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| 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 25th,
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 125th anniversary, is
raffling six hand painted chairs on November 19th 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)
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George Munroe (1672 – 1747) William Munroe (1669 – 1759)
m. Sarah Mooer (1677 – 1752) m. Mary Cutler (1681 –
1713)
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Andrew Munroe (1718 – 1766) William Munroe (1703 –
1747)
m. Lucy Mixer (1727 – 1783) m. Sarah Mason (1714 –
1785)
(tavern builder and owner)
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Major Andrew Munroe (1764 – 1836) Sargeant William Munroe (1742 – 1827)
m. Ruth Simonds (1763 – 1840) m1. Anna Smith m.2. Polly Rogers
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(inherited the tavern from his father)
Luther Simonds Munroe (1805 –
1851)
m. Olive Flint (1805 – 1875)
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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 125th 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
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Copyright
2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
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