By Elaine Marie Cooper
Last May was a rare pleasure for this author: I was the
guest speaker at the Jason Russell House (Smith Museum) in Arlington,
Massachusetts, to discuss my latest release, Fields of the Fatherless. This novel, based on a true story, is set in
the very home in which I spoke. It is difficult to describe the many emotions
that pulsed through my heart as I visited my hometown and relived the story in
front of an audience. What a joy!
Not only was I able to revisit my hometown but I spent the
day after the event visiting the landmarks of the story. Let me share some of
the sites through the photos I took, along with quotes taken from Fields of
the Fatherless.
“Always remember—this land you’re standin’ on was settled by
my great-grandfather. Russells have sweat over this soil for many a year. A
musket can ensure it remains our home. No matter the intentions of any other.”
Several British soldiers ran off through a field toward Spy
Pond but were shot at by several of the elderly local men who had been exempted
from joining the Minutemen.
“David Lamson.” Betsy said the old man’s name in disbelief
as she watched him and the other veterans regroup and stare at the carnage.
Several of the men hauled the carcasses of the dead horses
away from the road and others pulled the supply-laden British wagons down into
a hollow just off the road.
Workers at the burying ground dug one huge grave for all
twelve men. There was little time to prepare hand-sewn shrouds or wooden boxes
in which to lay the bodies. There was a war to prepare for.
Betsy determined to bring flowers once a week to the graves
of the buried British soldiers who had died in Menotomy. There were at least 40
of them.
Elizabeth Russell died in 1786 at the age of sixty-five. She
is buried next to her husband, Jason, in the old burying ground.
More soldiers—both American and British— died in Menotomy
Village (now called Arlington) on that day than all the other towns between
Concord and Boston.
Thank you for touring the town of Arlington, Massachusetts, known during the American Revolution as Menotomy Village.
Elaine Marie Cooper is the author of the award-winning, Fields of the Fatherless. For more information, you can visit her website here.
