Old Men of Menotomy Marker

The Old Men of Menotomy Marker commemorates the group of twelve “old men” considered unfit for military duty, who met at Cooper’s Tavern in what is now Arlington and formulated a plan to capture a British convoy carrying supplies to Lexington on April 19, 1775.

Led by David Lamson, a Patriot of African and Native American descent described by Revolutionary War historian John Bell in a March 11, 2020 blog post titled, “David Lamson: A Middle-Aged Man of Menotomy,” as, “a man of undoubted bravery and determination," the “Old Men of Menotomy” hid behind a bank wall of earth and stones and ambushed the British as they approached.

According to George Quintal in the 2004 National Park Service study Patriots of Color, Lamson was likely born circa 1740 and served in the French and Indian War. Thus, as Bell further notes, he was exempt from militia training not because of his age, but on account of his skin color.

The marker, which was installed in 1878, reads:

AT THIS SPOT
ON APRIL 19, 1775
THE OLD MEN OF MENOTOMY
CAPTURED A CONVOY OF
EIGHTEEN SOLDIERS WITH SUPPLIES
ON ITS WAY TO JOIN
THE BRITISH AT LEXINGTON.