Luther and Calvin Blanchard Memorial Stone
Location: 139 Prospect Street
The memorial stone reads:
FROM THIS FARM WENT CALVIN AND LUTHER BLANCHARD TO CONCORD FIGHT AND BUNKER HILL. SONS OF SIMON BLANCHARD WHO WAS KILLED AT THE BATTLE OF QUEBEC 1759. LUTHER WAS THE FIRST MAN HIT BY A BRITISH BALL AT THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE AND DIED IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY A FEW MONTHS LATER.
On the back of the stone:
ERECTED 1895 BY LUKE BLANCHARD GRANDSON OF CALVIN
FROM THIS FARM WENT CALVIN AND LUTHER BLANCHARD TO CONCORD FIGHT AND BUNKER HILL. SONS OF SIMON BLANCHARD WHO WAS KILLED AT THE BATTLE OF QUEBEC 1759. LUTHER WAS THE FIRST MAN HIT BY A BRITISH BALL AT THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE AND DIED IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY A FEW MONTHS LATER.
On the back of the stone:
ERECTED 1895 BY LUKE BLANCHARD GRANDSON OF CALVIN
Luke Blanchard was born in a part of Littleton that later became Boxborough. He and his brother were living at the home of Abner Hosmer 's father and learning his trade at the time of the Concord battle. The brothers and Abner Hosmer left from the Hosmer farm whose location is marked by the stone. Luther Blanchard served as fifer for Isaac Davis' Company and was the first hit at the battle of the North Bridge in Concord. He did not think his wound serious at first, but eventually died from its effects. (There is some confusion about when exactly he died.) Calvin also served at the Battle of Bunker Hill and in Quebec. A stone across the street commemorates the location of Deacon Jonathan Hosmer's home where the Blanchard brothers were living as apprentices.
This stone was dedicated on Patriots' Day, April 19, 1895.
For more information about the marker and the dedication ceremony, see:
Hudson, Alfred. Commemorative of Calvin and Luther Blanchard. West Acton, MA: Luke Blanchard, 1899.
Porter, Edward G. "Commemoration at Acton," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Series 2, Volume 10, 1895-1896, pages 188-193. Reprinted as a booklet "Memorial Stones Dedicated by The Town of Acton, April 19, 1895", Cambridge: John Wilson and Son, 1895.
Phalen, Harold. History of the Town of Acton. Cambridge, MA: Middlesex Printing Inc., 1954. Page 175
Concord Enterprise, April 18, 1895, page 4.
"Honor Paid," Boston Post. April 20, 1895, pages 1 and 5.
See also:
Fletcher, James. Acton in History, Compiled for the Middlesex County History, Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co., 1890. Page 256 discussed Luther Blanchard and called for a monument for him in Acton.
This stone was dedicated on Patriots' Day, April 19, 1895.
For more information about the marker and the dedication ceremony, see:
Hudson, Alfred. Commemorative of Calvin and Luther Blanchard. West Acton, MA: Luke Blanchard, 1899.
Porter, Edward G. "Commemoration at Acton," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Series 2, Volume 10, 1895-1896, pages 188-193. Reprinted as a booklet "Memorial Stones Dedicated by The Town of Acton, April 19, 1895", Cambridge: John Wilson and Son, 1895.
Phalen, Harold. History of the Town of Acton. Cambridge, MA: Middlesex Printing Inc., 1954. Page 175
Concord Enterprise, April 18, 1895, page 4.
"Honor Paid," Boston Post. April 20, 1895, pages 1 and 5.
See also:
Fletcher, James. Acton in History, Compiled for the Middlesex County History, Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co., 1890. Page 256 discussed Luther Blanchard and called for a monument for him in Acton.