Captain Joseph Guild represented Dedham, Massachusetts in the Great and General Court. [1] He was also town clerk for a total of four years, having first been elected in 1773. [2] Additionally, he served seven terms as selectman, with his first election in 1768. [3]
On the morning of April 19, 1775, a messenger came "down the Needham road" with news about the battle in Lexington. Guild 'gagged a croaker' who said the news was false and in an hour" [4] the "men of Dedham, even the old men, received their minister's blessing and went forth, in such numbers that scarce one male between sixteen and seventy was left at home." [5] Aaron Guild, a captain in the British Army during the French and Indian War, was plowing his fields in South Dedham (today Norwood) when he heard of the battle. He immediately "left plough in furrow [and] oxen standing" to set forth for the conflict, arriving in time to fire upon the retreating British. [6]
References
- ^ Worthington 1827, pp. 106–107.
- ^ Worthington 1827, p. 79.
- ^ Worthington 1827, p. 79-81.
- ^ Abbott 1903, pp. 290–297.
- ^ Bancroft, George (1912). History of the United States of America, from the Discovery of the Continent [to 1789]. D. Appleton. p. 164. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ^ From the Aaron Guild Memorial Stone, dedicated in 1903, which stands outside the Norwood public library and reads: "Near this spot/ Capt. Aaron Guild/ On April 19, 1775/ left plow in furrow, oxen standing/ and departing for Lexington/ arrived in time to fire upon/ the retreating British".
Works cited
- Abbott, Katharine M. (1903). Old Paths And Legends Of New England (PDF). New York: The Knickerbocker Press. pp. 290–297. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
- Worthington, Erastus (1827). The History of Dedham: From the Beginning of Its Settlement, in September 1635, to May 1827. Dutton and Wentworth. p. 1. Retrieved August 25, 2019.