Ebenezer Munroe’s 1825 affidavit states “During the night of the 18th of April of that year [1775], I was alarmed by one Micah Nagles, who stated that the British troops were on their march from Boston, and that Lieutenant Tidd requested myself and others to meet on the common as soon as possible.” [Phinney, p25]
Who was “Micah Nagles”? No one with that surname appears in Lexington Vital Records, which sent me on a hunt with a surprising conclusion: In the middle of the night, Captain Parker’s lieutenant used a nine-year-old boy to spread the alarm.
The Facts
- Massachusetts Revolutionary War Muster Rolls list a “Neagls, Michael” of Lexington “Engaged March 6, 1781; term, 3 years” and includes the description: “Age, 16 years; stature, 5 ft 8 in; complexion, dark; hair, dark; eyes, dark; occupation, farmer.” [Vol 11, p299]
- Malden birth records list “Neagles, Michael s. of Michael and Elizabeth, Dec 25, 1765”. The birth date coincides with the age of the 1781 Lexington soldier. [Malden Vital Records, Births, p57]
- Michael Neagles Sr, a German immigrant, “was run over by a cart wheel which broke his thigh [Sept 2] and he died the Monday following, Sep 5, 1774”, so he could not have been the man who knocked on Ebenezer Munroe’s door the following spring. Note: Sep 2nd was the day after the Medford Powder Raid, so Neagles’ accident may have been tied to the mobs around Boston. [Malden Vital Records, Deaths, p362]
- The mother of Michael Jr (aka “Micah”) was born Elizabeth Parker in Reading in 1737. She had a younger brother, Phineas Parker, born in 1739. [Reading Vital Records, p169-175]
- In 1768 Phineas Parker of Reading married Lydia Munroe of Lexington. So, Lydia Munroe was the aunt of Micah Neagles. [Hudson 1868, G.R., p153]
- Lydia died childless in 1781. Her brother, Philemon Munroe, was nominated administrator of the Neagles estate in 1782 and a “Mr. Munro” was the guardian of Micah and his sister in 1781. [Ancestry.com, Middlesex Probate Records, 1774]
These facts lead to a narrative that, following the death of Michael Senior, Elizabeth could not care for her two children, so Micah and his sister came to live with relatives in Lexington. While Phineas and Lydia were childless, an obvious choice to take the children, they do not appear in Lexington records so perhaps Lydia’s siblings stepped in. Ebenezer Munroe’s statement documents Micah’s presence on 19 April. Also, a young girl is said to have been with Mary Munroe Sanderson the night of the fight; possibly Micah’s sister.
Micah Spreads the Alarm
How did 9-year-old Micah, Munroe family ward, end up knocking on Ebenezer Munroe’s door in the middle of the night? It appears Ebenezer still lived in the house he grew up in at the end of Malt Lane, which once belong to his late father, Jonas Munroe.[1] Supposedly John Buckman bought the place after Jonas died, but Ebenezer’s mother still had her widow’s thirds in it.[2] Malt Lane was just off the common, not too far for Lieutenant Tidd to send a young boy, even one who didn’t know the town very well.
Which begs the question: How did Micah end up on Tidd’s radar in the first place? One scenario sits clearly in my imagination: Micah’s assignment came early in the alarm when militia resources were at their thinnest and, still worried about Major Mitchell’s patrol, they had not yet begun to ring the bell (which would have woken Ebenezer up). Micah had been with Sergeant Munro’s guard detail at the parsonage. Munro and the Sandersons were neighbors; he would know the Neagles children if they stayed with “Aunt Mary”. Munro’s own children were quite young, and few if any other boys lived near Munro Tavern, so 9-year-old Micah would have been a useful resource.
When Revere showed up at the parsonage, Hancock sent for Parker’s lieutenant (per an earlier agreement) who directed, at least partially, the spread of the alarm. Munro’s guards were the initial alarm riders; Francis Brown might be the only one named as both a parsonage guard (per Canavan) and an alarm rider (per John Munroe Jr.), but who else was there?
With most of Munroe’s men deployed, the rest moved to the common. Tidd spotted Micah standing there and thought of Malt Lane, with a house or two no rider had been assigned to rouse. A small job for a small boy.
Tidd sent Micah running.
[1] Hudson 1868, G.R., p151: Jonas Munroe family. Ebenezer’s father died 1765. His mother remarried John Muzzy in 1773. Ebenezer had three older brothers still living, all married, and three sisters, one married. Perhaps the two sisters lived with him, perhaps others as well.
[2] Canavan, Vol 1, p121: In 1775, John Buckman owned the late Jonas Munroe’s house, though Ebenezer’s mother still had her widow’s thirds in it. Canavan says “I think she was still living there” even though she had remarried. Either way, her unmarried children could have.
Sources:
Canavan, Michael J.: The Canavan Papers in Three Volumes, 1912
Hudson, Charles: History of the Town of Lexington, 1868, Two parts, Town History and Genealogical Register (G.R.), with pages numbered separately.
Phinney, Elias: History of the Battle at Lexington, 1825
The Lexington Fight 