My dad worked as an Engineer, at Honeywell, in Lexington, Massachusetts, and enamored with the area and its history, cherished Patriots Day. In the 1970’s, whilst much of Boston had plans to attend the Red Sox game or cheer for Boston Marathon runners, we rose Monday morning at 4AM and trekked to Lexington to view the early morning reenactment of the battle on Lexington Green. The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the Revolutionary War, fought within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy [Arlington] and Cambridge. Although dark, typically cold and sometimes rainy, it was always exciting!
The Colonists wished to run their own affairs and sought their independence from England. In an effort to stop this, the Regulars headed for Concord, on the morning of 19 April 1775, with orders to destroy muskets, powder, cannons and provisions stockpiled at Colonel Barrett’s farm. The Red Coats arrived in Lexington at dawn to find the militia gathered on the Green. The British ordered them to lay down their arms and disperse. Then a shot rang out, “the shot heard around the world”, signifying the start of the American Revolution. When the smoke cleared, two were dead and several wounded. Women and children ran to their fallen loved ones as the march continued to Concord [a YouTube video of the reenactment, filmed in 2010 can be found here].
Later, we attended the parade, toured historical homes and snacked.
Turns out, my 5th g-grandfather, William Grout, was engaged in the Lexington Alarm! [click on any image for a larger view]
William Grout was born 25 June 1754 in East Sudbury [now Wayland], Massachusetts to William Grout and Eunice Moore (widow of Samuel Cutting). William was their only known child, as the elder William, age 29, was likely killed in action, during the French & Indian War while part of Captain Dakin’s company in Lake George.
On 20 July 1758, the Indians attacked a group of ten who were scouting. Others from the fort went out to assist; the Indians shot and killed fourteen, including William. The dead were scalped by the Indians and later buried in a mass grave.
Dr. Ebenezer Roby, jr. who was part of the Alarm List (persons between the age of 16 and 60 ordinarily exempt from military duty) that were called to join the First Foot company in Sudbury on 25 April 1757 during the 4th French and Indian war, kept a journal of his service which documents the elder William Grout’s death:
Thursday, 27 [July, 1758]
A warm morning. A smart thunder shower about 11 o’cock, very warm before. I see William Rice who told me that Captain Dakin, Jones and Lawrence, Lieutenant Curtis, William Grout, Jonathan Paterson was killed. A shower in the afternoon. Lodged on straw bed.
Click for full Diary.
The elder William was the grandson of John Grout, the Puritan, born 1616 who immigrated to America in the early 1600’s, and who from 1675 to 1676 saved Sudbury from certain annihilation in King Phillip’s war. Read of him here – “The Original Captain America Save Sudbury” After his heroics in the King Phillip War, Grout was promoted to captain, equal to knighthood in England. Grout was not in the employ of the government and was entitled to pay, but he volunteered his service and received no bounty. he died in 1697 age of 81.
According to g-grandsons Walter Franklin & Wilbur Henry Lansil’s SAR applications, the younger William carried forward his family’s patriotic tradition as part of the Minute Company under the command of Captain Nathaniel Cudworth, in Colonel Abijah Pierce’s regiment, at the Lexington Alarm; he was a private in Captain Thadeus Russell’s company in Colonel Jonathon Brewer’s regiment 1775; in Captain Ashiel Wheeler’s company, Colonel Reed’s regiment 1776 at Ticonderoga; in Captain M. Sawyer’s Company, Colonel Dyke’s regiment 1777-1778; in Captain Seth Newton’s Company, at the Battle of Bunker Hill, Colonel Abijah Stern’s regiment and in Captain William Howe’s Company, Colonel John Rand’s Regiment, 1776, thus serving sixteen months in Revolutionary War times.
Captain Nathaniel Cudworth’s participation in April 1775 is documented in written accounts:
The news spread quickly that men had been killed on the Lexington Green. In Revolutionary Times, this was known as “the Day of the Lexington Alarm”. The alert went out to every Middlesex village and farm, and developed a life of its own, reaching Worcester and Hampshire counties, New Hampshire and Maine. The roads began to fill with minutemen and militiamen, advancing on Concord from many directions.
Sudbury sent several units, one being Captain Nathaniel Cudworth’s, with 40 men, likely one of whom was our William Grout. There is a strong town tradition that Captain Cudworth’s Sudbury Company was heavily engaged on Brook’s Hill [Hudson, Sudbury, 380] and it is also possible that the other six units from Sudbury joined the ambush at Hardy’s [Brook’s] Hill, about a mile from Meriam’s corner, on Wednesday, March 22, 1775 – the fourth day of the Battle.
