Project Appleseed

New IIT here, just have a question about Samuel Whittemore's obituary.

In doing research on Samuel Whittemore I came across his obituary
presumably written by his family. There are some differences between
it, the earliest source document known, and the story I hear AS
instructors and many on the internet are telling.  Namely: One horse pistol (since he was a dragoon
it makes sense he would have a horse pistol), not two dueling pistols;
he killed two redcoats, not three; bayoneted 7-8 times, not 13; there
is no mention of flailing with a ornate French saber; He was instantly
shot in face after killing 2nd redcoat with pistol; Whittemore mustered or turned out a the parade ground, not just leaving his plow; ...I asked my Red Hat and he suggested I use the forum to reconcile?

Quote from J.L. Bell (J. L. BELL is a Massachusetts writer who specializes in (among other things) the
start of the American Revolution in and around Boston.

"The earliest detailed source about Whittemore that I've found is his obituary in the Essex Journal on 13 Feb 1793; I believe most of the text came from Boston's Columbian Centinel newspaper a week earlier:

       DIED.

       At Menotomy, the 2d inst. [i.e., this month] Capt. SAMUEL WHITTEMORE,
Æt. 99. The manly and moral virtues, in all the various relations of
brother, husband, father and friend, were invariably exhibited in this
gentleman. He was not more remarkable for his longevity, and his
numerous descendants, (his progeny being 185; one of which is the
fifth generation) than for his patriotism.----

       When the British troops marched to Lexington , he was 81 years of
age, and one of the first on the parade [i.e., for militia) he was
armed with a gun and horse pistol; after an animated exhortation to
the collected militia, to the exercise of bravery and courage, he
exclaimed; "If I can only be the instrument of killing one of my
country's foes, I shall die in peace,"

       The prayer of this venerable old man was heard--for on the return of
the troops, he lay behind a stone wall, and discharging his gun, a
soldier immediately fell; he then discharged his pistol, and killed
another--at which instant, a ball struck his face, and shot away part
of his cheek-bone; on which a number of the soldiers ran up to the
wall, and gorged their malice on his wounded head: they were heard to
exclaim, "We have killed the old rebel."

       About four hours after, he was found in a mangled situation; his head
was covered with blood, from the wounds of the bayonet, which were six
or eight; but providentially none penetrated so far as to destroy him;
his hat and cloaths were shot through in many places, yet he survived
to see the complete overthrow of his enemies, and his country enjoy
all the blessings of peace and independence."

We get our standard SW story from Fischer on page 257.
There is often a bit of disparity among sources on various aspects of our heritage.
Sometimes it is hard to ascertain between fact and embellishment. We do our best to be factually correct.
It is always good to know more details on any aspect of "the story".   
Thanks for finding this.

Quote from: TaosGlock on October 13, 2011, 05:59:40 PM

Sometimes it is hard to ascertain between fact and embellishment. We do our best to be factually correct.

Good stuff. Thanks for the obit.

I've mentioned a few times in my telling of the Dangerous Old Men that I myself find the story as told maybe a little exaggerated. But even at that it is still an amazing story. Heck, if ol' Sam had only been run thru with a bayonet once or twice that is still pretty serious. I know I wouldn't want to be run thru even once with those big ol pig stickers.

Here's a tip o' the hat to ol' Sam.

Concur. This is by no means and attempt to demean Cpt Whittemore's service, courage, or bravery. The account in the obituary story is Manly enough. If I used the Obit as the facts next week telling the story regarding the immediate fight, would I be killing an AS sacred cow or committing heresy? lb

FWIW, the historical marker in Massachusetts reads...

Near this spot SAMUEL WHITTEMORE, then 80 years old, killed three British soldiers April 19, 1775.  He was shot, bayoneted, beaten and left for dead, but recovered and lived to be 98 years of age.

Roger, understood. Reading Bell's writing, he mentions that the obit is the earliest source record he can find. There are a number of other documents telling the story in the 1800's, by then the story had changed from account in the obit to the one that we are familiar with and that Fischer probably cites and the text on the monument is based on.  Bell simply notes that it is common that a story of this nature does seem to morph over time. Reading the obit, one imagines a heroic stand but it is human nature to add a little flare for effect. I know, because I do this with my kids as I tell my stories of days gone by. 

You may want to check out this article which supprts what I had understood about the weaponry that SW was believed to have had.  According to this, Sam's arms had been liberated from a variety of overthrown tyrants.  Not exactly the reverent telling we are looking for at AS, but he supports his claims with four links near the bottom of the post.

