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Captain Isaac Davis 1744-1775
Our principal, Isaac Davis, was just another entity as typically found in the largest portion of the population in the Colonies, at the time. He came from plain, pious stock, - - people who worked hard to eke out an existence for themselves and their families in a rather hostile environment. It is unlikely that his name was even known except for a few relatives and friends within a ten-mile radius of Acton. In his time, the subsistence of the family unit was totally dependent on the stamina and ability of the man of the family to cultivate and harvest the necessary board" while supplementing these needs through barter in offering any peculiar talent he might possess. Isaac Davis was just such a man. As a matter of fact, we are describing an individual whose name might have been just another entry in the Vital Records had it not been for a series of unforeseen and catastrophic events in the year 1775. These events placed Isaac Davis in a situation, which demanded the ultimate in his courage and convictions. And he was equal to the demands which fortune sometimes places in the hands of so very few and on such short notice. On April 19, 1775 Isaac Davis had the opportunity to demonstrate his courage and love of fellow men, and, in the process, surrendered his life for the privilege. - An Appraisal of Capt. Isaac Davis of Acton, MA. A paper delivered at Acton Historical Society Meeting , November 1970 by Mr. Perry C. Smith (page 2)
The Estate of Capt. Isaac Davis, late of Acton deceased, which was taken June 9, 1775
Dedicated October 29th, 1851
WHO was Captain Isaac Davis? Who was Abner Hosmer? Who was James Hayward? And what was Concord fight?
The First Officer Killed in the Revolutionary War by Rev. George F. Clark
written by Hon. Luther Conant of Acton, MA.
The story of Daniel Chester French's famous Minuteman Statue and it's likeness to Capt. Isaac Davis
Who fell at North Bridge, Concord, April 19, 1775
"I haven't a man afraid to go!" were Captain Isaac Davis' words before he and his minuteman man company se
t forth on their fateful journey from Concord, Massachusetts to meet the British on the morning of April 19, 1715.
1749-1841
Mrs. Hannah (Brown) Davis Jones Leighton wife of Capt. Isaac Davis
Capt. Isaac Davis remembered
Lynn is a fifth great granddaughter of Capt. Isaac Davis and took these photos of the Davis
Monument and other historical spots dedicated to Isaac Davis
Captain Isaac Davis
This is stone that stood at the head of Capt. Davis grave for seventy -five years at Woodlawn Cemetery,
before it was removed and place at the base of the Davis Monument.
The inscription reads as follows:
"In Memory of Capt. Isaac Davis, who was slain in battle at Concord. April ye 19, 1775,
in the defense of ye just rights and liberties of his country, civil and religious.
He was a loving husband and a kind neighbor, an ingenious craftsman and serviceable to mankind.
Died in ye prime of life, aged 30 years, 1 month and twenty five days."
This is the stone that now stand at the head
of Capt. Isaac Davis' grave in Woodlawn Cemetery
From a speech given by Hon. Josiah Adams,
a native of Acton on July 21, 1835
Historical Papers, Viol. 2, Acton Memorial Library
“Without deeming it of much importance to consider the relative times and places of the event of that day. I shall contend that Isaac Davis was the life and soul of the action, in advancing to the bridge at Concord; and that it is reason able to believe that, had he lived, the events of the conflict, in the morning would have given a character to the Concord fight much what, now, it can be made to assume.
This matter will be dwelt upon more particularly, because the voice of Acton, in regard to it, has never been heard. The scene of action being Concord, it was natural for history to presume that the spirit of resistance was born there. It is true that Capt. Davis is mentioned by historians as commanding the company in front; and there is no reason. In general, to complain of the manner in which his courage and conduct have been treated. But how it happened that a captain - lower in rank than the commanders of the Concord minute men - belonging to another town, and having no property nor defenseless friends in the village to need his protection - was placed in the front, has never, it is believed been truly explained by any historian. And perhaps this might not have been deemed a fit occasion for making the explanation if a representative, from very respectable source, had not been published within a few years, entitles `A History of the Concord Fight', in which an explanation is given at the expense of the good sense, the modesty, and the courage of Capt. Davis.
It is in vain to disguise it. It cannot be denied that all that was done before the British left the village was done before Davis was killed. From the moment nobody had any command and nothing was even attempted. What became of Col. Barrett, Major Buttrick or Col. Robinson nobody has told us….The truth is, it was said so at the time, and ever since, that, when Capt. Davis arrived on the ground no one would agree to go in front. When he arrived they took courage. His spirit was known and they relied on it. And I repeat, that the soul of the action on that morning was the soul of Isaac Davis; and when that soul fled the action was over”
Davis Monument dedicated October 20th, 1851
The General Committee of Arrangements, of the towns of Acton, Concord, Sudbury, Stow. Littlest, Boxboro, Carlisle, and Westford, desire to notify the public, that said Monument will be dedicated on the 20th instant. The inhabitants of all those towns' citizens bore arms in the GREAT FIRST DAY OF OUT COUNTRY, the 19th of April 1775, the Council, Senate and House of Representatives of 1851, are particularly urged to attend - and the patriotic men of this Commonwealth generally. And this is the more fitting, because the Commonwealth corporate with the town of Acton to build said Monument. True, all alike would be glad to perpetuate the fame of these glorious deeds of patriotism, and to hand down to posterity the loved names of those who died for us in that opening conflict of the American Revolution, and especially the names of DAVIS and HOSMER, who fell heading the column of attack at the Old North Bridge, in Concord, believed to have been the very first organized attack upon the troops of King George in the memorable war.
A Procession will be formed on the common at Acton Centre, two miles from the Depots, on the Fitchburg Rail Road, at 9 o'clock A.M., to be escorted by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery of Boston, and several companies of the Mass. Militia, all under the general direction of Col. S.E. Faulkner, Chief Marshall of the day. The procession after moving towards Old Grave Yard, and receiving the Addis-interred remains of Capt. Isaac Davis, and Privates Abner Hosmer and James Hayward, all of Acton who fell at Concord Fight, will proceed to the recently erected Monument, and there under the same, re-inter those remains; thence march to the Pavilion to hear an Oration From Go. Outsell, and a poem from Rev. Jr. Pinpoint, of Medford, and some original Hymns from Rev. M. Durant, of Bifield, a native of Acton, sung to the cherished tunes of our fathers.
Addresses are expected from Gov. Everett R. Rantoul Jr. R. Choate, J.P. Hale, Jr. and other distinguished guests. The shoe buckles, Davis had on when shot, and the powder horn through which Hayward was killed with other relics of the old war will be exhibited. Mr. Jonathan Harrington, the only survivor of those scenes, now alive at Lexington, will probably be present. - He was Capt. Parker's fifer.
Ladies will be accommodated, and the whole audience, at least all who have tickets for dinner, will be comfortably seated under the Pavilion.
All passengers will be conveyed to and from the two depots in Acton on the Fitchburg Rail Road to Acton Centre, at reasonable prices. The Military, Fire Companies, Odd-Fellows, and other regular Societies, in, bodies, with uniforms or badges, will be carried over the Fitchburg Railroad at half price if passage is applied for by the officers of companies.
All civil and literary societies, and all military companies, whether particularly written to or not are hereby respectfully invited to attend, and place will be assigned them in the procession, on presenting themselves to the Chief Marshal at the Town Hall. All person having tickets to dinner will be sure of a convenient seat to hear the Oration, &c. and as many besides as the Pavilion will accommodate. All are advised to procure tickets for dinner. The dinner is furnished by John Wright, of Boston, and the tickets to be, for Gentlemen, $1.00 each, and for Ladies and the Military at 75 cents each.
By Order of Committee of Arrangement:
J.T. Woodbury, Chairman
J.M. Miles, Secretary
Descendants of Isaac Davis
Generation No. 1
1. CAPT. ISAAC6 DAVIS (EZEKIEL5, JOHN4, SIMON3, SIMON2, DOLOR1) was born February 23, 1744/45 in Acton, Middlesex, MA., and died April 19, 1775 in Concord, Middlesex, MA.. He married HANNAH BROWN October 24, 1764 in Acton, Middlesex, MA., daughter of ELISHA BROWN and ELIZABETH DAVIS. She was born 1746 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA., and died December 22, 1841 in Acton, Middlesex, MA..
More About CAPT. ISAAC DAVIS:
Burial: Woodlawn Cemetery, Acton, MA.
Confirmation: February 10, 1765, Joined Church
Military service: April 19, 1775, Revolutionary War
Minuteman: September 29, 1774, Acton, Middlesex, MA.
Resided: 39 Hayward St. Acton, MA.
More About HANNAH BROWN:
Baptism: March 26, 1746, Cambridge, Middlesex, MA.
Burial: Woodlawn Cemetery, Acton, MA.
More About ISAAC DAVIS and HANNAH BROWN:
Marriage: October 24, 1764, Acton, Middlesex, MA.
Children of ISAAC DAVIS and HANNAH BROWN are:
i. ISAAC7 DAVIS, b. May 14, 1765, Acton, Middlesex, MA..
ii. HANNAH DAVIS, b. November 1766; d. December 10, 1766, Acton, Middlesex, MA..
More About HANNAH DAVIS:
Burial: Woodlawn Cemetery, Acton, MA.
iii. HANNAH DAVIS, b. February 11, 1768, Acton, Middlesex, MA.; d. March 05, 1813, Acton, Middlesex, MA.; m. LT. AMOS NOYES, February 28, 1793, Acton, Middlesex, MA.; b. October 14, 1765, Acton, Middlesex, MA.; d. November 25, 1837, Acton, Middlesex, MA..
More About HANNAH DAVIS:
Burial: Woodlawn Cemetery, Acton, MA.
More About LT. AMOS NOYES:
Burial: Woodlawn Cemetery, Acton, MA.
More About AMOS NOYES and HANNAH DAVIS:
Marriage: February 28, 1793, Acton, Middlesex, MA.
iv. EPHRAIM DAVIS, b. March 07, 1770, Acton, Middlesex, MA.; d. November 19, 1845; m. (1) CATHERINE ARDOZE HARRINGTON, May 04, 1794, Acton, Middlesex, MA.; d. Bef. 1807; m. (2) JAN MCLAUGHLLIN, April 23, 1807, Athens Kennebec, ME.; b. June 09, 1769, Solon, Somerset, ME.; d. February 02, 1852.
More About EPHRAIM DAVIS:
Burial: South Solon, Somerset, ME.
More About CATHERINE ARDOZE HARRINGTON:
Burial: South Solon, Somerset, ME.
More About EPHRAIM DAVIS and CATHERINE HARRINGTON:
Marriage: May 04, 1794, Acton, Middlesex, MA.
More About JAN MCLAUGHLLIN:
Burial: South Solon, Somerset, ME.
More About EPHRAIM DAVIS and JAN MCLAUGHLLIN:
Marriage: April 23, 1807, Athens Kennebec, ME.
v. PAUL DAVIS, b. December 03, 1772; d. December 10, 1772, Acton, Middlesex, MA..
More About PAUL DAVIS:
Burial: Woodlawn Cemetery, Acton, MA.
vi. MARY DAVIS, b. January 03, 1774, Acton, Middlesex, MA.; d. 1847, Springfield N.Y.; m. NOAH FITCH, May 01, 1796, Acton, Middlesex, MA.; b. April 19, 1768, Acton, Middlesex, MA.; d. 1839, Springfield, N.Y..
More About NOAH FITCH and MARY DAVIS:
Marriage: May 01, 1796, Acton, Middlesex, MA.
A Brief Tribute to the Memory of Capt. Isaac Davis
written by Hon. Luther Conant of Acton, Mass
Capt. Isaac Davis, in honor of whose Patriotism and Valor, Post No 138 G. A. R. receives it name, was born in Acton, Mass., February 23rd, 1745.
He was the son of Ezekiel and Mary (Gibson) Davis. He married Hannah Brown, of Acton, Oct. 24, 1764. He became a member of the church in 1765. He was by trade a gunsmith and had the reputation of being a good workman. In November, 1774, a company of minute-men was raised in Acton, by enlistment, which elected Isaac Davis as Captain. They met twice a week during the winter to drill and when called to service had reached such a state of efficiency that they were considered the best armed and most reliable of the companies of minute-men in the vicinity.
Capt. Davis was a born soldier and in response to the cry of alarm sounded by Paul Revere, Capt. Davis' Co. quickly gathered at his house and were ready to march. After forming his Co. in the road, he returned to his house. His stout heart must have been sorely tried, for he left a young wife and four sick children. He could only say "Hannah, take good care of the children" and then led the way to the Old North Bridge. In the hastily called council of war, which was held before the fight Capt. Davis took part and when it broke up he gave the encouraging assurance "That he hadn't a man that was afraid to go." Suiting the action to the word he took his command from the left to the right of the line and to the tune of "The White Cockade," led the first organized attack upon the British Invaders.
After receiving the fire of the enemy he was in the act of sighting his gun when they again fired and Capt Davis fell shot through the heart.
He was the first commissioned officer killed in the Revolutionary war. He was but thirty years and two months of age when he fell. The epitaph placed on his head-stone one hundred and nineteen years ago is the best epitome of his character.
"In memory of Captain Isaac Davis, who was slain at Concord April 19, 1775, in defence of the just rights and liberties of his country, civil and religious. He was a loving husband, a tender father, a kind neighbor, an ingenious craftsman and serviceable to mankind."
Did I say an epitaph? an epic rather: for this gallant captain, this true husband and father, this skilful mechanic, this good citizen, this Christian patriot found his home at the early age of thirty years.
To the tune of Yankee Doodle
They would always remember Isaac Davis; his was a story that cannot easily be forgotten. It would work its way (simply and not too accurately) into verse, into a popular song before the war was done - Robert Nylander
|
And Captain Davis had a gun
He kind of clapt his hand on't
And stuck a crooked stabbing iron
Upon the little end on't.
Yankee Doodle keep it up........
Inventory of Capt Isaac Davis's Estate
The inventory of the moveable estate of Capt. Isaac Davis, late of Acton deceased, which was taken June 9, 1775, as it was shown to us (viz) Ephraim Hapgood, Joseph Robbins, and James Faulkner, who did appraise them.
One hat
One great coat
One coat
One jacket, one coat, one jacket
One pair of breeches, one coat and jacket
One pair of leather breeches, another pair of breeches
Two shirts, two pair of stockings, three pair of gloves
Two pair of stockings, the first bed and furniture
The second bed and furniture, the third bed and furniture
The fourth bed, two badges, two sheets, a tablecloth
Two pair of trousers, one window curtain, two tablecloths
Four pewter platters, twelve pewter plates
0 Id pewter dishes
One pewter quart pot, one point pot, nine spoons
One case of knives and forks, two skimmers
One brass kettle and a brass skillet, a pair of spectacles
Iron pot, kettle and skillet, a pair of silver shoe buckles
A pair of silver sleeve buttons, a gun barrel
A pair of brass shoe buckles and a pair of steel knee buckles
One powder horn & sword, a quarter pound of powder
One gun, a pistol & cartridge box, a powder flask
A pair of andirons, one crane, two flat irons
One goose & bodkin, one toasting iron, two candlesticks
One warming pan, hand bellows, fire shovel and tongs
Sheep-shears & chopping knife, one thousand shingle nails
One half-bushel, one pack, three old pails
One Bible & other books, bullet mold, glassware
Earthen ware & old earthenware & a pitcher
Twenty old cider barrels, two meat tubs ??, one soap tub
Dry casks, one gallon bottle. One funnel?
Frying pan, five and a half yards of all wool cloth
One pair of shoes, two pairs of old shoes
One crane, twenty pounds of sheep's wool
Seven pounds of combed flax, one old desk
One chest, one box, nine chairs
One table, another table, clothes basket
One corn basket, two poniards?
A bread trough, sieve, a gun case
One pillion, a pigeon net, a pair of shears
Two beetle rings & wedges, a looking glass
Three tubs, one chum, one cast & churn & pin
One plow, another plow, another plow
One iron harrow, one draft chain
One foot-wheel, & a great wheel, a pair of cards
The Smith Tools
The bellows, an iron stake
A vise, three pairs of smith tongs
Two smith-hammers, two anvils chisel
Three gunstock planks, twenty-five bushels of coal
An iron crank and frame to bore guns
A sledge 6/8, a number of files & augers for boring guns and other gunsmith tools
Two pairs of pincers & two hammers & a punch and a tool to head nails and a steel trap
Five maple planks for gunstocks, two gunstocks, a grindstone & crank/, one adze, trough
One hand saw, one scythe and tackling
Two dung forks, two hayforks, one joiner's plane,
One ox yoke & bows, staple, & ring. One sickle
One iron crowbar, one scythe and tackling
One scythe snath & nabs, one broad axe
Two old narrow axes, one iron hay hook
One old axe head, a yoke, staple & ring, a holing ax
One Shave , one broad hoe, one shovel
Two oxen, one cow, another cow
Two oxen, one cow, another cow
One cow, one heifer, two swine
Ten sheep and seven lambs
Two calves, a timber chain
Sum total L101313.9
From: The Story of the Minutemen Man
By Roland Wells Robbins
pages 13-24
published by George R. Barnstead & Son
Stoneham, MA. (1945)
It was because a kindly old gentleman, Ebenezer Hubbard, that made possible the erection of the Minute Man statue. If the monument, dedicated in 1837, had been placed on the west side of the Concord River instead of the east bank it is doubtful if any need of another monument would have been felt. People in general would have been satisfied, even Mr. Hitbbard. As it turned out, Mr. Hubbard wanted to correct an injustice that he thought had been done to the Minute Men. When he died in 1871 he very generously willed the bulk of his estate to the public welfare of Concord and to the town of Hancock, New Hampshire, where he was born. The will had been drawn up ten years before his death and was simply written, with the exception of a thousand dollar gift to the town of Concord for the purpose of erecting a monument on the west bank of the Concord River. The shrewd phrasing of this offer shows his feeling toward the subject and his determined desire to have it attended to. "I hereby order my executor herein after named to pay the sum of one thousand dollars towards building a monument in said town of Concord, on the spot where the Americans fell, on the opposite side of the river from the present monument, in the battle of the 19th of April, 1775, providing my said executor shall ascertain that such monument first named, has been built, or sufficient funds been obtained for that purpose within 5 years after my decease; but in case my said executor shall have ascertained that said first named monument is not built, nor sufficient funds been obtained for that purpose, within 5 years after my decease, then 1 hereby order my said executor to pay over to the town of Hancock, as aforesaid, the sum of $500." This five hundred dollars was to be added to a thousand dollars he had willed Hancock for its poor fund. The other five hundred dollars was to be added to a thousand dollars he gave to Hancock for the support and benefit of its library.
There is another story worth relating. involving Mr. Hubbard's money and patriotic interest. Some years earlier he had decided that the important part the Old North Bridge played in the engagement of April 19th, 1775, warranted its reproduction on the site of the old abutments. This would serve not only as an appropriate landmark but also as a convenient means of getting over to the west side of the battleground. To support this idea he went to the Concord National Bank and drew out six new one-hundred dollar bills. The money was to be turned over to the town when it approved the plan. But this fine gesture became bogged in the mire of local dissension. So Mr. Hubbard took his six new bills and tucked them inside of a Bible for safe keeping until a mutual agreement could be reached. This did not occur. Some years later Ebenezer Hubbard got to thumbing this Bible and came across the money. In the mean_ time the National Banking System had come into existence on February 25, 1863, and this currency had been recalled. Consequently, his $600 was valueless. Taking the six, still crisp, bills he hastened over to the hank, telling his story of the good intent for which he had planned their use and of his banking them in the Bible because of what he thought to be only a temporary delay on the part of the town before accepting the offer. He convinced the bank president that this generous gift would greatly benefit the town and should not be forfeited because of a technicality. So the bank redeemed his money. He presented the new currency to the town with the reservation that it be spent only for the expenses of reconstructing the Old North Bridge. Nothing came of this at the time. For when the early interest in the coming centennial celebration of the battle began to stir about, the town was still in possession of this gift.
At the annual Town Meeting in 1872 a committee was appointed to carry out the terms of Ebenezer Hubbard's will and make arrangements for the erection of some 'sort of monument on the west bank of the Concord River at the battleground. This was known as the Monument Committee. Its chairman was John S. Keyes, and among the members were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Frederic Hudson, George Heywood, George M. Brooks, John R. Moore, W. W. Wilde, Henry F. Smith, George A. King, and A. J. Harlow.
The committee received many suggestions as to what would be most appropriate for the occasion. The most persistent idea had been for the erection of a statue of a "Minute Man:' This suggestion was finally approved. Now to decide who was to do the highly skilled work of modelling so important a piece of local art.
Young Daniel Chester French of Concord had been showing some ability at sculpture. But after all, Dan was only twenty-two years old, and had turned his interest to sculpture only three years earlier, possibly as an advanced hobby. May Alcott had a class of girls to whom she taught drawing. Dan sat in with them for about a month. He spent another month ill the studio of John Q. A. Ward in New York, and took some lessons in drawing from Dr. Rimmer of Brookline. The products of Daniel's hands had been only figures of animals on the farm and busts of member of the family; he had yet to make a life size statue.
Fully realizing his art background to be somewhat meager, Dan was reluctant to enter into competition with contemporary artists. But Judge French soon convinced him that he should make the attempt. The Judge helped Daniel work out a statue design that would best voice the spirit of the Minute Men. By 1873 Daniel had made sketches and a clay model and had taken them down to Mr. Keyes and Mr. Emerson of the Monument Committee. They recommended his work to the town, and at the November meeting in 1873. this model shared the platform with the extensive plans of the Water Department which were on display. After full examination and discussion the model was accepted, and Daniel French was commissioned to make a study in plaster. For the expense of this work the Monument Committee decided to spend $500. This would have to pay for all materials and other expenses involved in the making of the plaster cast. It was also made clear that Daniel would have to volunteer his services free. After all, he was untried; and surely it was a golden opportunity for him.
Eagerly accepting the assignment and its financial arrangements. he started out on his first professional undertaking. This called for setting up a shop. Daniel rented a room on the third floor of the Studio Building in Boston. He was able to borrow a plaster cast of the Apollo Belvidere from the Boston Athenaeum. which was nearby. With this statue, a full length mirror, and himself posing for some of the uncertain views, for nude models in Boston were an unknown quantity in the 1870's, he settled to the task before him.
Daniel had decided that if this statue were to represent a people, it would best portray their story by faithfully reproducing the image of one of them.
Captain Isaac Davis of Acton had led the Minute Men that fateful April 19th at the Old North Bridge.
It was he who, after saying to his men. "I haven't a man that is afraid to go," led his men in the first organized attack on the British and to his own death. Raising his musket to take his first aim, he was shot through the heart and instantly killed, the first commissioned officer to spill his blood for the cause. Captain Davis was but thirty years old, and only several days earlier had been appointed as Captain and taken charge of his company. He left a widow and four children. Davis loved his guns and had a gun shop side of his home where he repaired and made firearms. His work was of the best. Also as a marksman there were no better.
A premonition Captain Davis had several days before the battle will acquaint one with how great a sacrifice he made Returning home one afternoon with his wife, he found a large owl perched on his favorite gun - the one he carried in the battle. He would not permit anyone to disturb it. There the owl stayed for two or three days. This he took as an ill omen and felt that he was not to return from Concord.
His company gathered at his home. As they marched away he halted them long enough to go back and embrace his wife and family. and asked his wife to take good care of the children.
No man with the domestic security that Captain Davis possessed and with the feeling of coming disaster could lay aside more in upholding his beliefs. This was the story that Daniel wanted woven into his statue. It was Captain Davis's spirit and features that would speak for these people.
It was because of this that Patrick was hitching up Bucephalus, for Judge French was going to Acton to gather the story that was to form the symbol of one of mankind's greatest achievements - his independence.
The Judge spent some time in Acton talking with local historians and old timers and going through the Davis homestead in hope of finding a portrait or sketches of Captain Davis. This was the best he could hope for, as daguerreotype photography was not used until some sixty years after Davis's death. In this he was to be disappointed, for Acton history showed that no known portrait or sketches of Davis existed, or ever had.
