Background
Moses Parker was active in the military from an early age. He served all along the east coast and into Canada during the French and Indian war (1754-1763). A distinguished officer of the British military, he married a cousin, Sarah Parker, in 1760 at the age of twenty-nine.
Important events occurred: the Stamp Act in 1765; the Boston Massacre in 1770, and the Boston Tea Party in 1773. General Thomas Gage, appointed royal governor, began to implement the Intolerable Acts in 1774. Among other things, this closed the port of Boston and dissolved the elected legislature.
By 1775 Moses was 44 years old and lived with wife Sarah and 6 children about one half mile south of River Meadow Brook on what is now Turnpike Road. This is a colorized glass negative of his house on Turnpike Road c.1890, with the 1810 Middlesex Turnpike crossing in the foreground.
Decision Time
He had a huge decision to make, should he remain loyal to his king or become a traitor?
On April 19, 1775, approximately 8 a.m., a messenger from Billerica delivered the message that the redcoats were marching from Boston towards Concord. Capt. Moses Parker and others led 43 of Chelmsford’s men to meet them.
Dr. Joseph Warren promoted Capt. Moses Parker to Lt. Colonel on May 19.
Injury
A musket ball fractured Lt. Colonel Moses Parker’s thigh on June 17. Finding him left on the field, the British took him as a prisoner to jail in Boston. It became necessary to amputate his leg. On June 22 he wrote to his wife Sarah asking her to bring supplies and this is the Historical Society’s copy of his letter:
She and Mrs. Walker, whose husband was also a prisoner, walked to Boston Neck to deliver said supplies. The British refused to give them permission to visit their husbands, so they returned home. (1)
200 Years Later
“On Memorial Day, May 26, 1975, citizens met together to dedicate the Junior High School on Graniteville Road. The school was named in honor of Lt. Colonel Moses Parker who was one of Chelmsford’s outstanding patriots. Lt. Colonel Parker was born in Chelmsford on May 13, 1731, and died on July 4, 1775, of wounds received in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
“It is appropriate that in dedicating this school which serves the future, we bridge time by linking it with our proud and distinguished past through Lt. Colonel Parker.” (2)
References:
(1) Based on an exhibit prepared by Chelmsford Historical Society Curator Deana Peterson
(2) Direct quote from the 1975 Chelmsford Annual Report, p.57
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