Vincent Rojo, Nutfield Genealogy
In Part 1 of this saga, I told you the history of Will Munroe and Munroe Tavern on April 19th, 1775. I also told you that the Tavern, which is still standing and has recently been refurbished, is now a Museum to the Redcoats. It still hurts me to say it.
The Tavern was donated to the Lexington Historical Society in the early 1900’s by the Munroe family. All these years, it’s been a showcase of the treasure of the Munroe family in Lexington. In 1789, George Washington dined there. The chair he sat in and the china he ate on were preserved and shown there in the Tavern.
Then, a few years ago, the Tavern was remodeled. The Munroe family treasures were packed away under lock and key and the tavern was, as the Historical Society termed it “rebranded.” And in an absolutely insulting move of political correctness, the tavern that operated in a town that had no Tories whatsoever, has become the “Museum of the British Redcoats.”
There, on display are some original Red Coats and the pistols belonging to Major Pitcairn. Those pistols may well have fired the first shot on Lexington Green as Pitcairn screamed wildly “Disburse ye damned rebels. Lay down your weapons and disburse!”
A member of the Munroe family, Heather Wilkinson Rojo, in her family blog likens this to building a mosque on the site of 9-11. I don’t disagree. She goes on to say that she has to now make an appointment to see any of her family heirlooms there at the Tavern as they are secured out of sight. Her point is well taken that two hours of occupation by the British Regulars trumps centuries of Munroe family history. “They are re-writing history.”
I’m with you Heather. This is outrageous and shameful. If they wanted a Museum to give tribute to the Redcoats of April 19th, they could have put it anywhere. Putting it there, in Will and Anna Munroe’s home, in a place where the Redcoats murdered John Raymond in cold blood, where George Washington dined in tribute to the sacrifices of his countrymen, is a slap in the face.
Them’s fighing’ words, as we say out West.
Here are links of interest: