The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
Author: Edward Joseph Hosmer
Ephraim Hosmer was an Acton Massachusetts Minuteman at the Battle of Concord at the Old North Bridge on April 19, 1775. He was a farmer born in Concord, Massachusetts, on November 22, 1722. Ephraim was the fourth generation of Hosmer lineage living in Concord at the time of his birth. His great-grandfather, James Hosmer, emigrated from Hawkhurst, in the County of Kent, England, and settled in Concord in 1635.
Ephraim married Sarah Jones of Acton, Massachusetts, on April 28, 1753. Sarah and Ephraim lived in Acton, and had 10 children from 1754 to 1773, all of whom were born in Acton, Massachusetts. Exactly when Ephraim made the move from Concord to Acton is unknown. Certainly his marriage in 1753 to Sarah Jones made the move permanent.
Smallpox spread through Acton in the fall of 1774, and Ephraim and Sarah sadly watched both daughters (ages 19 and 16) and five of their eight boys (ages 11, 8, 7, 2, and 10 months) die from the disease in three weeks from October 15, 1774 to November 8, 1774. Ephraim and Sarah, and three boys, Ephraim (age 18), Samuel (age 13), and Joel (age 4) survived the 1774 Smallpox outbreak.
Patriot service for Ephraim Hosmer was as a private under the command of Captain Isaac Davis. In November of 1774, Acton formed a company of Minutemen, and Davis was elected captain. Captain Davis was determined that his company be as well-equipped as the British soldiers. His high standards in terms of equipment and training made the Acton company one of the best prepared in Massachusetts. On the morning of April 19, 1775, Ephraim was part of the Acton company of Minutemen that lead the Provincials attack on the British Regulars at the Old North Bridge. The Provincials thought the British were burning down the town of Concord, and Acton Minutemen were asked to lead the attack against the British because they were the best trained, and every man was equipped with a bayonet on his musket.
Ephraim Hosmer was 42 years old at the Battle of Concord. It is very likely that Ephraim’s oldest son, Ephraim, born on June 22/23, 1756, was also present (with his father) at the Old North Bridge as an Acton Minuteman. He would have been 18 years old at the time of the battle, and undoubtedly would have had exposure to Captain Isaac Davis’ gunsmithing and training of the Acton Minutemen (that included the use of military grade muskets with bayonets which Davis made as a gunsmith) as he grew up in Acton. Ephraim’s 20 year old nephew, Private Abner Hosmer, was killed at the Old North Bridge at the Battle of Concord along with Captain Isaac Davis. The two are honored at the site on the west side of the Concord Bridge, and are interred together at the Acton Monument on the Acton Town Common.
Ephraim died in Acton on March 16, 1811 at age 89. Sarah died in Acton on October 2, 1823 at age 90. They are buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Acton, Massachusetts. Ephraim’s grave site includes a Sons of the American Revolution grave marker.
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