Samuel Prescott

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Beyond his actions on the night of April 18-19, 1775, little is known about Samuel Prescott. But his role in getting the message to Concord, Massachusetts that British troops were heading to that village was crucial in the final hours before the opening shots of the American Revolution. 

Samuel Prescott was born on August 19, 1751, in Concord, Massachusetts. His grandfather and father lived in the village, and both were physicians. When he was old enough, Prescott also followed in his family’s footsteps and became a doctor. 

He was called a “high son of Liberty” and may have been part of the Sons of Liberty where he may have previously met Paul Revere and William Dawes. According to tradition, Prescott knew Nathanial Mulliken who was part of Captain Parker’s militia and lived in Lexington. 

As the legend goes, Samuel Prescott was courting Lydia Mulliken (Nathanial’s sister) and was returning home to Concord in the early morning hours of April 19, 1775. On the road between Lexington and Concord, Paul Revere and William Dawes met Prescott and told him that British troops were marching to Concord and they were alerting the villages along the way. Prescott offered to go with them. He explained that the militia leaders and other local residents would likely believe the warning more quickly if he went with them since he was known and trusted in the area. The trio of riders continued west, waking farmhouse inhabitants and spreading the news. 

Near the village of Lincoln, a patrol of British soldiers ordered the riders to halt. Revere was captured. Dawes rode into the darkness pursued by several soldiers, lost his horse but escaped unharmed. Prescott galloped into the countryside, jumping his horse over a stonewall. He escaped and rode on to Concord, carrying the news and completing Revere and Dawes’s communication mission. When he arrived in Concord, Prescott ordered the church bell to be rung to awaken and gather the local militia more quickly. He also sent other riders—including his brother—to further communities, ensuring that hundreds of militiamen would gather and take part in the fighting later that day. 

Prescott’s life and activities after April 19, 1775 are hard to decipher in the history records. He may have been a doctor for American troops, possibly stationed for a time at Fort Ticonderoga. Lydia Mulliken did not hear from Samuel Prescott after 1777, and she waited until after the end of the war before she allowed herself to be courted or engaged to another man. According to one account, a man identified as “Dr. Prescott” was captured by the British, imprisoned in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and died in 1777. Though the rest of his story and his fate are not clearly known, in the morning hours of April 19, 1775, Dr. Samuel Prescott rode into the darkness, escaping capture and carrying the warning message the final miles to targeted Concord.