Among Michael Jackson’s company at Lexington and Concord was his cousin, Major Timothy Jackson (1756-1814), who built the Jackson Homestead. Timothy Jackson enlisted as a privateer in 1775 and was captured and pressed into service by the British; he escaped in the West Indies, was captured again and imprisoned in New York, and escaped back to Newton on foot.

Another notable Newtonian serving in the military was Colonel Joseph Ward (1737-1812), aide-de-camp to General Artemas Ward, his second cousin once removed. Joseph Ward was a public school teacher and writer involved with Boston’s prominent Revolutionary thinkers; he rode to Lexington and Concord from Boston when he heard the alarm. He served as General Ward’s aide at the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he took fire from a British man-of-war while riding over Charlestown Neck to execute an order. Ward held the position of aide-de-camp until General Ward’s retirement in 1777; he then was appointed colonel as Commissary-General of Musters, in which capacity he served until 1780. Ward retired from service with a letter of commendation from George Washington, which is in the Historic Newton archives.

While the stories of white soldiers like Jackson and Ward are more widely told, thousands of Black and Indigenous men were enlisted in the Continental Army. George Washington briefly banned military service for people of African descent in 1775, but the decision was reversed in 1776 and Black soldiers were permitted to continue serving. Altogether, approximately 5,000-8,000 people of African descent served in the Continental Army, mostly in integrated regiments alongside white and Indigenous soldiers, while thousands more served in state militias or at sea through privateering or other naval efforts. We know the names of several soldiers of color with ties to Newton and the nearby “Praying Indian” town of Natick. 

• Cornelius Lenox (born c. 1754) was a free Black man who served in the Continental Army for approximately five years and settled in Newton in the 1780s; he owned a farm on the Newton-Watertown line where he lived with his wife Susannah and eight children.

• Caesar Ferrit (c. 1720-1799), who was born in the Caribbean and had African, Native American, French, and Dutch ancestry, immigrated to Massachusetts and eventually settled in Natick; Caesar and his son John both enlisted from 1775 to 1781. 

• James Anthony, also of Natick, enlisted from 1775 to 1780, saw combat at both Battles of Saratoga and spent the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. 

• Pomp Jackson had been enslaved by Jonathan Jackson (then of Newburyport, a descendent of Newton’s Edward Jackson) and was manumitted in 1776. Jackson soon enlisted, served throughout the war, and received an honorable discharge.

However, a much larger number of Black soldiers ultimately supported the British side, as freedom was offered to men enslaved by “rebels” who escaped to serve in the British army; an estimated 20,000 enslaved people fought with the British in search of freedom.

While residents of Newton differed ideologically on issues of freedom and independence, as shown by town meeting records, numerous Newtonians contributed to the Revolutionary cause in ways large and small. The following are a few more notable figures in this history. 

• Abraham Fuller (1720-1794) was a prominent Newton judge and politician whose roles included representation of Newton to the state General Court, acting as a delegate to the Provincial Congress, and in 1788 participating in a statewide congress to ratify the new Constitution. In 1775, Fuller hid papers containing critical information about Massachusetts military supplies at his home, preventing their seizure by British troops. 

• The widow of Nathaniel Coolidge (died c. 1770) operated a tavern near Nonantum Bridge which in 1775 was appointed the town’s rendezvous point in the event of alarm.

• John Pigeon (1725-1778), a local delegate alongside Durant and Fuller, made the critical donation of two field-pieces for use by Newton troops in 1775 as the town made preparations for potential war. Pigeon also held the role of Commissary-General of 8,000 Massachusetts troops encamped in Cambridge before the arrival of George Washington.

• Roger Sherman (1721-1793), a Newton native although he spent most of his life in Connecticut, has the distinction of being the only person to have signed the Continental Association from the first Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution.