Iron, Powder, and the Alarm at Dawn

For nearly a century before the American Revolution, the Hawes family forged their living on the rugged Massachusetts frontier. When Edward Hawes (our 10th great-grandfather) stepped ashore in the 1640s to help construct the timber homes of Dedham, he established a lineage of builders, blacksmiths, and militia officers. His son and grandson cleared farms in Wrentham, keeping their muskets oiled against the ever-present dangers of the eastern frontier.

By the early 1770s, Ichabod Hawes (our 6th great-grandfather) had established his forge in Medway. In a colonial village, a gunsmith was far more than an artisan; he was the lifeblood of community defense. In his shop, Ichabod re-bored worn musket barrels, replaced broken lock mechanisms, forged iron fittings, and crafted hunting pieces for his neighbors. As tensions with the British Crown boiled over in 1774, men like Ichabod quietly began turning their ironwork to the arming of local militias.

When the express riders rode through Suffolk County on the morning of April 19, 1775, shouting that British regulars were marching on Concord, 55-year-old Ichabod Hawes took down his musket and joined Captain Joshua Partridge’s company. Alongside his neighbors, he marched toward Boston to answer the call.

While Ichabod returned to Medway after the initial alarm to keep the town's weapons in working order, his daughter Beriah Hawes married into a family equally committed to the cause. Her husband, Job Plimpton Jr., took up arms in 1776, marching under Colonel Benjamin Hawes to seize Dorchester Heights—a tactical victory that drove the British navy out of Boston Harbor forever.

With the added service of Capt. Elijah Townsend holding the Hudson Highlands in Dutchess County, New York, our branch of the family did not merely observe the birth of the American Republic—they hammered out its weapons, answered its first alarms, and built its foundation on the frontier.

This line carries an incredible concentration of early New England history, connecting the founding of Puritan Dedham to the arming of the Revolutionary militia and the westward expansion into New York.

Answers Regarding Ichabod Hawes (1719–1777)

Did Ichabod Hawes die in the Revolutionary War?

No, he did not die in battle or during active service. Historical military records show that Ichabod Hawes served as a private in Captain Joshua Partridge's company (Colonial John Smith's regiment), which marched from Medway on the alarm of April 19, 1775 (the Lexington and Concord alarm). His active field service on that initial alarm was brief (3 to 8 days). He died over two and a half years later on December 18, 1777, in Medway, 

Massachusetts, at age 58. While smallpox and camp fever killed thousands during the winter of 1777, there is no surviving service record placing him in camp at the time of his death; his primary contribution to the war effort was as a civilian artisan and gunsmith repairing and forging arms for local militia units.

Are there examples of his guns in any museum?

No known marked firearms by Ichabod Hawes are currently cataloged in major museum collections. During the colonial era and early Revolution, New England country gunsmiths like Hawes primarily operated as armorers, blacksmiths, and repairmen. They built Fowler-style muskets or repaired imported British trade arms rather than production-line weapons. Because early Massachusetts gunsmiths rarely signed their stock or barrels unless custom-commissioned, surviving pieces made by Hawes are almost certainly unassigned or held in private regional antique arms collections without a visible maker's mark.

Biographical Genealogy Notes

Gen 1: Edward Hawes (1622–1686) & Eliony Lombard

• Pioneer Roots: While listed in tradition as "Edmund," colony records firmly establish Edward Hawes as the immigrant patriarch who settled in Dedham, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• The Lombard Line: Eliony's father, Bernard Lombard, was an early immigrant to Scituate and Barnstable, Plymouth Colony, making this a direct blend of Bay Colony Puritans and Plymouth Pilgrims.

Gen 2 & 3: The Wrentham Expansion (The Daniels)

• Daniel Hawes Sr. (1653–1738): Born in Dedham, he was among the original proprietors who pushed westward into the wilderness to establish Wrentham, Massachusetts. He survived the destruction of King Philip's War (1675–1676) when Wrentham settlers were forced to evacuate to Dedham before returning to rebuild.
• Daniel Hawes Jr. (1684–1763): Married Beriah Mann, daughter of Rev. Samuel Mann (the first ordained minister of Wrentham). This tied the Hawes line to early New England clerical royalty.

Gen 4: Ichabod Hawes (1719–1777) — The Revolutionary Gunsmith

• The Tradesman: Settled in West Wrentham / Medway, operating a shop as a master blacksmith and gunsmith.
• Lexington Alarm: Marched as a Minute Man / Militia private on April 19, 1775, when the alarm spread that British troops had fired upon colonists at Lexington Green.

Gen 5: Beriah Hawes (1746–1829) & Job Plimpton Jr. (1746–1814)

• Patriot Power Couple: Job Plimpton Jr. served in Captain Joseph Lovell's company (Col. Benjamin Hawes's 4th Suffolk County regiment), marching on the March 1776 alarm to reinforce the fortifications at Dorchester Heights, which successfully forced the British evacuation of Boston.
• Colonial Military Lineage: Job Jr.'s father, Capt. Job Plimpton Sr. (1718–1797), served as an officer in the French and Indian War as well as a patriotic civil servant during the Revolution.

Gen 6: Timothy Plimpton (1775–1824) & Sarah Townsend

• The Westward Trek: Following the War of 1812, Timothy Plimpton and Sarah Townsend joined the post-Revolutionary migration out of New England, moving into Ontario County, New York (the Genesee Country frontier).
• Townsend Patriot Line: Sarah’s father, Capt. Elijah Townsend (1745–1821) of Fishkill, Dutchess County, NY, served as a captain in the Dutchess County Militia (5th Regiment) during the Revolution.

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy