Genealogy Story – The Shot Heard Round the World

Some of my recent genealogy stories prompted my cousin, Stephen Rezendes, to send me a link which had some interesting information about his grandfather, my great-uncle Joe Hartwell. Uncle Joe was the husband of my father’s Aunt Irene, i.e. my paternal grandmother’s sister. I have previously reported about how my father had many happy memories of growing up when he was able to spend the summer in Roxbury with them. I also have fond memories of them as it was my Aunt Irene who introduced me to one of her hobbies – collecting rocks and minerals, especially those native to that part of the country. A “Herkimer Diamond” that she gave me to start my own collection remains one of those treasures and still occupies a place of honor in the display cabinet outside of my office at home.

But enough of reminiscing. I’ve divided this post into 3 parts: a genealogy of the Hartwell family; a little refresher of an important event in our nation’s history; and then the part that the Hartwell family played in it.

Hartwell Family

The Hartwell (sometimes spelled as Heartwell/Hartwel/Heartwel) family, like so many in my family tree, came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Great Migration of 1620-1640. Fairly soon after arrival, the initial family member, William, moved about 15 miles west of Boston and settled in the town of Concord, MA. The best records available at the time indicate that he had settled in Concord no later than 1636, and that he was made a freeman of the colony by 1642.

It was not until after the Revolutionary War that the family line of which my great-uncle was a part moved from Concord to western CT – first to New Milford, then a few miles east to Roxbury. Here is the family line from William (1613) to my great-uncle Joe – note the rather consistent (boring?) use of the same first names for that entire 300-year period.

·       William (1613-1690)

·       Samuel (1645-1725)

·       Samuel (1666-1744)

·       Joseph (1698-1786)

·       Joseph (1728-1818), moved to New Milford, CT

·       Joseph (1766-1845)

·       William (1802-1890)

·       Oliver Sherman (1828-1923), moved to Roxbury, CT

·       Joseph (1863-1947)

·       Joseph (1900-1991), married Irene Levy in 1923

A History Refresher

As I’ve reported earlier (http://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2017/12/founder-fathers-of-united-states.html), the beginning of the United States was a much more drawn-out process that we often remember it as. Nonetheless, there were some significant events as part of this process. One of these took place during the month of April 1775 (http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battles-of-lexington-and-concord). Many of us, at least those of us of my age, recall the story of Paul Revere’s famous ride to Lexington and Concord. It was the initial encounter between the British and American troops that some point to as the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

However, it was not that initial skirmish that marks the true beginning, but the events just a bit north of Concord  where the regrouped American troops, known as minutemen, made the decision to take on what, at the time, was the largest and mightiest army in the world – the British army. The British were holding a small bridge just to the north of Concord when they were attacked by the Americans, and, unbelievably, the Americans won the battle.

It was this battle that was memorialized many years later in a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson. And this was the “shot heard round the world”.

Concord Hymn – Ralph Waldo Emerson – 7/4/1837

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

   Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood

   And fired the shot heard round the world.

Intersection of History and Genealogy

The link that my cousin sent me was to a webpage maintained by the National Park Service and is about what is known as the Hartwell Tavern – a structure still existing that stands about 1000’ to the north of what at the time was the Old North Bridge that crossed the Concord River (https://www.nps.gov/mima/hartwell-tavern.htm). This tavern was owned by Ephraim Hartwell, the great*4 uncle of my great-uncle Joe. And as you can see from this story, the tavern and the Hartwell family figure prominently in getting the notification about presence of the British troops to the minutemen who lived in the area.

Some people help to write history, others sometimes just find themselves as accidental participants. So it’s always exciting to me to find that there are individuals on my family tree who have figured so prominently in the history of this country.

Thanks to my cousin for enlightening me about this chapter of history.