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"It was a sound of death to us all” Rebekah Fiske and the outbreak of war.

A low stone foundation marks three sides of a historic building site in an open grassy field. In the distance a hill is obscured by a thick layer of green leafy trees.
Fiske House Foundation

NPS Photo

On April 19, 1775, twenty-six-year-old Rebekah Fiske lived at her father-in-law’s home on the western edge of Lexington, Massachusetts. When war erupted between colonial militia and British regular soldiers at Lexington and Concord, Rebekah’s worst nightmare came to her doorstep. As the roar of musketry grew closer, Rebekah, her husband, father-in-law, and an unknown number of persons enslaved by the family abandoned their home searching for a safer location. Like many non-combatants caught in the storm of war their experience resonates 247 years later.

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Minute Man National Historical Park

Last updated: April 15, 2022