Martha Moulton. Well, I’m glad to know her name. She must have been something. All I’ve ever heard was that it was an old woman who harangued the Redcoats that day.
Well, she was 71 and a widow.
A portion of the Army that entered Concord on the morning of April 19, 1775 was assigned to search the town for implements of war. There wasn’t much to be found. But the Redcoats searched the houses and brought any "implements" into the center of town and threw it on the pile. Even wooden plates – you know, the plates that were used on the supper table – were dangerous. You know, they could be used to, what, feed a member of the militia?
Anyway, when there was a big enough pile, the Redcoats set the pile ablaze. It wasn’t long before the flames spread to the Concord meeting house.
And this is where Mrs. Martha Moulton comes on stage. She approaches the Redcoats and asks them if their mission was to burn their town down. They replied that that was not their mission. She insisted that the soldiers help the towns people put the flames out and save the meeting house. They did so.
But not before the Militia and Minutemen up on Punkatasset Hill saw the smoke. The rest, as they say, is history.