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I had heard some time ago that one of the youths involved in the Boston Massacre was a Gerrish.
Doing a Google search on "Gerrish" and "Boston Massacre" I came up with over 200 hits.
Here is some of what I found: "...What followed that night does not seem to have been the result of a plot or plan on either side, but rather the consequences of deep hatreds and bad luck. The hatreds brought out roving bands of civilians and soldiers, all apparently in search of one another.
A small encounter near the customs-house on King Street about 8:00. P.M. helped bring the civilians together - a good many more than had been looking for a fight. Edward Gerrish, an apprentice, began the night's activities by insulting an army officer he happened to encounter on King Street. There were no gentlemen among the officers of the 29th Regiment, Gerrish cried. Private Hugh White, the sentry standing guard near the customshouse, heard Gerrish's taunt and gave him a blow under the ear for his audacity. There seem to have been other off-duty soldiers at the corner of King Street and Royal Exchange Lane at that time, and at least one of them also struck Gerrish..."
Most accounts say Edward "accosted" the British sentry. A few say he went to he customs-house to collect a debt owed by a solder to a fellow apprentice, and when the guard told him that the debtor was an honorable man and would pay the debt, Edward G. remarked that there were "no honorable men in the 29th Regiment" This is when he was struck by the British soldier.
So, does any one know the ancestry of this Edward Gerrish? In checking Joshua Coffin's History of Newbury I didn't see any Edward Gerrishes, and in C.C.Coffin's History of Boscawen there were none mentioned until one born in the mid 1800's.
If any one knows any more details of the incident involving Edward G. or knows his ancestry, Please post.
Thanks
Jane
P.S. Also while searching I found a great website of gravestone photos from cemeteries where many of our early ancestors are buried. Check it out at www.gravematter.com
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