{"id":451,"date":"2024-10-28T17:00:34","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T17:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/s2.designcostaging.com\/clients\/mmm\/?post_type=monuments&p=451"},"modified":"2024-11-13T13:41:13","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T13:41:13","slug":"isaac-davis-monument","status":"publish","type":"monuments","link":"https:\/\/s2.designcostaging.com\/clients\/mmm\/monuments\/isaac-davis-monument\/","title":{"rendered":"Isaac Davis Monument"},"content":{"rendered":"

Standing on Acton\u2019s town common, a seventy-five-foot granite obelisk commemorates Revolutionary War hero Captain Isaac Davis, the first officer to fall at the Concord fight. It also honors two of Davis\u2019s fellow militia men: Abner Hosmer, also killed at Concord<\/a>, and James Hayward, who was mortally wounded in Lexington<\/a> during the British retreat.<\/p>\n

Believing that Davis, Hosmer, and Hayward were \u201cdeserving of a better fame than history has usually afforded them, and a more commanding and enduring structure than ordinary slabs of slate to tell the story of their martyrdom,\u201d the citizens of Acton<\/a> voted on November 11, 1850, to erect the monument in their honor. A committee was appointed to choose a site and solicit financial support from Congress and the State Legislature. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts appropriated $2,000.00 for construction while the Town of Acton contributed $500.00.<\/p>\n

The monument was built of granite quarried from Acton, and Davis<\/a>, Hosmer<\/a>, and Hayward<\/a> were reinterred there in 1851 from their original resting places in Acton\u2019s Woodlawn Cemetery<\/a>. A vault atop an arched Romanesque pedestal at the monument\u2019s base contains their remains, each marked with their original slate gravestones.<\/p>\n

The cornerstone was laid on August 20, 1851, followed by a formal dedication ceremony on October 29th. The dedication was described by historian James Fletcher as a, \u201cday to be remembered by every loyal citizen of the town; indeed, by everyone present true to the flag of the Union.\u201d An elaborate affair, it featured a military escort and civic procession to move the bodies from the cemetery to the town center where orations, poems, and speeches by a series of “distinguished gentlemen,\u201d including Governor Boutwell, took place. Five thousand people are said to have attended the ceremony and a dinner, held in a patriotically decorated tent, accommodated one thousand people.<\/p>\n

Admired for its beauty, simplicity and impressiveness, the monument is capped with a 25-foot-tall flagpole. In the dedication\u2019s closing words Governor Boutwell remarked, \u201cHere its base shall rest, and its apex point to the Heavens through the coming centuries. Though it bears the name of humble men and commemorates services stern rather than brilliant, it shall be as immortal as American history.\u201d<\/p>\n

On April 19, 1900, the Town of Concord presented a steppingstone from the causeway of the North Bridge, where Davis purportedly fell, to the Town of Acton. It was set into the earthen mounds on which the Isaac Davis Monument stands.<\/p>\n

The inscription on the monument reads:<\/p>\n

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS,
\n& THE TOWN OF ACTON<\/p>\n

COOPERATING TO PERPETUATE THE FAME
\nOF GLORIOUS DEEDS OF PATRIOTISM, HAVE
\nERECTED THIS MONUMENT IN HONOR OF<\/p>\n

CAPT. ISAAC DAVIS,
\n& PRIVATES ABNER HOSMER & JAMES HAYWARD,<\/p>\n

CITIZEN-SOLDIERS OF ACTON & PROVINCIAL MINUTE
\nMEN WHO FELL IN CONCORD FIGHT THE 19TH OF APRIL
\nA.D. 1775.<\/p>\n

ON THE MORNING OF THAT EVENTFUL DAY THE
\nPROVINCIAL OFFICERS HELD A COUNCIL OF
\nWAR NEAR THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE IN
\nCONCORD & AS THEY SEPARATED, DAVIS EXCLAIMED,<\/p>\n

“I HAV’NT A MAN THAT IS AFRAID TO GO”
\n& IMMEDIATELY MARCHED HIS COMPANY FROM THE
\nLEFT TO THE RIGHT OF THE LINE, & LED IN THIS
\nFIRST ORGANIZED ATTACK UPON THE
\nTROOPS OF GEORGE III IN THAT MEMORABLE WAR,
\nWHICH, BY THE HELP OF GOD, MADE THE
\nTHIRTEEN COLONIES INDEPENDENT OF GREAT
\nBRITAIN & GAVE POLITICAL BEING TO THE<\/p>\n

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.<\/p>\n

ACTON AP. 19TH 1851.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 75-foot obelisk commemorates \u201cthe fame of glorious deeds of patriotism\u201d of the first officer to fall at the Concord fight and fellow militiamen James Hayward and Abner Hosmer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-451","monuments","type-monuments","status-publish","hentry","city_town-acton-ma"],"acf":{"banner_image":1548,"listing_thumbnail":1555,"listing_thumbnail_caption":" ","year":"1851","location":"Town Common, Acton, MA","address":"Town Common","time_period":"1825 - 1874","town":"Acton, MA","state":"MA","gallery":[{"image":1548,"caption":"","image_layout":"Landscape","content":"\u201cIsaac Davis\u2019 Monument, Acton, Mass.\" Card. N. J. Cole, So. Acton, Mass., Date unknown. Acton Memorial Library.<\/em><\/a>"},{"image":1542,"caption":"","image_layout":"Portrait","content":""},{"image":761,"caption":"","image_layout":"Landscape","content":""},{"image":1934,"caption":"","image_layout":"Portrait","content":""},{"image":1936,"caption":"","image_layout":"Portrait","content":""},{"image":1935,"caption":"","image_layout":"Landscape","content":""}],"one_sentence_description":"","display_on_story_page":"Yes","status":"Active","latitude":"42.485578035770246","longitude":"-71.43337605296986","map_url":""},"yoast_head":"\nIsaac Davis Monument - Monuments Memorials & Markers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Isaac Davis Monument - Monuments Memorials & Markers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 75-foot obelisk commemorates \u201cthe fame of glorious deeds of patriotism\u201d of the first officer to fall at the Concord fight and fellow militiamen James Hayward and Abner Hosmer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/s2.designcostaging.com\/clients\/mmm\/monuments\/isaac-davis-monument\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Monuments Memorials & Markers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-13T13:41:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/s2.designcostaging.com\/clients\/mmm\/monuments\/isaac-davis-monument\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s2.designcostaging.com\/clients\/mmm\/monuments\/isaac-davis-monument\/\",\"name\":\"Isaac Davis Monument - 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