In 1833, when William applied for a pension he wrote:
“I William Grout of Frankfort in Said County of Waldo [Maine], do hereby on oath further certify that from old age and bodily infirmity I cannot recollect the precise times which I enlisted in the War of the Revolution, but as near as I can recollect my first enlistment was on or about the 19th day of April 1775 with Captain Thadeus Russell and that I served eight months, the term for which I enlisted….”
Grout’s signed pension file tells us:
1. He was born in East Sudbury, Massachusetts in 1754.
2. That he believes his age is recorded at East Sudbury.
3. That he was living at East Sudbury when he enlisted and since the Revolutionary War he lived seven years in Hillsborough [New Hampshire], from thence two years in east Sudbury and from thence he removed to Frankfort [Maine] where he now lives.
4. That he volunteered his services.
5. That he recollects Col. Josiah Fuller, that General Putnam commanded on Cambridge Side, Prospect Hill, so called; that Col Patterson commanded a regiment and have up a ____ on Bunker Hill; that he recollects Col Carlton of Ticonderoga, but does not now recollect any other material fact but what is contained in his declaration.
6. That he never received any discharge for they were not generally asked for or given at that time.
7. The he is well known by the Rev Joshua Hall, Archibald Jones, Benjamin Shaw, Nehemiah Rich, esq., W. William Andrews and Tisdale Dean of said Frankfort, all or any of whom will testify to his character for veracity and their belief that he was a soldier of the Revolution.
On 1 April 1779, William Grout married Hannah Jennison, daughter of Robert Jennison/Jenison and Sibbella/Sybil Brintall at Sudbury and worked as a carpenter.
Although my research is “work in progress”, they are said to have had at least seven children: Joel, Amos, William, Mary “Polly”, Nancy, Hannah and Eunice. Census data indicates there may have also been a fifth daughter.
None of these births are recorded in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, however William does appear on the tax records there from 1781 to 1785, after which he apparently relocated to Maine, where many records did not survive. Since William was the only “Grout” to reside in Hancock County, Maine in that period, and as he had no siblings, it is likely that all Grouts recorded there are descendants. His children William and Nancy are documented as residing with he and Hannah in 1822. Nancy later married Nathanial Grant and his pension file further confirms her parentage.
According to the Lansil’s unsupported SAR applications and family lore, my family descends from William’s son Amos of Frankfort, who married Rachael Couillard of Bucksport. At that time, SAR did not require documentation. Walter and Wilbur’s mother, Betsey Turner Grout, likely told her sons that her grandfather had fought in the Revolution. She had first hand knowledge, unlike today’s requirements, further proof was not a requirement.
A land deed, dated 8 October 1810, filed in Hancock County transferring land from Amos Grout of Frankfort, Gentleman to William Richmond Marc and Tisdale Dean offers further evidence of the marriage. Rachael Grout signs by mark and Joshua Couillard and Arch. Jones witness to signing of Rachael Couillard. This probable error further implies that Rachael Grout was formerly Rachael Couillard.
William Grout was sued in 1800 in the Court of Common Pleas by Benjamin Thompson and Jesse Wyman who asked that Grout, a carpenter, be imprisoned in gaol (jail) at Castine, for debt of fifty dollars and fifty one cents plus thirteen dollars and thirty eight cents for the cost of the suit.
They filed a second suit for forty four dollars and twenty six cents plus twenty five cents more for this writ plus your fees.
100 acres of William’s real estate was set off as debt repayment of one hundred and twenty dollars (he still owed seven dollars and seventy six cents). The land is described in the case file:
In 1802, probable sons Amos and Joel repurchase the same land, William is a witness – Grout deed 17 Aug 1802`
Another land deed dated 1809 seems to further link father William with sons Amos and Joel (note that Amos’ wife Rachael gives up her rights of dower, thus confirming this is likely “our Amos”).
Click here to read – Grout deed 25 Feb 1809
Amos and Rachael’s daughter, my third g-grandmother, was named Betsey Turner Grout [her story here], perhaps after an aunt – a Hannah Grout, who according to cemetery records, was born in 1791 on Orphan Island, Maine (home of William Grout the 1790 census year), married a Samuel Turner and named a child William Grout Turner. Amos and this elder Hannah are likely siblings and he choose to give his child the Turner name, perhaps after a child of his sister’s who was deceased.
A granddaughter of Joel Grout, through his son Robert Clark Grout, Elizabeth Sarah “Lizzie” (Grout) Smith (b. 26 Jul 1849 d. abt 1935) left a short family history. She recalls her grandfather having three siblings. Aunt Turner, who resided on Isle Au Haut, Maine; Aunt Drake and a brother who had a son Amos. She further recalls that Aunt Turner’s daughter married Captain Lampher of Searsport. Copy here: story-grout
A Mary (Turner) Lampher’s death is reported in Everett, Massachusetts in 1910. She was reported to have been born in Isle Au Haute to Samuel Turner and Hannah Grout. Hannah’s birth location is said to be Orphan’s Island, Maine (which is where William Grout was enumerated in 1790).
“Aunt Drake” was likely William’s daughter Mary “Polly” Grout who supposedly married Lemuel Drake (unsourced online trees). The death certificate of Phoebe (Drake) Perkins, recorded in Winterport in 1905 reports parents as Polly Grout or Grant and Samuel Drake. Samuel and Mary are found in the 1850 census in Newburgh, Maine; an ancestry user reports that Samuel was actually Lemuel. The 1840 census does include a Lemuel Drake in Newburgh. In 1820 & 1830 a man of that name was residing in Dixmont, Maine.
In 1850 a Friend Drake was enumerated with this family. His death, recorded in Winterport, Maine in 1899 names parents as Lemuel and Mary Grout or Grant. It further reports his mother’s birthplace as Massachusetts. This is possible, given that William Grout’s pension file reports: “he lived seven years in Hillsborough [New Hampshire], from thence two years in east Sudbury and from thence he removed to Frankfort [Maine] where he now lives.”
The “brother” of Joel, who Lizzie names in her history “had one son named Amos”. My guess it that this brother was Amos, my direct ancestor, son of William Grout, husband of Rachael Couillard, who did have a son Amos.
Lizzie writes: “In the fall of 1859, father sold his Jackson property and we all moved to the old home in Monroe. Grandfather was dead and uncle Amos (Joel’s son) was living on the place. Sure enough, we find that in Joel’s will, written Nov 1856, he leaves Lizzie’s father, Robert Clark Grout, land in Monroe. Joel’s son Amos is appointed as executor. A copy can be found on FamilySearch.org: here.
William Grout in Later Years
1790 – Orphan Island, Maine [which was part of Massachusetts until 15 March 1820]
The William Grout household in 1790 included seven members:
| Home in 1790 (City, County, State): | Orphan Island, Hancock, Maine |
|---|---|
| Free White Persons – Males – Under 16: | 2 |
| Free White Persons – Males – 16 and over: | 2 |
| Free White Persons – Females: | 3 |
| Number of Household Members: | 7 |
Description of Orphan Island, once a shipbuilding village:
1800 Buckstown [later Bucksport], Maine [which was part of Massachusetts until 15 March 1820]
The 1800 census, having a column “from whence immigrated” further verifies William as the William Grout born in Sudbury. The household included 10 members; the children include three boys and five girls:
| Home in 1800 (City, County, State): | Buckstown, Hancock, Maine |
|---|---|
| Free White Persons – Males – Under 10: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Males – 16 thru 25: | 2 |
| Free White Persons – Males – 45 and over: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Females – Under 10: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Females – 10 thru 15: | 2 |
| Free White Persons – Females – 16 thru 25: | 2 |
| Free White Persons – Females – 45 and over: | 1 |
| Number of Household Members Under 16: | 4 |
| Number of Household Members Over 25: | 2 |
| Number of Household Members: | 10 |
Description of Buckstown [later Bucksport in 1827]
1810-1830 (and likely until death) Frankfort, Maine [which was part of Massachusetts until 15 March 1820]
In 1810 and 1820, the household included five members:
| Home in 1810 (City, County, State): | Frankfort, Hancock, Maine |
|---|---|
| Free White Persons – Males – 16 thru 25: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Males – 45 and over: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Females – 10 thru 15: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Females – 16 thru 25: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Females – 45 and over : | 1 |
| Number of Household Members Under 16: | 1 |
| Number of Household Members Over 25: | 2 |
| Number of Household Members: | 5 |
| Home in 1820 (City, County, State): | Frankfort, Hancock, Maine |
|---|---|
| Enumeration Date: | August 7, 1820 |
| Free White Persons – Males – 10 thru 15: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Males – 26 thru 44: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Males – 45 and over: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Females – 16 thru 25: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Females – 45 and over : | 1 |
| Number of Persons – Engaged in Agriculture: | 2 |
| Free White Persons – Under 16: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Over 25: | 3 |
| Total Free White Persons: | 5 |
And in 1830, just two are listed in the household, likely William and his son William (Hannah likely died between 1824 and 1830 as she does not appear in the 1830 census but is listed on William’s 1822/4 pension application – see below).
