April 19th Muster Plaque

On April 19, 1900, at 2:00 PM, the Town of Shirley held a ceremony to recognize and honor the local Patriots who fought against the British at Lexington and Concord that day 125 years prior. Two memorials were dedicated that day; a large boulder with a bronze tablet near the Shirley Center Cemetery and a large bronze plaque mounted to the exterior wall of the nearby Shirley Meeting House.

Before listing the names of the eighty men who marched from Shirley on April 19, 1775, the plaque reads:

MUSTER ROLL OF CAP’T HENRY HASKELL’S COMPANY
IN COL. JAMES PRESCOTT’S REGIMENT WHO MARCHED
FROM SHIRLEY ON THE ALARM APRIL 19 1775

The unveiling of the memorials took place at the Shirley Meeting House where on June 26, 1776 residents voted at town meeting to support independence from Great Britain. For the ceremony, the church was decorated with flags and flowers and guests were escorted to their seats by four “young lady” ushers to the accompaniment of organ music. Following introductory remarks, a blessing and the singing of America, historian Abram English Brown of Bedford delivered an historical address.

In his address, Brown placed the events of April 19, 1775 within context detailing the events that led to that day. He told how the residents of Shirley had sent loads of grain and farm produce by ox to the "starving poor" of Boston during the British embargo of 1775, as well as the historic sermons preached from the Hancock bible, a gift to the community from Lydia Hancock, widow of Thomas Hancock and aunt of John Hancock. Coronation, a tune composed by Oliver Holden of Shirley, concluded the indoor exercises.