Hayward Well Monument

The Hayward Well Monument honors James Hayward, a minute man from Acton who fought under the command of Captain Isaac Davis. Hayward was among the colonial forces that pursued the retreating British regulars from Concord’s North Bridge into Lexington, where Hayward fell in battle. According to the monument’s inscription, the young man offered some bold words during an exchange with the British soldier who shot him:

AT THIS WELL
APRIL 19 1775
JAMES HAYWARD OF ACTON
MET A BRITISH SOLDIER
WHO RAISING HIS GUN SAID
YOU ARE A DEAD MAN
AND SO ARE YOU REPLIED HAYWARD
BOTH FIRED THE SOLDIER
WAS INSTANTLY KILLED
& HAYWARD MORTALLY WOUNDED

While difficult to know how much of this story is embellished, it has become a part of patriotic folklore.

Originally buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Acton, Hayward’s remains were reinterred in the Isaac Davis Monument on Acton’s town common in 1851.