| Home in 1830 (City, County, State): | Frankfort, Oxford, Maine |
|---|---|
| Free White Persons – Males – 30 thru 39: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – Males – 70 thru 79: | 1 |
| Free White Persons – 20 thru 49: | 1 |
| Total Free White Persons: | 2 |
History of Frankfort can be read here
On March 18, 1818, Congress enacted legislation which provided lifetime pensions to poverty stricken Continental Line and US Navy veterans who had served at least 9 months or until the end of the war. The benefits provided for $20 per month for qualifying officers and $8 per month for non officers. So many applications were filed under this Act that the legislation was amended on May 1, 1820 to require applicants to submit certified schedules of income and assets with their applications and empowering the Secretary of War, in his sole discretion, to remove from the pension rolls such beneficiaries as he may determine were not in need of financial assistance. On March 1, 1823, Congress passed legislation which resulted in the restoration of some of the pensions disallowed by the Secretary.
Mr. Arthur Livermore, State Representative for New Hampshire, requested a pension on William’s behalf on 19 January 1820 at the 16th Congress, session 1 (recorded on Journal Page 147). He was referred to the Committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims.
On 24 January 1820, his claim was referred to the Secretary of War (recorded on Journal Page 165).
On 29 March 1820 the report of the Secretary of War, in regards to his pension. was laid before the house (recorded on Journal Page 350).
Library of Congress, American Memory, A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 – 1875, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwhj.html , Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States,
William’s application for a pension under this act [although the database is labeled land grants?] is found in Hancock County, Maine for his Revolutionary Service. Original documents stored at the Maine State Archives here:Revolutionary war application
He was a carpenter, age 68, who is unable to work due to sickness and great debility. He did not own real estate. His possessions included: 1 hog $4.00, tea kettle & other iron ware $3.00, crockery ware $1.00, chairs, tubs and wooden ware $2.00, sundry small articles $6.00 – total $16.00. He resided with his wife Hannah (66) in Frankfort and two children, Nancy (24) and William (27).
On June 7, 1832, Congress enacted pension legislation extending benefits more universally than under any previous legislation. This act provided for full pay for life for all officers and enlisted men who served at least 2 years in the Continental Line, the state troops or militia, the navy or marines. Men who served less than 2 years but at least 6 months were granted pensions of less than full pay. Benefits were payable effective March 4, 1831, without regard to financial need or disability and widows or children of were entitled to collect any unpaid benefits due from the last payment to a veteran until his death. William finally was approved to collect under this act.
Payments under this act, which were made available in March and September, began in March 1832 but were retroactive to 4 June 1831. The numbers in the ledger below indicate whether the payment was collected by William (or his representative) in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th quarter. It also tells us that he likely did not move from Maine in this time frame (usually a notation would indicate a transfer to an alternate pension office).
Ancestry.com. U.S. Pensioners, 1818-1872 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Ledgers of Payments, 1818-1872, to U.S. Pensioners Under Acts of 1818 Through 1858 From Records of the Office of the Third Auditor of the Treasury, 1818-1872; (National Archives Microfilm Publication T718, 23 rolls); Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury, Record Group 217; National Archives, Washington, D.C..
William is listed in the 1835 lists of Pensioners.
Ancestry.com. U.S., The Pension Roll of 1835 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.Original data:United States Senate.The Pension Roll of 1835.4 vols. 1968 Reprint, with index. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992.
Based on the date of last pension payment, in the 4th quarter (Oct/Nov/Dec) of 1836, Grout, in his early 80’s likely died late 1836/early 1837.
Passage to the Past's Blog 
Posted by Jo on April 26, 2015 at 2:01 AM
Fascinating! Thank you for sharing. I wanted to tell you that I’ve included your post in my NoteWorthy Reads post for this week: http://jahcmft.blogspot.com/2015/04/noteworthy-reads-11.html
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Posted by passagetothepast on April 27, 2015 at 1:03 PM
Thanks Jo!!
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