John Raymond Memorial

This bronze plaque, placed in a stone outside Munroe Tavern, honors John Raymond, a citizen of Lexington who was killed at that location on April 19, 1775.

While the drama of Raymond’s death has been retold and embellished throughout the years, tavern owner William Munroe wrote that he, “left his house in the care of a lame man, by the name of Raymond,” while British forces rested and recuperated there on April 19th. Munroe stated simply that, “Afterward, when [Raymond] was leaving the house, he was shot by the regulars and found dead within a few rods of the house.”

The monument was erected by the Lexington Historical Society and dedicated on September 25, 2011, during the ceremony for the formal reopening of the Munroe Tavern after extensive refurbishment and reinterpretation.

Its inscription reads:

John Raymond

On April 19, 1775 the British Regulars occupied
Munroe Tavern during their retreat from Concord
through Lexington toward Boston. John Raymond,
a member of Captain Parker's Company, although
unarmed, was shot and killed as he attempted to
leave the tavern. He became the tenth citizen of
Lexington to die at the hands of the Redcoats that
day, leaving behind his widow Rebecca and five
children under the age of twelve, the youngest not
quite two years of age.