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43 Revolutionary War Soldiers and Widow Balch Buried in Bedford, MA -- Tombstone Tuesday

Before visiting the burial site of Elizabeth Fairfield, the 2nd wife of my ancestor Freeborn Balch, I did what I always do. I checked Google to see if anything was written up about the Old Burying Ground in Bedford, MA.

Wow, the small town has one of the best kept cemetery records I've ever seen. First, there is a typed listing of all those buried there, and second, there is a detailed map. How lucky could I get. All I had to do was walk through the entrance and go straight until I saw the last stone by the stone wall! Less than a minute was all it took. Fortunately, I looked around, as I often do, and saw a marker listing the 43 Revolutionary Soldiers also buried in this cemetery. The marker and the inscribed names are below.

The link for the individuals buried in the cemetery is at: http://www.bedfordma.gov/sites/bedfordma/files/file/file/old_burial_ground.pdf
Here Lyes Buried ye Body of Mrs Elizabeth Balch
Wife to Mr. Freeborn
Balch of Beverly
Who Died January
31st A.D. 1736/7 in ye 71st
Year of Her Age.
Headstone and footstone of Elizabeth Balch (above right).
Elizabeth is buried in the Old Burial Ground in Bedford, Massachusetts. She was the 2nd wife to my 7th great-grandfather.

OLD BURYING GROUND
FORTY THREE BEDFORD SOLDIERS OF THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION

CAPT. MOSES ABBOTT
MR. SAMUEL LANE
MR. MOSES ABBOTT JUN’R
MR. SOLOMON LANE
MR. ABIJAH BACON
STEPHEN LANE
MR. ELIJAH BACON
MR. WILLIAM MAXWELL
JOHN BACON
CAMBRIDGE MOORE*
MR. OLIVER BACON
CAPT. JOHN MOORE
REUBEN BACON
MR. EBENEZER PAGE
THOMPSON BACON ESQ.
MR. NATHANIEL PAGE
LIEU. ELEAZAR DAVIS
MR. WILLIAM PAGE
MR. DAVID FITCH
MR. MATTHEW POLLARD
JEREMIAH FITCH JR.
OLIVER POLLARD JR.
MR. JOHN FITCH
CAESAR PRESCOTT*
DEA. MOSES FITCH
CAPT. DAVID REED
MR. JOSEPH HARTWELL
MR. OLIVER REED
CAESAR JONES*
OLIVER REED
TIMOTHY JONES ESQ.
CAPT. EDWARD STEARNS
MR. DAVID LANE
MR. SOLOMON STEARNS
MR. JAMES LANE 3RD
CAPTAIN JOHN WEBBER
JOB LANE
CAPT. JONATHAN WILLSON
MR. JOHN LANE JR.
DEA JAMES WRIGHT
MR. SAMUEL LANE
·       FORMER SLAVES

BEDFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY, MINUTEMEN, AND BEDFORD PUBLIC WORKS
MAY 31, 1999