My Hero of Revolutionary Massachusetts, Samuel Whittemore

I recently completed a postdoctoral fellows, which focused on the care of older Americans. Prior to the program, lives of the elderly had never really been on my radar, until in a big way starting the summer of 2010. I became much more interested in the lives and conditions of the elderly. Probably the best decision I made during my fellowship was to read The Coming of Age by Simone de Beauvoir, a comprehensive treatise on aging and what should be, in my option, an essential read for the young and middle-aged, if for no other reason than that we will be old one day, too.

At some point a friend posted on Facebook the story of Samuel Whittemore and how he was in awe of the guy after learning his story. So was I, once I also learned about it. Whittemore lived during the Revolutionary War, and attacked British forces retreating from Lexington and Concord. This description is from Massachusetts State Senate proposed bill No. 1839 "to designate captain Samuel Whittemore the official state hero of the Commonwealth and provid[e] for an annual proclamation of a day in his honor".

On April 17, 1775, while working in his fields, Whittemore became aware of the retreating British army which had fought the militia men at Lexington and Concord. Although then over 80 years old, he immediately armed himself with his weapon; disregarded warnings of onlookers, and stationed himself behind a stone wall directly in the path of the troops which were being harassed by our militia. When the British army came into point blank range, Samuel Whittemore stood up, opened accurate fire, and killed three soldiers before he collapsed from numerous wounds inflicted by the enraged English combatants who then left him for dead. However, Whittemore recovered from his ghastly injuries and lived to be 90 years old. Samuel Whittemore is the oldest known Patriot to fight in the Revolutionary War. And most recently, the United States never had a braver warrior.

Specifically, those "injuries" wounds were that he was shot through the cheek, beaten, and bayonetted thirteen times. After the British left, the townspeople, searching for wounded, found not only Whittemore alive but trying to reload his musket! Whittemore lived in present day Arlington, MA - just one town north of Cambridge - and there is a monument dedicated to him there now. Before I knew I'd be moving here I considered taking a pilgrimage up here to visit the site. Now that I'm probably just a few miles away, there's really no reason not to. I was planning before the weather cools to take a trip along the Minuteman Bike Trail to visit Lexington and Concord. I should include a detour to pay my respects to Mr. Whittemore.

Never too old...