When Did Henry Knox Leave Boston?
Knox’s earliest biographer, Samuel A. Drake, wrote in 1873:
Just one year from the day of his marriage [on 16 June 1774] Knox quitted Boston in disguise (his departure having been interdicted by [Gen. Thomas] Gage), accompanied by his wife, who had quilted into the lining of her cloak the sword with which her husband was to carve out a successful military career.Drake offered no source for that probably overdramatic sentence, but it was the earliest statement I’d found. Noah Brooks’s 1900 biography said the Knoxes left Boston on 19 April, again without support, and that book is unreliable on other matters. So my best guess was still Drake’s June date.
But I recently spotted a clue in the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper’s diary for 14 May 1775. The day before, he wrote, he had gone to Concord and found the Rev. William Emerson absent. Cooper “engag’d to p[rea]ch for him on the Morrow, while he was to supply Groton.” So on Sunday the Rev. Mr. Cooper
Went to Concord with [daughter] Nabby. put my Horse at Mr [Ebenezer] Hubbard’s, found to my Surprize Mr. Emerson at the Meeting House Door. He pray’d I pch’d a.m. f’m, the Consolation of Israel. We din’d at Mr Emerson’s, with Mr. Knox and Wife of Boston. I pray’d Mr Emerson pch’d p.m. we drank Coffee at Mr Hubbards. slept at Mr. [Samuel P.] Savages. Horse at [Joseph] Russell’s.There were a few other men named Knox in and around Boston in 1775, but Henry was the most prominent. So it appears the Knoxes were out of Boston and heading west by 14 May. Emerson’s more spotty diaries say nothing about them, but of course he didn’t know they would be famous.
TOMORROW: So who preached at Groton?
5 comments:
In the Mark Puls book on Knox, which I have some other detail issues with, Puls simply just glides over a specific date of when the Knox's slipped out of Boston, saying, "Shortly after the battles of Lexington and Concord, Henry and Lucy dressed in disguises and prepared to sneak out of the city". Of course another Knox left in Boston in 1775 was Henry's brother - William - in whose care he left his London Book-Store in an attempt to keep it from vandals and looters.
I’ve noticed a similar pattern in other Boston families: some members leaving town during the siege (or at the end) while others stayed to preserve the property.
In addition to when he left, the other question is how he and Lucy left. North Callahan's book says that on a night “soon after” Lexington & Concord, they did so by carriage “through the dark Boston streets.” (Callahan, p. 31) Callahan relates the story of Lucy sewing Henry’s militia sword into her petticoat. Mark Puls, however, writes that “shortly after” Lexington & Concord Henry and Lucy put on disguises and went down to the waterfront, where they escaped in a small boat. Puls also tells the story of the sword. (Puls, p. 25) So was it by land or by sea? David McCullough, in his book 1776, artfully avoids this conflict, saying simply that the two “slipped out of Boston in disguise” in the “days following … Lexington and Concord.” (McCullough, p. 59) I haven't been able to learn the sourcing for these varying descriptions of how Henry and Lucy got out.
Knox biographers have tended to repeat legends and guesswork because his life isn't well documented before he joined the Continental Army. I'm working on a book now that will explore those years, among other topics.
The best information I've found about the Knoxes' departure from Boston, from the family of a friend said to have secured a pass for them (the friendship is documented but not the pass) is that they went out in a chaise along the Neck. The sword blade wasn't in Lucy's garments, however.
Thanks for the response, that's helpful. I'm working on a book about various events in Albany's history, and I'm hoping to include a chapter about Knox's week or so spent there in January 1776 while trying to get the Ticonderoga guns across the Hudson River. In researching Knox's early life I seem to have encountered exactly what you described, so I'm looking forward to your book! Your blog is a terrific resource and immensely enjoyable.
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