But he did bring back pictures and information enough to have Daniel make a good likeness of Davis. The pictures were of relatives and of men who resembled the Captain in some way. Patrick Harrington's living daughters have often related how their father told of this trip to Acton and of the Judge bringing back these pictures. As Davis's widow did not die until 1841 she was able to satisfy historians with information of her husband for sixty-six years after his death.
With this data Daniel French modelled the striking form of the Minute Man during the winter of 1873-74. When the need arose for a living model dressed in the clothing of the Minute Men, a number of Concord young men volunteered. Concordians very proudly went through their attics and long stored trunks to gather clothing, leggings and items that had played some part in the battle so they could again be worn by the men models. The physical characteristics of several of these young men were used. Young Charles Baird posed four times. Daniel's friend Charles Hoar also had desirable physical qualities. But none of the volunteers had the rugged arms of a man of the soil. This proved to be no handicap; for who had a finer developed arm than the French's own Patrick Harrington? The statue's strong wrists, the firm hold on the musket the lingering hand on the plow, and the vein bulging forearms. In themselves, thanks to Patrick, express the virility and determination of the Minute Men.
By September 1874 Daniel French had finished the Minute Man - his first statue. The plaster cast was sent to the Ames Foundry at Chicopee, Massachusetts, where it was to be cast in bronze. This concern was the pioneer of bronze casting in this country and moulded the first successful bronze statue, that of Benjamin Franklin, which stands in front of the City Hall in Boston, Mass. Wanting something of historic value to be used in this casting, Daniel had Judge Hoar of Concord use his influence in having ten pieces of condemned cannon, said to have been captured by New Englanders in the battle of Louisburg made available to the town of Concord. These cannon were shipped to the foundry, melted down, and poured in the final casting.
The finished statue was seven feet in height and weighed 1280 pounds. The Ames Foundry's expense for their work came to $1,538.62 to which they added a 10% profit charge making a total cost of $1,692.48 for casting the statue. Here again, Yankee shrewdness was made use of as Monument Committee Chairman, John S. Keyes, acting for the Town of Concord, sold the cannon to the Ames Foundry, receiving twenty-two cents a pound for the bronze used in the statue and twenty cents a pound for what was left over. Not only was there realized enough money to pay for the finished bronze statue and a refund of $7.89 to Mr. Keyes-, but there is evidence to show that possibly several hundred dollars more may have been paid for the bronze cannon. As the Monument Committee's financial report records only $10.00 being paid for transferring the cannon from New York to Chicopee - money received from the sale of the can_ non may have helped defray the expense of shipping. Also, it is known that the Monument Committee requested an estimate from the Ames Foundry for statuettes of the Minute Man. At least one statuette was made and likely paid for by receipts from the cannon sale.
On the bottom of the Ames Foundry's account sheet for the Minute Man statue job is written and underlined "Not a profitable job." Financially, it may have been a disappointment to Mr. Ames, but sentimentally, he had a warm feeling toward this work and recognized the greatness of Daniel Chester French's statue long before it became universal.
When finished the statue was shipped to Concord and mounted on a seven foot high granite pedestal. Mr. John Cole of Westford had contracted to cut this pedestal from a boulder found about five miles from the battleground. The same boulder also furnished the granite for the 1836 monument. The statue was set up on the west bank of the Concord River on the spot where Davis had fallen. This had been marked for a number of years by the bush Emerson had referred to as the "burning bush." Mr. Hubbard's earlier ambition to have built a rustic likeness of the Old North Bridge was now fulfilled, this being necessary to reach the statue.
On the pedestal of the statue was inscribed the first stanza of the Concord Hymn.
"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,"
Captain Isaac Davis of Acton
Who fell at North Bridge, Concord, April 19, 1775
History, as we often discover, is a matter of personal opinion. Caesar's Commentaries, no doubt, would have brought very dissimilar "Comment” from the nations he subdued.
After long years h"1ve brought out all the facts, we can judge more accurately characters and actions.
The American colonies had many brilliant and able leaders, and with no disparagement of any, I want to add a tribute to one who gave his life too early to reach the mark he might have attained.
The subject of this sketch was born in Acton Feb. 23, 1745, the son of Ezekiel and Mary Gibson Davis, who came from Stowe.
I have been at some pains to trace his lineage. Acton was set off from Concord in 1735 and the Concord records show that Mr. John Davis buried in Concord Main Street burying ground, married Abigail Dudley in 1713 and had a son, Ezekiel, born June 8,1717. As this is the first Ezekiel in the Concord Davises and the name is continued in Isaac's family, it seems logical to consider him the father of Isaac.
Isaac, by the way, was a favorite name among the Davises, there being more than twenty given in the "Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution", tho, rather strangely, Isaac who fell at Concord Bridge is not mentioned, probably because he was not on the militia rolls.
