Fiske Hill on Battle Road

The Battle Road Trail

The Battle Road Trail is a five-mile trail connecting historic sites from Meriam’s Corner in Concord to the eastern boundary

of the park in Lexington. Much of the trail follows the original remnants of the Battle Road: Where thousands of Colonial Militia

and British Regulars fought a bloody engagement on April 19, 1775. In some areas, the trail leaves the historic road to follow

the route of the Minute Men traversing farming fields, wetlands, and forests.

Aside from its significance as a hallowed battlefield, the trail is known for its scenic beauty, biodiversity, and natural resources.

Home to the Fiske family since 1647, this hill saw intense fighting during the opening battle of the American Revolution. On April 19, 1775 fighting between Colonial Militia and British Regulars spilled over the crest of Fiske Hill including through the Fiske farm. When the fighting ended the dead and dying lay strew across the landscape and local resident Rebecca Fiske remember coming home to find a dead British Soldier near her doorstep and three wounded men laying within her home.

The Bluff - where British troops tried to reassemble on their retreat to Boston. The Bluff is a sharp outcrop of rocks created by dramatic geological forces millions of years ago. On April 19, 1775 British soldiers fought a short rearguard action from this high, wooded overlook during their retreat to Boston.

The Jacob Whittemore House, 1716

Located on the Bay Road in Lexington, this house was home to Jacob and Elizabeth Whittemore as well as their daughter, Sarah, her husband, Moses Reed, and their three small children in 1775. Neither Jacob nor Moses fought with the Lexington militia on April 19th, although Jacob had trained with it and Moses would volunteer for other Revolutionary War campaigns. Instead, Jacob and Moses carried Sarah Whittemore Reed, who was still recovering from the birth of her third child 18 days earlier, and her children to the relative safety of a nearby woodlot just before the battle reached their home. To the west of the house, Captain John Parker led the Lexington militia in engaging the retreating British Regulars. The Whittemore family lived in the house from the time of its construction in 1716-1718 by Jacob’s father, Nathaniel, until 1780 when it was sold by the family.

Watertown Mass Direct Ancestors

Glen's GGrandfather Isaac Stearns 1596-19 June 1671 - family search #MYZN-R1Y

owned the Pequossette Meadow in Watertown and much property around it.

It has now been made into a city park.

Click on - Isaac Stearns (1596–1671) | Person | Family Tree | FamilySearch

Isaac was born in England about 1595, married Mary Barker there in 1622 and

subsequently came to New England, arriving in June, 1630, with his wife, three

children and nephew Charles. He is reported as a passenger on the Arabella,

the admiral of the 11 ships in the fleet of governor John Winthrop.

Sir Richard Saltonstall and other notables and their families were also on that ship.

The first four of the fleet sailed from Yarmouth, England in April, 1630, followed

in May by the remaining seven ships of the fleet. The list can be found at and settled in

Watertown near M... Auburn. He was admitted Freeman 18 May 1631 which is the

earliest date of any such admission, and he was selectman several years."

In 1647 he and Mr. Bisco were appointed by the Selectmen to consider how the bridge

over the river shall be built, and to agree with the workmen for workmen for doing it,

according to the best discretion. This is, says Dr. Francis in his history, "the first

mention of a bridge over the Charles River at Watertown." - in Walt Chamberlin,

Los Alamos, NM's book by his mom: The Record of My Ancestry The Stetson - Perkins Family

by Katharine Beecher Stetson Chamberlin, Pasadena 1961, page 20.

He was one of the largest landowners in Watertown. "His homestall was in the part of Watertown (now Belmont) near the Pequeset Meadow. He bought another that he gave to
his son Samuel."

Pequossette Park

Another view of Pequossette Park

Founders of Watertown Mass. Glen has several GGrandparents that were founders of Watertown.

Statue to the founders of Watertown Mass.

Isaac Stearns (1596–1671) | Person | Family Tree | FamilySearch
See information on Isaac Stearns in the above information for Peqossette Park

Capt Richard Beers (1607–1675) | Person | Family Tree | FamilySearch
Glen Parker's GGrandfather
Captain Richard Beers, or Beeres, was the son of John Bere and Mary Selby and the husband of Elizabeth _____. He emigrated on the 'William and John' to America in 1635 and became a freeman on 16 Mar 1637 in Watertown, Middlesex, MA. He was an important man in Watertown, serving as selectman nearly every year from 1644 to 1675, and as representative for thirteen years. He served in the Pequot War. He was also an innkeeper. He was a captain in King Philip's War. On Sept. 4, 1675, he was leading 36 mounted soldiers near Northfield when he was ambushed by 150 Indians, led by Nashaway sachem, Monoco. In the fight, Capt Beers and nineteen of his soldiers were killed. Sixteen soldiers managed to escape and return to Hadley. Also killed in the ambush were: John Genery, Ephraim Child, Benjamin Crackbone, Joseph Dickinson, William Markham, George Lycuss, John Gatchell, James Miller, John Wilson, Thomas Cornish, Jeremiah Morrell, Elisha Woodward, and James Mullard. The names of the other dead are not known.

Schultz and Tougias’ excellent volume King Philip’s War761 gives a detailed account of the battle, known as Beers’ Ambush, in which Richard Beers was killed. This battle took place 4 September 1675 on the east side of the Connecticut River south of Squakeag (now Northfield). Beers and his company were marching north from Hadley to the aid of Squakeag, which had come under attack two days before. As they descended into a ravine to cross a brook, they were attacked and many of Beers’s men were killed. Beers himself and some of the survivors retreated into another ravine about three-quarters of a mile to the south, but they were attacked again and Beers was killed. With respect to Beers’ gravesite Schultz and Tougias write:762 “A marker on the east side of Route 63 near the Community Bible Church designates the general area of Beers’ last stand. The site of Beers’ grave can be found at the base of the main building of the Linden Hill School near the intersection of South Mountain Road and Lyman Hill Road. A modern stone marker indicated the burial spot. Temple and Sheldon, writing in 1875, provide a glimpse as to how the site was altered before the present stone marker was set.