Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 3
We1 had advices from Boston last night at twelve o’Clock which undoubtedly you are acquainted with. We are all in high spirits spirits & Swear by the departed Spirits of the first Settlers of New-England we will not sheath the sword till our Liberties are fixed upon a firm & stable basis. We shall have our Minute men ready to march by tomorrow day-break; but mean to regulate ourselves by your advice. If you think it is improper for them to go for Boston, we shall endeavour to restrain them tho’ it will be with difficulty. Any late accounts from Boston or Marshfield we shall be obliged to you for. At this Time you must excuse our troubling of you as we do. I am with the greatest respect, your frd. & hbl. Servt.,
| Guns | Boy | Box | fli | Poud | Ball |
|
|
| Capt. Pits2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1/2 | 20 | 1 |
| Joshua Phillips. Jur. | 1 | 6 | 24 | ||||
| Zak Austin | 1 | ||||||
| Nat Austin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 50 | |||
| Ben Pegley | 1 | 1 |
Dr. William Baylies (1743–1826), a 1760 graduate of Harvard College, was the first settled physician at Taunton, but he moved to Dighton and represented that town in all three provincial congresses. Shortly after his election to the House of Representatives from Dighton in 1775, Dr. Baylies moved back to Taunton and the home of his late father-in-law, Samuel White. After the war he remained active in politics, as well as in scientific and literary circles (
Sibley’s Harvard Graduates
, 14:552–555).
This is a partial roster for Capt. Peter Pitts’s company, Col. Timothy Walker’s regiment. Joshua Phillips, Jr., Nathaniel Austin, and Ebenezer Austin all enlisted as privates on May 2, 1775. The final name on the list was probably Benjamin Pigley (Pigsley), who did not appear on this muster list although he did serve in other county units later in the Revolution (Massachusetts Soldiers & Sailors of the Revolution, 1:356, 359, 12:324, 389).