He was a direct descendant of Dolor Davis, who came to Cambridge in 1684 from Kent England. Dolor, a farmer and carpenter, moved from settlement to settlement, building in the new places. Was a selectman, highway surveyor and constable and of such sterling character as to win "Unqualified approbation" from Amos Otis, the Cape historian.
Dolor's wife was Marjorie Willard, and the Willard's were prominent in the military life of the colony, as well as progenitors of the clock makers. In 1675 Major Simon Willard led a troop to the rescue of Lieut. Simon Davis at Brookfield and in 1690 Captain Simon Davis (great-great-grandfather of Isaac) was ordered to raise seventy men to defend the frontier.
Simon Willard came to America with Dolor in 1634 was one of the dozen or fifteen who were given a grant, in 1635 of "six myles of land square” to be called Concord, and with their minister, the Rev. Peter Buckley, went there from what is now Watertown, and Dolor went probably with him, later going to the Cape, after his older children were settled there, he returned to Concord and bought a farm now known as the Abel Clark farm, Clark being a descendant.
I have found no record of Isaac's youth (he died at 30) be we have his Background. A rugged son of rugged pioneers.
A farmer but a thinker, seeing as did the Colonial leaders the conflict coming, and preparing for it. Not a military man, so far as we know, but the leader of a band of " Minute Men", Acton had two companies of militia.
A gunsmith by trade, he practiced shooting constantly, and may have made the rifles of his company.
It is said his company was the only one equipped with bayonets among the Colonials on the 19th of April.
He was a resolute man. A strange thing had happened. An owl, considered a bird of ill omen, had found a perch on his rifle, hanging over the fireplace. It could not alter his courage.
His company of Minute Men were paid by the town and drilled twice a week. The eventful day came. A messenger from Concord (Samuel Prescott, who had been with Paul Revere and escaped when Revere and Dawes were captured) pounded on the house on the Concord Road where the Acton militia commander lived, rousing him with the shout "Captain Robbins, Captain Robbins, the regulars are coming" In a few minutes Robbins' son was racing thro the town to Davis' home.
His company gathered at once and prepared to move. Capt Davis' four children were all sick, and he appears to have had a presentiment that he would not return alive. He turned back to the house, took leave of his wife, and soon after daybreak was leading his men to Concord. He reached the hill near the North Bridge about nine o'clock and joined the provincial forces gathering there, placing his company on the left of the line, he being the youngest captain.
Fires were seen in Concord, British soldiers occupied the bridge. The Colonial officers debated. Should they wait, or dare an attack on the trained soldiers of Britain. Captain Davis stepped forward. "I haven't a man that is afraid to go" and led his company to the right of the line, the leading company, the post of danger.
When the Acton men left home, they were marching to the tune of “The White Cockade", and they moved toward the ridge to the same strains.
Josiah Adams, in his Acton centennial address in 1835 says there was several shots from the enemy, then a volley. Luther Blanchard, the fifer of Davis' company, being wounded. Then a general fire from the Americans was order of Major Buttrick killing one and wounding several. A return fire was shot killing Captain Davis, (who was lighting his rifle) and Abner Hosmer of his company and wounding others.
The captain's brother Ezekiel was in his company that day, and a bullet passed thro his hat.
The Rev. J. H. Woodbury of Acton says some of the young men of Davis' company were elated at a chance to engage the redcoats, but Davis was a thoughtful, sedate, serious man, a genuine puritan like Samuel Adams, and he rebuked them. He told them it was" a most eventful crisis for the colonies, blood would be spilt, that was certain. The crimsoned fountain would be opened, none could tell when it would close, nor with whose blood it would overflow. Let every man gird himself for battle and be not afraid, for God is on our side."
Woodbury says further Davis' case is without a parallel, and was so considered by the legislature and by Congress when they granted aid to his widow. There never will be another. There never can be but one man who headed the column of attack on the King's troops in the Revolutionary War, and Isaac Davis was that man.
In 1801 a company of artillery was formed and given two six-band brass cannon. These, now in---at the --- are inscribed.
"The Legislature of Massachusetts consecrates the names of Major John Buttrick and Captain Isaac Davis, whose va1our and example excited their fellow citizens to a successful resistance of a superior number of British troops at Concord Bridge, the 19th of April, 177.5, which was the beginning of a contest in arms that ended in American independence." (Hunrd's History of Middlesex County)
On Acton common rises a beautiful shaft with this inscription:
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Town of Acton, cooperating to perpetuate their glorious deeds of patriotism, have erected this monument in honor of Capt. Isaac Davis and private Abner Hosmer and James Hayward, citizen soldiers of Acton and Provincial Minutemen, who fell in Concord fight the 19th day of April A.D. 1775. On the morning of that eventful day, the Provincial officers held a council of war near the old North Bridge in Concord, and as they separated, Davis exclaimed" I haven't a man that is afraid to go" and immediately marched his company from the left to the right of the line, and led in-the first organized attack upon the troops of George III, in that memorable war which by the help of God, made the thirteen colonies independent of Great Britain and gave political being to the United States of America.
Acton, April 19th, 1851
The first monument at Concord Bridge (a wooden memorial had rotted away) was dedicated July 4th 1837 and for the service Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote his immortal hymn:
"By the rude bridge what arched the flood.
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit that made these heroes dare
to die and leave there children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
In later years, a strong feeling arose for a memorial on the spot where the Colonials stood, and Ebenezer Hubbard, a resident of Concord for ninety odd years, left money toward that object, and to replace the bridge, which evidently, according to Emerson's poem, had been washed away.
This was dedicated with great ceremony in 1875, a Concord youth, Daniel C. French, furnishing the model for the bronze" Minute Man”. The tone was taken from the same boulder used in the earlier monument, and a plate inscribed with the first verse of Emerson's poem.
Isaac Davis, A Man For All Season
By Elaine CullInane
Supplement to Beacon Publication
April 12, 1973
"I haven't a man afraid to go!" were Captain Isaac Davis' words before he and his minuteman man company set forth on their fateful journey from Concord, Massachusetts to meet the British on the morning of April 19, 1715.
Isaac Davis was born the son of Ezekiel Davis and Mary Gibson (of Stow) on February 23, 1745 in the house known as the Jonathan B. Davis House in West Acton. On October 24, 1764 at the age of 19 he married Hannah Brown, (1745-1841) also of Acton. Isaac and' Hannah established their homestead, less than a mile southwest of Acton Centre. A talented' marksman,' Davis was a gun- I smith by trade and ran a gun 1 shop next to his house repairing guns and making firearms.
Isaac was a man of extreme sobriety and sound judgment. He was concerned with town affairs and felt that a minuteman company should be formed to protect the townspeople. At first Acton wanted no part of Ibis, but Davis was convinced that this was essential for the survival of the town in the event of an attack. Davis started a completely voluntary company that met twice a week for drill and Instruction. Between November of 1774 and January 1775 the Town of Acton decided that Davis was right and vote to support the Minutemen and pay 8 pence per day, twice a week to the men for drilling three hours each day. Davis was elected Captain by mutual agreement
Davis was a brave man, a Puritan, and a mystic. Several days before the battle Captain Davis had a premonition. He returned home one afternoon I with his wife and found a large owl perched on his favorite gun the one he carried in battle to I Concord. He did not let anyone disturb it and the owl stayed for two or three days. He took this as a sign -that he was not to return from Concord. '
On the morning of April 19th, the alarm came and Davis' company gathered at his house. 'As they marched away he halted them long enough to go back to embrace his wife and ask her to take good care of the children. Captain Davis left that morning leaving behind four children; Isaac, Hannah, Ephraim' and Mary, ages 15 months to 10 years, who were ill with "cranked rash."
They marched to Concord meeting the other minuteman companies where Captain Davis and the Acton Minutemen led the march to the Old North Bridge. The fight began and Captain Davis was shot through the heart, the first Minuteman to fall in the battle.
In the afternoon, Davis, along with two of his men, Abner Hosmer and James Hayward, were all brought to the Davis home where the funeral of all three was held, they were then buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
In 1782, Mrs. Davis married Mr. Samuel Jones, a lawyer, and in 1802 after becoming a widow for the second time, married Mr. Francis Leighton. 'Davis' daughter, Hannah became the wife of Amos Noyes in 1793 and in me his daughter Mary married Noah Fitch
In November of 1850, feeling that the patriots deserved more recognition, the Town of Acton voted to erect a monument in honor of Captain Davis, Abner Hosmer and James Hayward. The site of the Acton Common was chosen by Governor George S. Boutwell. There was a question as to whether the monument shou1d be hewn or a rough granite. "Let It be of n God's own granite," said the Reverend James T. Woodbury, a minister and committee member, for the monument, "and let It be from the Acton quarry nearest the site Most of the granite was taken from a hill in the rear of Mr. Woodbury's residence, less than a It mile north of the Common which was donated by him for the monument.
The old gravestones from Woodlawn Cemetery, which stood for 75 years to mark the resting place of the three patriots, were laid on the sides of the mound at the base of the 75ft monument.
In later years, Mrs. Hannah Davis Leighton, Isaac Davis' wife, in honor of her husband, gave Davis' shoe buckles, which he wore in the battle, to Mr. Woodbury. Mr. Woodbury's daughter later donated them to the Acton Memorial' Library where they are presently on display.
In his eighty-second year, Solomon Smith, a member Davis' company reminisced "Captain Davis was a man of great firmness and energy of character, an excellent officer and bad the respect and esteem of all who knew him."
Deacon William Parkman of Concord, there at the time of the battle, spoke highly of the Acton Company, and in particular, of the dignified and soldier-like appearance of their Commander. He said it was his belief that if Captain Davis bad not been killed, not one of the enemy would have returned to Boston. When asked how it was that Concord bad taken all the praise, be was quoted as saying with emphasis and feeling, "It is wrong Acton ought to have the credit of it."
References:
Acton In History
Phalen & Fletcher
