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I do apologize for the quality of this shot of Captain John Parker’s monument; he deserves better.
Actually he also deserves more accuracy than his graveyard inscription affords. Captain John didn’t command the Minute Men at Lexington Green: none were there. He commanded the Lexington Militia. The Town had no Minute Company, mainly on account of the high regard in which they held their Captain.

In October of 1774, the Provincial Congress saw fit to direct each town to set apart 20 or 30% of its youngest, most active militia members as a Minute Company, on the model of the King’s light infantry, and also to divide its militia into smaller Companies, each with a Captain.
In true New England style, each Town then met to decide what it wanted to do about Congress’ directive. Lexington declared that John Parker was all the Captain they desired, and that they felt no need for a Minute Company. So they never had one, and Parker commanded the entire Militia on April 19. It only adds to his valor on that famous day that he was already a dying man; before the end of the year, he joined the Martyrs in this Ground.

We are honored to tie into Captain Parker’s large family, via the Munroes, by a veritable tangle of Lexington marriages.
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