-in.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts

MUNROE

Here Lyes ye
Body of
Mr. WILLIAM
MUNROE Aged
About 90 Years
Dec'd Jan 27, 1718

The Munroe name is well known in Lexington because of the Revolutionary War.  The first Munroe in my lineage came to Massachusetts as a prisoner of war.  William Munroe, and his two brothers, were Scots captured at the Battle of Worcester in England in 1651.  They were shipped to London and packed aboard the “John and Sara” to be sold into servitude in Boston, Massachusetts.  William was free by 1657 when he was fined in Cambridge for not having a ring in the noses of his pigs.  By 1660 he had removed to Cambridge Farms, near the Woburn line, to a part of town that became known as “Scotland”.  It is now known as the town of Lexington.

What is interesting to me is that apparently the Munroe clan harbored somewhat of a grudge against the British.  In 1775, when the British marched on Lexington, the sergeant of the militia was another William Munroe, great grandson of the immigrant William.  He owned the Munroe Tavern and led a group in which about one third were his kinsmen (other Munroes, cousins, and relations).   He entertained George Washington at the tavern in 1789 when he visited Lexington to thank the townspeople for their participation in the American Revolution. 

There are many books with information on the Munroe family, but the three best are:

A Sketch of the Clan Munro and William Munroe, Deported from Scotland, settled in Lexington, Massachusetts by James Phinney Munroe

History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Massachusetts Munroes by Richard S. Munro, 1966

History of the Town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts by Charles Hudson of the Lexington, Massachusetts Historical Society, 1913 (with genealogies)

Also, the Lexington Historical Society owns the Munroe Tavern and has much information on the Munroe family in their archives.  Please see the website http://lhsoc.weebly.com/ for more information.   The official Clan Munro website is www.clanmunrusa.org and their website has much information on the Lexington family.  The 2012 Munroe clan gathering will be in Boston August 9 – 12, 2012 and details are available at http://clanmunrousa.org/wp/?page_id=197

I have many stories about the Munroe family here on my blog.  You may access them all at this link: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Munroe 

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My Munroe lineage:

1. William Munroe, born about 1625 near Inverness, Scotland, and died 27 January 1718 at Lexington, Massachusetts; married first about 1665 to Martha George, daughter of John George and Elizabeth Unknown; married second about 1672 to Mary Ball, daughter of John Ball and Elizabeth Pierce; and married third after 1693  to Elizabeth Johnson, daughter of William Johnson and Elizabeth Story.  He had four children by Martha and ten children by Mary.

2. George Munroe, born about 1672 in Lexington,  and died 17 January 1747 in Lexington.  He married Sarah Mooers, daughter of Jonathan Mooers and Constance Langthorne.  They had nine children.

3.  Andrew Munroe, baptized 4 June 1718 in Lexington,  and died 16 September 1766 in Lexington; married on 26 May 1763 to Lucy Mixer, daughter of Joseph Mixer and Mary Ball.  They had two children, and Lucy remarried on 6 December 1774 in Woburn to Caleb Simonds.

4.  Andrew Munroe, Junior, born on 31 March 1764 in Lexington, an died 7 August 1836 in Danvers, Massachusetts; married on 22 March 1785 in Burlington to Ruth Simonds, daughter of Caleb Simonds and Susanna Converse, his step-sister.  They had eleven children.  Andrew Munroe was a Major in the American Revolutionary War.

5.  Luther Simonds Munroe, born on 10 May 1805 in Danvers, and died 23 December 1851 in Danvers; married on 3 September 1826 in Reading, Massachusetts to Olive Flint, daughter of John Flint and Phebe Flint.  They had six children.

6. Phebe Cross Munroe, born 28 October 1830 in Danvers, and died 31 January 1895 in Salem, Massachusetts; married on 24 November 1853 in Danvers to Robert Wilson Wilkinson, son of Aaron Wilkinson and Mercy F. Wilson. Three children.

7.  Albert Munroe Wilkinson, born 7 November 1860 in Danvers, and died 12 May 1908 at Corey Hill Hospital in Brookline, Massachusetts due to complications of a gall bladder surgery;  married on 18 October 1894 in Salem to Isabella Lyons Bill, daughter of Caleb Rand Bill and Ann Margaret Bollman.

8. Donald Munroe Wilkinson and Bertha Louise Roberts, my grandparents.

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To Cite/Link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 30, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/surname-saturday-munroe-of-lexington.html: accessed [access date]). 

A photo of Mary Munroe Sanderson (1748 - 1852) who witnessed the Battle of Lexington, Massachusetts

This is an amazing old photo of Mary Munroe Sanderson (1748 - 1852) from the collections of the Boston Public Library.  Thank you to my sister's friend, who shared a copy to her from Facebook (see the link below).  We all share Munroe ancestry!

Mary Munroe was born 10 October 1748 in Lexington, Massachusetts.  She married Samuel Sanderson of Woburn on 27 Ocotber 1772 and had six children.  On 23 September 1852 the women in Lexington had a fundraising party for Mary Munroe Sanderson, who was more than 100 years old and suffering from severe arthritis.  The party raised $300, and she died a month later, aged 104. She died on 15 October 1842 in East Lexington, and is buried at the Old Burying Ground.   Her epitaph reads:

Mary Munroe relict of Samuel Sanderson
Born in Lexington Oct 10, 1748
Died in East Lexington Oct 15, 1852
Age 104 years 5 days
A witness of the first revolutionary conflict, she recounted its trying scenes to the last. The vitality of her Christian faith was envinced by cheerfulness under severy bodily infirmity for more than twenty years.

Mary is the daughter of William Munroe and Rebecca Locke.  William Munroe is the brother of my 6th great grandfather, Andrew Munroe (1718 - 1766).  These are the generations that lived through the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the American Revolutionary War.  The Sanderson House still stands next to the Munroe Tavern in Lexington, Massachusetts.  

Mary's husband, Corporal Samuel Sanderson [from the Hudson History of Lexington, Volume II Genealogies]: He was sergeant in a detachment from Lexington militia company commanded by Capt. John Bridge, service 5 days; detachment reported on command at Cambridge from 11 May to 15 May 1775, by order of Committee of Safety; also corporal, pay-roll of a detachment from Lexington militia company commanded by Capt. John Parker, service 2 days; detachment reported on command at Cambridge from 17 June to 18 June 1775, by order of Committee of Safety; also private, Capt. John Briges company, Col. Eleazer Brook’s regiment, service from 4 March to 8 March 1776, 5 days; company stationed in Roxbury.

From Canavan Papers Vol I:  To the east of Munroe Tavern is the Sanderson place, in 1775 this long low house was occupied by Samuel Sanderson and his wife Mary Munroe Sanderson, to whom he was married in 1772. With them was his brother Elijah. These two Sandersons were cabinetmakers. At a later period Elijah lived in Salem and from time to time sent venture of cabinet to France and Spain where they sold well, for the old New England joiner was an artist and made all kinds of woodwork from Pine coffins to the most beautiful desks and sideboards.

(Mary) …She was the daughter of one of the Munroe’s in that part of Lexington known as Scotland, and was born in 1748. She married Sanderson in 1772, he worked at his trade as a “Jiner” in the basement of the house, and his wife often held a candle as he made a coffin. When he heard that the British were coming he piloted his wife over to her father’s carrying his babe, and accompanied by a little girl who was at their house. Over at Scotland they found the mother getting breakfast and the brothers at first did not believe the report. After the British retreated Mary returned home and found a good many things had been stolen. Her cow (which was a good part of her marriage portion) had been killed; and a wounded British soldier was stowed away in her bed. She cried out “ I wont hae him there. Why didn’t you knock him on the head?” But the town authorities insisted he be taken care of. Those who lived on that part of Lexington called Scotland had a little of the Scottish accent and Mrs. Sanderson kept it all her life. The soldier begged for Tea but she refused. “what for should I gae him tae for? He shall hae none.” The wounded man refused to eat or drink unless the food was tasted by some of the family.

The Sandersons moved to Lancaster in 1776 but after her husbands death she returned ot Lexington and died there in 1852 at the age of 104.

I don't know the year this photo was taken, but she looks like she was very elderly at the time.  

For the truly curious:

The Facebook link with the photo of Mary Munroe Sanderson:   https://www.facebook.com/HistoricPhotographs/posts/pfbid031uXGDheW6iDLa5tvAN1ZT1xg5PxffwdrF7bpyfrkcKHq3wgK8Xk8iEfqQt1QFPhxl   

The Sanderson House:   https://www.lexingtonma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3514/Area-AD---Sanderson-House---Munroe-Tavern  

This sketch of Mrs. Mary Sanderson is from the Locke Family Association website:  www.lockegenealogy.org  It is from the book Book of the Lockes: A genealocial and historical record of the descendants of William Locke, of Woburn, Massachusetts, by John Goodwin Locke.  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A photo of Mary Munroe Sanderson (1748 - 1852) who witnessed the Battle of Lexington, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 7, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/03/a-photo-of-mary-munroe-sanderson-1748.html: accessed [access date]).