David Nye (1706–1796) My Paternal 7th Great-Grandfather
DAR Ancestor #: A085322
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 10
Prompt: A Turning Point
The Lexington Alarm
On the evening of April 18, 1775, a Boston silversmith named Paul Revere set out on horseback with an urgent warning: British troops were marching toward Lexington and Concord. His ride would become one of the most famous moments in American history.
Before dawn the next morning, April 19, 1775, the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
But the fighting that day did more than mark the beginning of a war. It set off something known as the Lexington Alarm—a rapid spread of news across Massachusetts as riders, drummers, church bells, and militia captains warned their towns that the British had marched.
Within hours, the alarm was moving from town to town across the colony.
Among those who answered that call was my ancestor, David Nye of Wareham, Massachusetts.
A Call to Arms in Wareham
David Nye was born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, on July 1, 1706, and later lived in the coastal town of Wareham. By the time the alarm spread across Massachusetts in April 1775, he was nearly seventy years old—hardly the age most people picture when imagining militia responding to the opening shots of the Revolution.
Yet when the alarm reached Wareham on April 19, 1775, Nye joined the local militia company commanded by Captain Noah Fearing.
A record in Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War notes:
“Nye, David, Wareham. Private, Capt. Noah Fearing’s company of militia, which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, to Marshfield; service, 4 days.”
When the alarm sounded, Nye and the other militia members gathered and marched north to Marshfield.
Marshfield had become known as a stronghold of Loyalist sentiment, and tensions between Patriots and Loyalists there had been growing in the months leading up to the Revolution. The town was also home to Nathaniel Ray Thomas, a prominent Loyalist with connections to British authorities. When news of the fighting at Lexington and Concord spread, Patriot leaders feared that Loyalists in Marshfield might aid the British or create unrest, prompting militia companies from surrounding towns to move quickly toward the area.
At that uncertain moment, no one knew how far the conflict might spread.
Wareham Responds
Local history confirms the response of Wareham’s militia.
Rochester’s Official Bicentennial Record lists the members of the company that mobilized that day:
“The militia company of Wareham that responded to the call April 19th, 1775:
Commissioned officers — Noah Fearing, Captain; John Gibbs, Lieutenant…
Privates — … Samuel Savery, David Nye.”
Across Plymouth County, militia companies quickly assembled and marched toward areas where trouble was expected. Nearly 1,200 provincial troops responded to the alarm that day.
Many of them, like David Nye, were ordinary townsmen—farmers, tradesmen, and sailors—who had little idea that the events of that spring morning would lead to a war lasting eight years.
A Life in Wareham
David Nye spent most of his life in southeastern Massachusetts. Tradition holds that he operated a tavern in Wareham, a common occupation in colonial towns where inns served as gathering places for travelers, neighbors, and the exchange of news and political discussion.
A house once owned by David Nye still stands today in Wareham. Museum records indicate that in 1778 the property was purchased from David Nye by Captain John Kendrick, a Revolutionary War privateer who later commanded the American trading vessel Columbia. Today the building is preserved as the Captain John Kendrick House and Wareham Maritime Museum, overlooking the Narrows Historic District.
Standing inside the house today offers a glimpse into the world of the community where David Nye lived—and from which he answered the Lexington Alarm in April 1775.
Captain John Kendrick House, Wareham, Massachusetts. The property was purchased from David Nye in 1778 by Revolutionary War privateer Captain John Kendrick and is now the Wareham Maritime Museum.
Interior staircase of the Captain John Kendrick House, once owned by David Nye of Wareham.
Answering the Alarm
The Lexington Alarm was not a formal army mobilization. Instead, it was a chain reaction of warnings spreading rapidly across the countryside.
Riders carried messages from town to town. Drummers beat the alarm through village streets. Church bells rang. Militia companies assembled quickly and marched toward areas where fighting or unrest was expected.
Men like David Nye did not know whether they were marching toward a small disturbance or the beginning of a full-scale war.
But they answered the alarm.
And by doing so, they became part of the opening chapter of the American Revolution.
My Lineage from David Nye
David Nye (1706–1796)
↓
Ward Nye
↓
Elijah Nye
↓
John Chase Nye
↓
Sarah Ann Nye
↓
Susannah Harding
↓
David Milton Goldsmith
↓
Gertrude Susan Goldsmith
↓
Ralph David Wallis
↓
Elizabeth Susan “Libby” Wallis
Sources
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 11
DAR Ancestor Database – David Nye
Rochester’s Official Bicentennial Record
Geni.com
https://wareham.theweektoday.com/article/captain-john-kendrick-maritime-museum-opens-its-doors-first-time-years/57586
https://www.colonialwarsct.org/1775_lex_alarm.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment