This book is dedicated to Crystal Farish, Hauley Farish, Lane Farish, Brooke Barker, Heidi Thornton, Justin Thornton, Anthony Thornton, and Jasmine Parker, all of whom are the 5th-great-grandchildren of Levi Temple. THE AMAZING LIFE OF 1751–1821 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LEVI TEMPLE’S DESCENdaNTS . iv THE LIFE OF LEVI TEMPLE . 1 LEVI’S LIFE BEFORE THE WAR . 3 THE BOSTON MASSacRE . 7 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY . 8 THE MINUTEMEN . 10 THE BattlE OF BUNKER HILL . 12 THE LIFE OF A PatRIOT SOLDIER . 14 LIFE at HOME DURING THE WAR . 18 THE DECLARatION OF INDEPENDENCE . 20 THE BRITISH SURRENDER at YORKTOWN . 22 THE TREatY OF PARIS . 24 LEVI’S LIFE AFTER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR . 26 LEVI’S LEGacY . 28 ENDNOTES . 30 iii Thirteen stars represent the original colonies in this Revolutionary War flag. Richard S. Farish Crystal Lee 1940 ~ 1971 Farish Harwood Dean 1959 ~ Living Thornton Levi Georgia Flo 1918 ~ 1966 Temple Thornton Levi Phillip John Temple 1751 ~ 1821 1943 ~ 2006 Dawe Job 1788 ~ 1849 Bette Lee 1896 ~ 1970 Temple Dawe Rachel Solomon David 1811 ~ 1888 Nutting 1921 ~ 1984 Temple Lucy Georgia Annabelle 1856 ~ 1915 Brown 1752 ~ 1830 Temple Isabella abt. 1798 ~ 1852 1895 ~ 1955 Robertson Flora W. 1831 ~ 1880 Forbes 1862 ~ 1948 iviv The Life of Levi Temple our ancestor, Levi Temple, was one of many everything they owned, ruin their families, and risk YAmerican colonists who risked his life to win suffering the undignified death of a traitor. freedom from British rule. This brave decision helped Courage and determination allowed the Patriots make the United States of America a reality, but it also to overcome incredible odds. After seven long years of put him and his family in danger. He and the other war, the British surrendered, and the United States of men who fought were Patriots, a ragtag army standing America was born. This is the story about how your up to the strongest military in the world. If they ancestor helped the founding fathers and mothers won, they would become heroes and America would realize their dream of a free country. become a free nation. But if they lost, they would lose 11 This 1833 hand-colored map shows Westford, Massachusetts, where Levi Temple was born. 22 Levi’s Life Before the War evi Temple was born in 1751 in the Massachusetts enjoyed more wealth and freedom than the people LBay Colony, which had been founded by the who lived in England.1 Most northerners lived in rural Puritans more than 100 years earlier. Farmers from farming villages like Westford. In the south, many England were drawn to the colony’s fertile land, lived on plantations that grew cash crops like tobacco along with blacksmiths, millers, innkeepers, and many and rice. Thousands of African slaves arrived in the other craftsmen. They settled in villages throughout colonies each year. Few white colonists could afford to Massachusetts, and the colony soon flourished. own slaves, but those who did used slave labor to tend Levi grew up with his parents and 10 siblings in crops, build roads, and do housework. the village of Westford, about 30 miles northwest Levi became a shoemaker like his father. He may of Boston. They were subjects of the British crown, have sold factory-made shoes in his shop, but he also but like other American colonists, the Temple family made shoes by hand for those who wanted them.2 Westford, Massachusetts, 1886 33 In keeping with hundreds of years of tradition, Levi would have specialized in making shoes only for men or only for women. Regardless of who the customer was, Levi would have been able to make a pair of shoes in less than 24 hours. Shoemaking was a commonly practiced trade in the colonies, and competition could be fierce. Levi was about 23 years old when he married Rachel Nutting in Westford on 10 March 1774. They lived together in Westford for about one year, and then they moved to the town of Bowdoin, Maine. They were some of the first people to settle there, and their daughter Martha became the second child to ever THE CHILDREN OF LEVI TEMPLE be born in Bowdoin. In all, Levi and Rachel had seven AND RACHEL NUttING: children together. — Martha (born 1776) — Noah M. (born 1778) — Sarah (born 1780) Did you know the word snob once referred to a shoemaker or his — William Wilson (born 1782) apprentice? If he made new shoes from new leather, a shoemaker would — Stephen (born 1784) have called himself a cordwainer. In Britain, a person who repaired — Levi Jr. (born 1786) used shoes was only allowed to call themselves a cobbler. Shoemakers in Levi’s time usually offered ready-made shoes that a customer could buy (born 13 October 1786) — Joseph right away, but also sold custom-made shoes that were hand-stitched and made with wood, leather, and other materials.3 44 Marriage record for Levi Temple and Rachel Nutting, 10 March 1774 55 Why did American Colonists want freedom from England? ar with France had left Great Britain deeply in debt.4 WTo make this money back, the British government raised taxes paid by its subjects in the American colonies. Newspapers, sugar, tea, and other goods became so expen- sive that colonists could no longer afford to buy them. Americans grew frustrated because they did not have someone in the British government to fight for the things that were important to them, and they believed these new taxes were illegal. Many refused to buy British goods in protest. Some colonists supported the king and wanted to remain part of the British Empire. They were called Loyalists, Tories, Royalists, or King’s Men. But a growing number of colonists wanted to break free from England and form their own nation. British sol- diers clashed often with these angry rebels, called Patriots, Revolutionaries, Continentals, or American Whigs. They risked harassment and the fearsome charge of treason, but the desire for independence grew stronger and stronger. The Boston Massacre, 1770 66 The Boston Massacre he people of Boston were especially angry Twith Great Britain, so the king sent thou- The Boston sands of soldiers to the city. On a bitterly cold day in the spring of 1770, the tension that had been Massacre ~ Fast Facts ~ growing between colonists and the British reached « VEN THOUGH HE waS A atRIOT FUTURE a boiling point. A mob of colonists began harassing E P , u .s . PRESIDENT JOHN AdaMS CHOSE TO DEFEND THE EIGHT a group of British soldiers in Boston on 5 March BRITISH MEN WHO WERE ARRESTED AFTER THE BOSTON MASSacRE . HE waNTED TO SHOW THat AMERICAN 1770. At first, the colonists only hurled angry words COURTS WERE FAIR AND TRUSTWORTHY . at the soldiers. But the crowd grew larger and more « THERE waS VERY LITTLE EVIDENCE TO PROVE THE agitated, and they began pelting the soldiers with BRITISH CAUSED THE BOSTON MASSacRE, SO SIX OF THE BRITISH MEN WERE SET FREE . HOWEVER, TWO SOLDIERS snowballs. Frightened and outnumbered, the British WERE CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER AND BRANDED soldiers fired into the crowd, killing five unarmed WITH AN ‘M’ ON THEIR THUMBS . « NE OF THE PEOPLE KILLED IN THE attacK waS RISPUS civilians and wounding six others. In the days that O C ATTUCKS, A BOSTON MAN WITH AFRICAN AND followed, newspapers showed graphic pictures of NatIVE AMERICAN ANCESTRY . SOME SAID HE waS THE FIRST VICTIM OF THE BOSTON MASSacRE, MAKING the event, and public officials called for anti-British HIM THE FIRST MARTYR TO THE AMERICAN REVOLU- protests throughout the colonies. The event came to TIONARY CAUSE . be known as the Boston Massacre, and the people « PAUL REVERE MADE AN ENGRAVING OF THE EVENT THat waS USED AS EVIDENCE IN THE TRIAL, EVEN THOUGH HE who died that day became victims of British cruelty MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED . in the eyes of the public. Six years later, that anger would spark the American Revolution. 77 The Boston Tea Party 1773, Boston had become tea parties and destroyed British mer- The Boston Bya hub of Patriot activity chant ships. But not all colonists sup- and anti-British feeling. So, when the ported the Boston Tea Party. Many Tea Party ~ Fast Facts ~ British passed the Tea Act that year, it believed that destruction of private « THE PROTESTERS THREW OUT 90,000 didn’t surprise colonists that the largest property (the tea) was illegal and POUNDS OF TEA, WHICH WOULD BE protest took place in Boston Harbor. needed to be repaid. WORTH $1 MILLION TOdaY . « HE EVENT waSN T CALLED THE Under the cover of night, a group of T ’ The British agreed. Furious with its BOSTON TEA PARTY UNTIL THE people dressed as Mohawk Indians rebellious colonies, England clamped EARLY 1800S . AT THE TIME, IT waS SIMPLY CALLED, “THE DESTRUCTION boarded merchant ships docked in the down and closed the Port of Boston. OF TEA at BOSTON HARBOR .” harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea Suddenly, businesses could not get the « THE TEA ACT actUALLY MADE THE into the icy waters below. POPULAR DRINK CHEAPER, BUT COLO- supplies they needed to make money. NISTS THOUGHT THE taX VIOlatED “This is the most magnificent Food shipments stopped coming in, THEIR RIGHTS BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T HAVE SOMEONE REPRESENTING THEIR movement of them all,” wrote John and many went hungry. The people VIEWS IN PARLIAMENT, WHERE THE law waS CREatED . Adams, one of America’s future found- of Boston were forced to house and « PARLIAMENT DIDN’T EXPECT THE TEA ing fathers. Inspired by Boston’s brav- feed British troops, creating even more ACT TO UPSET THE COLONISTS .