Cambridge Grant Historic District - Revolutionary Period

Revolutionary Period

The Adams and Russell families were closely connected to Revolutionary figures in Menotomy and Lexington. Joanna Munroe, wife of first settler John Adams (later known as the Centenarian), was the sister of Ebenezer Munroe, a Minuteman who may have fired the first shot on the British on Lexington green, April 19, 1775 in the Battles of Lexington and Concord. and of Isaac Munroe, who was slain by the British that day. Ebenezer Munroe later removed to Ashburnham. Early settler Thomas Russell (a nephew of John Adams) was a second cousin of Jason Russell, owner of the Jason Russell House, who was killed in his kitchen in Menotomy by enraged British regulars on their return to Boston following their engagement at Concord.

Shortly after the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the first settlers were joined by Ethan Wetherbee and his wife, Lucretia Adams, a sister of John Adams the Centenarian. Wetherbee had been keeper of the Black Horse Tavern in Menotomy, where the Massachusetts Committee of Safety and Committee of Supplies had met; by locking the tavern door he had saved Charles Lee, Azor Orne and Elbridge Gerry from capture by British troops passing through on their way to Concord on the night of April 18–19, 1775.