Francis Barker Memorial Stone
Location: Woodlawn Cemetery, Concord Road, Acton - Revolutionary Section B, Stone 454
The stone reads:
MEMORIAL
FRANCIS BARKER
SOLDIER OF REVOLUTION
1756 1805
HISTORICAL
FRANCIS BARKER AS DRUMMER LUTHER BLANCHARD AS FIFER, PLAYED THE WHITE COCKADE IN CAPT. ISAAC DAVIS CO. OF MINUTE-MEN FROM ACTON THAT LE[A]D FIRST ORGANIZED COLUMN THAT RETURNED FIRE ON TROOPS OF KING GEORGE III AT NORTH BRIDGE CONCORD, MASS. APRIL 19, 1775.
Francis Barker also served as drummer at Bunker Hill in Capt. William Smith's Company (John Nixon's Regiment) and continued serving later in the war. He married Lois Davis, sister of Captain Isaac Davis, in 1777, but she died the next year. Francis Barker survived the war and lived until 1805. His grave was unmarked for nearly a century. A committee of interested citizens (Reuben Law Reed and Augustine Hosmer of the Sons of the Revolution and Arthur V. Hawley, Frank A. Merriam and Dr. Frank E. Tasker representing the Acton Cadet Band) raised money to erect a a monument in his memory in 1903. Fundraising certificates were given to donors; see an illustration below. The granite used, from an Acton farm, was a gift of Isaiah Reed.
For more information about the memorial, fundraising to pay for it, and its dedication, see:
"Drummed for the World," Boston Daily Globe, February 22, 1903 page 6.
"Patriots Day Celebrated," Concord Enterprise, April 22, 1903, page 6.
"For a Tablet," Boston Daily Globe, October 3, 1902, page 7.
For information on Francis Barker, see:
Phalen, Harold. History of the Town of Acton. Cambridge, MA: Middlesex Printing Inc., 1954. Pages 76, 79, 81 and 85.
MEMORIAL
FRANCIS BARKER
SOLDIER OF REVOLUTION
1756 1805
HISTORICAL
FRANCIS BARKER AS DRUMMER LUTHER BLANCHARD AS FIFER, PLAYED THE WHITE COCKADE IN CAPT. ISAAC DAVIS CO. OF MINUTE-MEN FROM ACTON THAT LE[A]D FIRST ORGANIZED COLUMN THAT RETURNED FIRE ON TROOPS OF KING GEORGE III AT NORTH BRIDGE CONCORD, MASS. APRIL 19, 1775.
Francis Barker also served as drummer at Bunker Hill in Capt. William Smith's Company (John Nixon's Regiment) and continued serving later in the war. He married Lois Davis, sister of Captain Isaac Davis, in 1777, but she died the next year. Francis Barker survived the war and lived until 1805. His grave was unmarked for nearly a century. A committee of interested citizens (Reuben Law Reed and Augustine Hosmer of the Sons of the Revolution and Arthur V. Hawley, Frank A. Merriam and Dr. Frank E. Tasker representing the Acton Cadet Band) raised money to erect a a monument in his memory in 1903. Fundraising certificates were given to donors; see an illustration below. The granite used, from an Acton farm, was a gift of Isaiah Reed.
For more information about the memorial, fundraising to pay for it, and its dedication, see:
"Drummed for the World," Boston Daily Globe, February 22, 1903 page 6.
"Patriots Day Celebrated," Concord Enterprise, April 22, 1903, page 6.
"For a Tablet," Boston Daily Globe, October 3, 1902, page 7.
For information on Francis Barker, see:
Phalen, Harold. History of the Town of Acton. Cambridge, MA: Middlesex Printing Inc., 1954. Pages 76, 79, 81 and 85.
Fundraising Certificate for Francis Barker Memorial Stone, Collection of Acton Historical Society