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Saturday, September 10, 2011

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


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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