Joshua Bentley was born on January 16, 1927 in the north end of Boston, Massachusetts; his father, Thomas Bentley was 27 and his mother Susana Townshend Bentley was 19.

In 1775, Joshua was forty nine years old and well established in his life. Joshua Bentley maintained the address at 78 Prince St. in North Boston for decades.  Lt Governor Thomas Hutchinson also lived in the area, just around the corner, on Garden Court.  Joshua Bentley would have been witness to the earliest days of colonial discontent.  He was more than likely part of them, given his trusted association with his neighbor and friend Paul Revere and other Sons of Liberty.  In colonial days the North end was known as “the island of North Boston.”  This area was a peninsula, filled with wharves, warehouses, stylish mansions, and prosperous merchants.  By the 1750s, the North End had become a hub of commercial and intellectual activities.

Dr. Warren enlisted Paul Revere and William Dawes on April 18, 1775, to leave Boston and spread the alarm that the British garrison in Boston was setting out to raid the town of Concord and arrest rebel leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams.  It was no accident that Paul Revere had assistance from his trusted friends and political associates, Joshua Bentley and Thomas Richardson.

Joshua was a shipwright by occupation, according to the diary of his son Reverend William Bentley who was born in 1769.  A shipwright is a person who builds or repairs ships.  Later in life he became the inspector of boards, shingles and lumber in Boston.  Joshua Bentley married Elizabeth Paine, the daughter of William Paine, a wealthy “miller” and property owner in Boston. At one time perched on a hill in North Boston, there was a wooden milling windmill overlooking a pond.

Joshua Bentley and Elizabeth Paine married on March 3, 1757, settling into what they thought would be an uneventful life. They would have eleven children together, not all of them surviving infancy or young adulthood.  In 1777, Joshua and Elizabeth felt the loss of two sons, infant Caleb, and a prisoner of the British, Joshua, Jr, age 14.  Later describe in his brother William’s diary as ‘Captured by the British and dying as a prisoner at age 17 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 19, 1777.”  We assume Joshua Bentley, Jr’s body was never returned from Halifax.  Joshua Bentley’s mother, Susanna Bentley’s headstone still stands in the Copp’s Hill Burial Ground along with those of other family members.  His mother died in 1748 at the age of 41 years.  Joshua Bentley would have been 15 at the time of her death.

Joshua had a lot to lose and yet he risked it all on April 18, 1775, when he rowed his friend, Paul Revere, across the Charles River to make his ride; but he didn’t stop there.  We can find Joshua Bentley’s name in the volumes of Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the American Revolution, where he is listed as a Lieutenant and a Captain. He is listed as being the clerk at the “Laboratory” which was located at Castle Island, in Boston, near the Old British named Fort William.  Joshua Bentley was associated with the Laboratory from 1778 until 1783.  He was literally the main support person who supplied much needed ammunition and supplies to George Washington’s army.  According to his son William’s diary, “Both his father, Joshua Bentley, and younger brother John Bentley worked in the Ammunition warehouse in Boston.”  This is corroborated in the “Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors.

Joshua Bentley’s youngest daughter, Susanna, married David Child, the son of Abram Child of Groton.  This is how they came to be recorded on the same marker.  Joshua Bentley’s epitaph doesn’t tell us much but when we look deeper, he commands our respect and deserves to be recognized as one of America’s Revolutionary War Heroes!

Researched and compiled by Eleanor Gavazzi, Old Burying Ground Commission for the Town of Groton, Massachusetts, May 1, 2018Joshua Bentley was born on January 16, 1927 in the north end of Boston, Massachusetts; his father, Thomas Bentley was 27 and his mother Susana Townshend Bentley was 19.

In 1775, Joshua was forty nine years old and well established in his life. Joshua Bentley maintained the address at 78 Prince St. in North Boston for decades.  Lt Governor Thomas Hutchinson also lived in the area, just around the corner, on Garden Court.  Joshua Bentley would have been witness to the earliest days of colonial discontent.  He was more than likely part of them, given his trusted association with his neighbor and friend Paul Revere and other Sons of Liberty.  In colonial days the North end was known as “the island of North Boston.”  This area was a peninsula, filled with wharves, warehouses, stylish mansions, and prosperous merchants.  By the 1750s, the North End had become a hub of commercial and intellectual activities.

Dr. Warren enlisted Paul Revere and William Dawes on April 18, 1775, to leave Boston and spread the alarm that the British garrison in Boston was setting out to raid the town of Concord and arrest rebel leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams.  It was no accident that Paul Revere had assistance from his trusted friends and political associates, Joshua Bentley and Thomas Richardson.

Joshua was a shipwright by occupation, according to the diary of his son Reverend William Bentley who was born in 1769.  A shipwright is a person who builds or repairs ships.  Later in life he became the inspector of boards, shingles and lumber in Boston.  Joshua Bentley married Elizabeth Paine, the daughter of William Paine, a wealthy “miller” and property owner in Boston. At one time perched on a hill in North Boston, there was a wooden milling windmill overlooking a pond.

Joshua Bentley and Elizabeth Paine married on March 3, 1757, settling into what they thought would be an uneventful life. They would have eleven children together, not all of them surviving infancy or young adulthood.  In 1777, Joshua and Elizabeth felt the loss of two sons, infant Caleb, and a prisoner of the British, Joshua, Jr, age 14.  Later describe in his brother William’s diary as ‘Captured by the British and dying as a prisoner at age 17 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 19, 1777.”  We assume Joshua Bentley, Jr’s body was never returned from Halifax.  Joshua Bentley’s mother, Susanna Bentley’s headstone still stands in the Copp’s Hill Burial Ground along with those of other family members.  His mother died in 1748 at the age of 41 years.  Joshua Bentley would have been 15 at the time of her death.

Joshua had a lot to lose and yet he risked it all on April 18, 1775, when he rowed his friend, Paul Revere, across the Charles River to make his ride; but he didn’t stop there.  We can find Joshua Bentley’s name in the volumes of Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the American Revolution, where he is listed as a Lieutenant and a Captain. He is listed as being the clerk at the “Laboratory” which was located at Castle Island, in Boston, near the Old British named Fort William.  Joshua Bentley was associated with the Laboratory from 1778 until 1783.  He was literally the main support person who supplied much needed ammunition and supplies to George Washington’s army.  According to his son William’s diary, “Both his father, Joshua Bentley, and younger brother John Bentley worked in the Ammunition warehouse in Boston.”  This is corroborated in the “Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors.

Joshua Bentley’s youngest daughter, Susanna, married David Child, the son of Abram Child of Groton.  This is how they came to be recorded on the same marker.  Joshua Bentley’s epitaph doesn’t tell us much but when we look deeper, he commands our respect and deserves to be recognized as one of America’s Revolutionary War Heroes!

Researched and compiled by Eleanor Gavazzi, Old Burying Ground Commission for the Town of Groton, Massachusetts, May 1, 2018