250 years ago Gen. Benedict Arnold led an expedition north from Massachusetts to Quebec in an attampt to capture the town. They left at the end of September 1775 and arrived in Canada in December. The battle, which took place in the middle of a snowstorm on December 31, was a disaster for Arnold's forces; every member either was either killed, taken prisoner, or deserted. Worcester lost three men: Captain Jonas Hubbard, Sergeant Silas Wesson, and Private Timothy Rice.

John, Elijah, and Nathaniel were children of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Davenport. Nathaniel Davenport came to Shrewsbury, MA from Bridgewater, MA with his new wife Lucy in 1730. Lucy died in October that year a few weeks after the birth of their first and only child, a daughter named Lucy. I do not know what became of Lucy the younger, as she does not appear in any records other than that of her birth. She likely died soon after her mother. By 1733 Nathaniel had married a wom

The gravestone of Mr. Daniel Baird Daniel was born in Leicester, MA on November 13, 1742 to Thomas and Elizabeth Beard--spelling during the Colonial Era was not standardized, so "Baird" also appears as "Beard". He was the third of their five children. The Beards came to Leicester from Mendon around 1735, and remained there until 1745 when they moved to the southern part of Worcester in what is now Auburn. On December 2, 1767 he published his intentions to marry Jane Smith of

Charles was born in 1843 to James and Jane S. Johnson in Winsted, CT. He had at least one sibling, a younger brother named James Jr. James the younger died around age 10 in 1854. Jane's parents were named Prince and Rebecca Morris. James' parents were Robert and Phila Johnson. Both were born in Warren, MA, and were likely members of the free black community. They were married in 1842. James Sr. died in 1852 when Charles was around 11, and he lived with family members after h