Josiah Haynes

In memory of

DEACON JOSIAH HAYNES

who died

in Freedom's Cause ye

19th of April, 1775

in the 79th

Year of his Age.

Josiah Haynes was born in Sudbury, MA to Capt. John and Ruth (Roper) Haynes on June 3, 1696. He was the youngest of their six children. Both of his parents were rather old for the time period at the time of their marriage; Josiah was 34 and Ruth was 28.

When his father died on December 11, 1710 Josiah was still a minor, and his portion of his father's estate was put into a trust until he reached the age of majority. His mother became the third wife of Daniel Stone in 1712, and it is likely he lived with her and her new husband in neighboring Framingham until his marriage.

On August 9, 1721 he married Persis Knight. They had four children: Elizabeth in 1722, Moses in 1725, Persis in 1728, and Rachel in 1730. Moses drowned at Connant's mill pond in Concord in 1739 aged 14. Persis and Rachel both married into the Stone family and moved to Framingham. Elizabeth married Augustus Moore, and that is where I loose track of her.

The family, like most others in the area, was a farming family. Josiah served as a Deacon in the town church on the west side of the Sudbury River. Their marriage lasted almost 50 years, and ended with Persis' death in Sudbury on May 21, 1770 in her 65th year.

In 1757 during the Seven Years' War Josiah Hayes' name appears on the list of men between the ages of 16-60 who were oblidged to appear should an alarm be called. He was 61 years of age, but perhaps he felt a duty to his townsmen to serve with them. I do not believe he was ever called to muster.

Josiah and his townsman Ashael Reed were killed by a musket ball fired by the Regulars (British troops) on April 19, 1775 near Lexington, MA during the retreat by the British soldiers back to Boston. Family lore says that before his death he managed to capture an enemy soldier and take his weapon. His body was brought back to Sudbury and is buried in the Revolutionary War Cemetery.

At almost 79 Josiah Haynes was among the oldest soldiers to fight during the American Revolution, and in 1776 his heirs were given a small amount of compensation for his sacrifice.

As spelling was not yet standardized, Josiah's surname also appears as Haines, Hanes, Hayens, Haynes, and Hayns.