To have a revolution there needs to be a cause for revolt. The township of Yarmouth was established by England in 1639 as part of Plymouth Colony. Each settler family signed a land grant contract. The King of England, his parliament and judges held the principal authority; the settlers were allowed to manage their town’s everyday affairs by way of committees and voting at town meetings. The town grew and prospered as new settlers arrived. 

More land was purchased, the fishing industry and coastal trade expanded. More settlers resulted in more worshipers, so a second or East Precinct of Yarmouth was created. By the mid-1700s, the meetinghouse committees of Old Yarmouth were efficiently increasing their prosperity and England was not paying attention to their colonies in the North Americas. England was fully engaged in a Seven Years War. When the war ended in 1763, the British economy was weakened, its treasury depleted, its military and fleet in shambles. Taking control of their colonies across the sea would be an easy solution. Taxes and tariffs were increased, greater authority was assumed and military enforcements were deployed to maintain control. In response, the colonies sent petitions for relief assuming there would be cooperation, but instead tensions rose. Then came a Tea Party in Boston. The American Revolution soon became a reality.

The people of Old Yarmouth wanted peace and prosperity not war and revolution. They valued respect and equality; when a choice had to be made, they chose liberty and freedom. The men and boys able to bear arms became soldiers and sailors. They marched north and west together as fathers and sons, brothers and cousins, friends and neighbors, students from the one-room schoolhouses. They served in the Massachusetts Militia, the...