A Lexington-Saratoga Connection Continued - “Our Continental Pay”

How many connections are there between Lexington and Concord, and the 1777 march of the Convention Army? On the American side, countless Massachusetts militiamen who answered the call on April 19, 1775, did so again in the summer and fall of 1777. Benjamin Lock of Lexington is said to be one of them. Several documents confirm he served with the Massachusetts militia late during the Saratoga campaign. One is the journal he kept in 1777 documenting his to march to Saratoga and return home after the surrender. Another is a document in the collection of the Lexington Historical Society , created in Lincoln, Massachusetts in June of 1778. It reads: "These may certify whom it may concern that we the subscribers have Rec'd of Sam'l Farrar Jr. our Continental Pay in the thirty Day Service in his company in Col'l Reeds Regiment to Reinforce the Northern army under Gen'l Gates" . Twenty names follow, the signature of each man (or h...