The Brief but Brave Life of Timothy Warren Jr. (1740–1776)

The Shot Heard Around the World!

Timothy Warren Jr., my 5th great-grandfather, was born on May 28, 1740, in Westborough, Massachusetts, a small farming village on the colonial frontier. Life in mid-18th-century Westborough revolved around family, land, and faith. Timothy grew up in a household shaped by Puritan values, helping with farm work and preparing for a life of responsibility and service to his community.

By the age of 22, he appears in the 1762 Westborough tax records, indicating he had reached economic adulthood—likely farming his own land or assisting his family. This was a vital milestone for men in colonial New England.

On March 26, 1767, he married Thankful Howe, a woman ten years his junior. Together, they began building a household just before war disrupted the colonies.

That war came in April 1775, when British troops marched toward Lexington and Concord. Timothy and his father were among the men from Westborough who answered the Lexington Alarm—the urgent call to arms at the dawn of the Revolutionary War. Both Timothy and his father served in the Westborough militia, marching to join the resistance. Records show he served for 11 to 14 days.

Nine months later, on January 9, 1776, Timothy died in Westborough at the age of just 35. Though the cause of death is unrecorded, it is possible he suffered illness or injury related to his military service. These were harsh months in Massachusetts: winter was unforgiving, disease spread easily, and returning soldiers often brought sickness home with them.

Timothy's wife, Thankful, lived on for nearly fifty more years, passing away in 1825. She eventually married again, but she surely carried the memory of a husband who gave his strength—and perhaps his life—in the service of a cause greater than himself.

Though his life was short, Timothy Warren Jr. represents the thousands of ordinary men who shaped extraordinary events. He was a farmer, a husband, and a patriot whose quiet sacrifice helped lay the foundations of a new nation.

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Citations

1. Birth & Death: Vital Records of Westborough, Worcester Co., Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849. (NEHGS, 1903).

2. Marriage: Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, Westborough, 1767: Timothy Warren Jr. and Thankful Howe.

3. Tax Record: Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626–2001 (Westborough, 1762).

4. Military Service: Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 16, p. 931. (Boston: Wright & Potter, 1907). Entry for Timothy Warren Jr., service in response to the Lexington Alarm.

5. Historical context:

   • Fischer, David Hackett. Paul Revere’s Ride. (Oxford University Press, 1994).

   • Gross, Robert A. The Minutemen and Their World. (Hill and Wang, 1976).

   • Lockridge, Kenneth. A New England Town: The First Hundred Years. (Norton, 1970)