OnlyHitsCount

LANGUAGE ALERT!  (Not for the easily offended.) 
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/whittemore.html

This is my go to source after David Hackett Fischer's 'Paul Revere's Ride'. 

http://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/Samuel%20Whittemore 

The author of the blog provides good reference material to substantiate the history he provides.  Not that Fischer is necessarily wrong, but I think that several of his stories are embellished, most presumably due to historical memory creep.  Stories always seem to get bigger as their told over the generations. 

Quote from: lbsnake925 on October 13, 2011, 06:18:32 PM
Concur. This is by no means and attempt to demean Cpt Whittemore's service, courage, or bravery. The account in the obituary story is Manly enough. If I used the Obit as the facts next week telling the story regarding the immediate fight, would I be killing an AS sacred cow or committing heresy? lb

No you will not be committing heresy.... you will be failing if you don't leave people thinking about Choice, Performance, them folks back then, and us folks today, regardless of how many pistols, bayonets, head butts or any other numbers you use.

All of our history and stories is not there to be either the entertainment for lunch, the replacement history lessons for the kids boring teachers, or research historians - its to get them thinking "what am I going to do tomorrow to come even close to valuing, preserving and passing on what those folks back then have delivered to us."

I'm sure you'll do great, and I look forward to working with you and hearing from the Utah contingent about that great job you all did at Expo last weekend. 

Cheers
Phil

History is like statistics---can be told/manipulated the way of whoever is holding the pencil... For the future of this country and getting couch potatoes moving, more heart and less brain (thank you MeanStreaker!) is essential.

It is not telling false info just presenting it in a different format. The obit may not have included all the facts either...just a thought.

Get  the sheeple to wake up, make them think! Happy history telling....

In His grip,
ratchett

Why tell the story of Samuel Whittemore?  To get to the great punchline "And he did die, X years later", or to illustrate the theme of the entire history?  Choices.   Samuel Whittemore made a choice that day.  He bore the consequences of that choice.  As my favorite rock band puts it in a song "We will pay the price, but we will not count the cost."

Facts are always great to have; makes the telling more authentic.  But the point of the telling is to make these people come alive for our listeners and emphasize the choices and struggles they faced.

Was it 3 or 8 that he killed?  Does it matter compared to the choice he made and the price he paid?  We should always seek out fact, but don't let fact displace the goal of communicating the history and making Samuel real in our listeners' ears. 

If you ignore the facts, it may come back to haunt you; regardless of whether or not people were touched by it. We are seen as the subject matter experts on the shooting at the history of April 19, 1775. We should be both.

Does it matter how many men he killed? I usually stick with 3 as I act out the final seconds of his fight. Does it matter if he was bayonetted 7 or 13 times? Maybe. If I have a source, such as Fisher, I will go with it. But if I can say that according to his Obituary he was shot in the face, beaten, and bayonetted 8 times. I can use those nuggets, to build on the story in a way that is referenced and real. When I get to the "And he did die... 18 years later," it will be all the more effective.

If we purposely do it wrong, regardless of good intentions, we are short changing ourselves and our students.

Passion without precision is mere emotion. Passion with precision approaches perfection.

Howdy All,

When a literary work is compiled in proper MLA format there are footnote markers at the end of each paragraph which cite the references used to compile the work. On pg 257(of Paul Revere's Ride), at the end of the first full paragraph there is the number 68, which coresponds to the number 68 on page 414 in the " Notes to Pages 255-262",  the reference materials that Mr Fischer used for this section of the book.

Simplicity and Precision. SOM, SOM!!!

Jerry

Quote from: V on October 13, 2011, 07:32:59 PM
No you will not be committing heresy.... you will be failing if you don't leave people thinking about Choice, Performance, them folks back then, and us folks today, regardless of how many pistols, bayonets, head butts or any other numbers you use.

All of our history and stories is not there to be either the entertainment for lunch, the replacement history lessons for the kids boring teachers, or research historians - its to get them thinking "what am I going to do tomorrow to come even close to valuing, preserving and passing on what those folks back then have delivered to us."

Thanks V. I'll focus on choice and performance, values, delivered by example to us from these brave men and women who sacrificed on April 19 1775.

just in case you hadn't seeen it ...........the marker........enough said

-k

Today we say that Samuel Whittemore was 98 years old when he died. Back when he died the custom was to say that he died in his 99th year. Both are correct.