1776 DEED SIGNED BY THREE LEXINGTON MINUTEMEN

Manuscript document. Signed by Joseph White, Joseph Craft, and John Gleason. [Massachusetts], 8 June 1776. 1 page, 8vo, approx. 7 x 8 5/8 in. Remnants of original red wax seals. Handsomely presented in modern mat and frame. 

A remarkable document dated 8 June 1776 that is signed by three (3) Lexington Minutemen who served at the very outset of the Revolutionary conflict. 

The document is a quitclaim deed for a piece of property from the estate of Deacon Ebenezer Davis (1703-1775) to Matthias Collins, a blacksmith of Waltham. The document is signed by Joseph David Craft (1736-1821) and Joseph White (1737-1817), both married to daughters of Deacon Davis. Joseph White married Sarah Davis (b. 1739) in 1762, and Joseph Craft married Elizabeth Davis (1742-1776) the same year. Ebenezer's sons, Ebenezer Davis (1731-1776) and Benjamin Davis (1737-1774), were already deceased, and as such, the probate of his estate was evidently handled by his sons-in-law. Both men answered the Call at Lexington, alongside John Gleason (1746-1827), who also signed this document as a witness. 

Joseph Craft and Joseph White both served in Captain Phinehas Cook's Company, under the command of Captain-Lieutenant John Marean, with Craft serving as First Lieutenant. They marched from Newton to Quarter at Cambridge on 19 April 1776 in response to the Alarm. They were present at the Battle of Lexington and remained on duty for four days following the battle. 

Lieut. Craft would volunteer his military service many more times throughout the Revolutionary War. On 9 December 1776, he commanded a company as a lieutenant and marched them to join Col. Thomas Crafts' regiment at Boston. In 1778, he served as a lieutenant in the Company of Captain Edward Fuller, Col. Thatcher's Regiment, detailed to guard British troops. In 1780, he returned once more to the field, marching his company to reinforce the Continental Army. An active member of his community, he served as a selectman and made hefty donations to the patriot cause, donating £200 on 6 January 1777 to pay soldiers. White also loaned the town of Newton £100 to pay the soldiers in 1777. 

Col. John Gleason was a Sergeant in Captain Micajah Gleason's Company, marching from Framingham on April 19th. Like Craft, he would continue to offer his military service throughout the War. As a Lieutenant, he served in Captain Simon Edgell's Company (Framingham), Col. Samuel Wyllys's regiment, and as an Adjutant in Col. Samuel Bullard's 5th Middlesex Regiment. In 1777, he was a Captain in Col. Josiah Whitney's Regiment that marched to Rhode Island. He was designated a Major in Col. Abner Perry's 5th Middlesex Regiment in 1779, and chosen as a Muster Master for Middlesex County, Massachusetts on 19 February 1781. After the war, he fought for the state during Shay's Rebellion and was referred to from then on as "Colonel." 

Interestingly, the deceased Deacon Ebenezer Davis had served in King George's War (1744-1749), listed on a July 1748 muster roll as a clark with a company of 20 men "sent into the woods under command of Jonathan Whitney Capt. viz. by order of Coll. Samuel Willard" to protect British settlers in the conflict between Canadian Jesuits and English Puritans.

Signed by three men who answered the call of the Lexington Alarm and dated 1776, this document will be a lovely addition to any Revolutionary War collection. 

References

Frank Warren Coburn, compiler. Muster Rolls of the Participating Companies of American Militia and Minute-Men in the Battle of April 19, 1775. N.p.: Eastern National Park & Monument Association, 1995. 

James M. Crafts and William F. Crafts, compilers. The Crafts Family: A Genealogical and Biographical History of the Descendants of Griffin and Alice Craft, of Roxbury, Mass. 1630-1890.  Northampton, Mass.: Gazette Printing Company, 1893. pp. 143-144.  

Henry S. Nourse. The Military Annals of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1740-1865. Lancaster: N.p., 1889. p. 26-27

[American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]

Not examined out of frame. Toning, seapartions, chips at edges.