Area woman's ancestors at 'Alarm'

     Bicentennial events of this year have more than passing interest for an Elmwood woman.
     Mrs. Frank Springer's great-great great-grandfather Henry Nelson was there when it all started more than 200 years ago.
     According to records in Mrs. Springer's possession, Nelson was listed on rolls of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War.
     It was on a clear Wednesday morning, April 19, 1775, when the British marching toward Concord first were confronted by patriots on the green at Lexington, where the first shots of the War of Independence were fired.

Served parts of 7 years

     Before the war scaled down after the British loss at Yorktown in 1782, Nelson would spend parts of seven years listed on Revolutionary rolls.
     Mrs. Springer and members of her family traced participation of Nelson and his father Josiah nelson through records kept my Massachusetts.
     Fortunately, she noted, Massachusetts kept some of the best records of any of the 13 colonies during this period in history.
     At Lexington, a number of minutemen - estimates vary from 79 to 200 - had gathered to challenge the British march toward Concord where they had hoped to destroy a large store of patriot arms and powder.

First defenders had retired

     First reports were the British were not coming toward Lexington and Captain Jonas Parker dismissed his men. Some returned home and some remained at Buckman's tavern.
     However, as rays of sunlight started to appear, a horseman galloped to Lexington and told Parker the British were coming.
     His drummer, 16-year old William Diamond, pounded out a call to arms, but Parker was only able to muster a portion of his men.
     In the meantime, word of the British move toward Concord had spread and minutemen left their plows, grabbed their muskets and headed toward Lexington and Concord.
     It was probably with this group that Nelson hurried off to the call to arms because he was from Mendon, about 20 miles from Lexington.
     "We knew through our family research that the Nelsons were wagon makers and farmers," Mrs. Springer said while looking over a family genealogy.
     A history of the Mill River-Mendon Revolutionaries carried the following comments: "Its municipal population…..kindled the beacon-fires of liberty; re-echoed the protests against British usurpation; held public meetings in behalf of endangered rights; organized a committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety; and equipped no less than four companies of minutemen, two of which were mainly in our precinct…"
     Family history notes Josiah Nelson, listed as a member of the Fourth Company of Mendon in the history of that village, may have been one of the first casualties of the war. Mrs. Springer said. He was en route to Lexington when the British column marched by and one of the soldiers slashed him across the leg with his bayonet, she said.

Awaited British arrival

     At Lexington, for some reason unknown to historians, Capt. Parker spread his men across the village green on the road to Concord. They were easy targets in this position. As the clock neared six that morning, the British advance party of about 200 men led by Major John Pitcairn of the Royal Marines arrived.
     Accounts of the first armed confrontation note that after looking over the roughly clad minutemen with their odd assortment of muskets and equipment, Pitcairn and his officers were angered at the tough resistance to the crown.
     Pitcairn demanded they disperse and ordered his men to load, Parker did likewise.

"Let it start here"

     The patriots were ordered to surrender their weapons and disperse. Parker, recognizing his men might be surrounded by the British, told his men to retire but at the same time, someone fired a shot, a shot that has been debated since as to which side fired it. Today it makes little difference, because the war's first dead were recorded before 7 o'clock that morning.
     When British officers were able to halt the shooting, eight of the Lexington militia lay dead and nine more were wounded.
     The lone British casualty was one wounded soldier. In less than an hour, the British resumed their march to Concord, leaving the patriots at Lexington to care for the first dead and wounded of the war.
     At 7 a.m. the British headed toward Concord where a large number of minutemen were gathering.

Redcoats harassed by patriots

     After searching, looting and burning a number of buildings, the Redcoats started back to Boston, only to be harassed along the entire route by Minutemen using tactics unfamiliar to the British, such as hiding behind trees and stone fences, firing, taking cover to reload, then firing again.
     Minutemen started pursuit at Concord by crossing the bridge into town. Here the first three British soldiers were killed.
     The British regrouped in the Commons and during the several hour delay, more Minutemen were answering the alarm and heading for Lexington and Concord.

Minutemen make stand

     Some of the Redcoats on the flanks looted houses as they passed by. They didn't meet opposition until the bridge near Meriam's corners. Here hidden the Minutemen fired shot after shot.
     Patriots assaulted the British the rest of the way back to Boston. Only reinforcements from Boston managed to save the British soldiers that day.
     The British stayed at Lexington until 1,200 men under Earl Percey joined them.
     Even then, Minutemen numbers swelled as the Redcoats retreated. There was bitter fighting, especially at the outskirts of Cambridge.

Heavy losses for both sides.

     Losses on the 19th of April 1775, were heavy for both sides. The British lost 273 men and the Americans 95. But the main factor was the patriots showed ability to stand against well-trained troops.
     The Lexington Alarm Rolls, Vol. 12, p 162 reads: "Henry Nelson--Appears with rank of Private on Lexington Alarm roll of Capt. William Jennison's company of Minutemen, which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, from Mendon to Cambridge and Roxbury, Town to which soldier belonged, Mendon. Length of service, 9 days. Reported enlisted into the Army."
     Mrs. Springer's family traced her genealogy to Nelson's daughter, Elizabeth nelson, who married Samuel Doughty. Their son, Edward Doughty, moved to the Midwest and settled in the Maxville area in Buffalo County. Elizabeth Nelson Doughty is buried in Maxwell Cemetery and Daughters of the American Revolution noted the gravesite in a ceremony May 31, 1931, according to newspaper records.

Father was doctor at Eau Galle

     Edward Doughty was a circuit rider and his son, William, a Methodist minister in the Maiden Rock and Eau Galle areas. William was Mrs. Springer's grandfather, with whom she made her home after her mother died when Mrs. Springer was three years old.
     Mrs. Springer's father was Dr. P.H. Doughty, a doctor for about 20 years in the Eau Galle area. Mrs. Springer's husband, Frank, was a banker at Elmwood for 55 years. Their son Frank is a doctor at Elmwood and last year received national recognition when he informed researchers of the adult leukemia pocket at Elmwood.
     Mrs. Springer's other son, Joseph, also a doctor, has worked abroad and spent considerable time with the USS Hope, a hospital ship, with a primary goal of teaching native doctors and technicians. He also served with a children's hospital in Vietnam and worked as a volunteer doctor in Mississippi.
     Mrs. Dorothy Estes, San Diego, a daughter, has a son James who is currently working on a joint biological research project with Russian scientists.
     Family records kept by Mrs. Springer and other relatives note Henry Nelson was a participant in action when General "Mad" Anthony Wayne stormed the British Fort at Stoney Point in July, 1779.
     Massachusetts' records note at that time Nelson was a member of the Continental Army, serving with Col. Bailey's regiment, and had been promoted to ensign.
     Mrs. Springer noted from family history that when Wayne had asked for volunteers on a rainy night, the entire regiment stepped forward to cut down the enemy pickets.
     The record notes the soldiers crossed at a difficult point and the water was so deep they had to carry their muskets over their heads. History adds that Wayne's action kept the British off guard and prevented them from assaulting a weakened George Washington-led-force.
     Enlistment periods varied, with Nelson's service during the Lexington Alarm being nine days.
     A few weeks later he served for three months and then served for two years, from 1778 to 1780, a period during which he appeared with the rank of sergeant. The record shows he was at Camp Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-80.
     By the war's end in 1782, nelson had moved from ensign to quartermaster and on his last item in the rolls, was recommended for a lieutenancy while serving with the 2nd Massachusetts regiment.

Some relatives on opposite side

     Some of Mrs. Springer's relatives were on opposite sides during the Revolutionary Wars. She reports the Doughtys were apparently Tories, while the Nelsons obviously were on the other side.
     History of the Town of Milford, formerly Mendon, written in 1882 said, "July 9, 1834, Henry Nelson Jr. applied for county land which was due on account of the service of his father, Lt. Henry Nelson, in the Revolutionary War. He applied in behalf of himself and other children and their heirs."
     Names given include a daughter, Elizabeth Nelson Doughty. Elizabeth's husband was Samuel Doughty, who died in 1833.
     "I don't know how the Nelson and Doughtys met," Mrs. Springer said. Both families are of English descent and her family traced them back into English history. A Thomas Nelson emigrated from England in 1638 and it's believed spent the winter at Salem, Mass.
     The family has also traced the Doughtys back to England.
     Although the Doughty name has passed from the scene in this area, there are still a number of persons who are ancestors of the Elizabeth Nelson-Samuel Doughty marriage living in the Menomonie and Fall Creek areas.

--Arnie Hoffman

Extracted from the Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Special Publication, Our Story 'The Chippewa Valley and Beyond', published 1976
Used with permission.