MOST FATAL SPOT ON APRIL 19, 1775? The Jason Russell House in Menotomy  

As a history teacher (for 46 years), I'll just say you are excellent at presenting this history. You get the facts right and explain it with passion -- even on the actual spot where it happened which gives it so much more meaning, something of course I could never do. You really make it come alive. Great job!

The 19th of April in '75; tyrannical rulers attempt to seize citizens weapons. It's the reason there's a second amendment to our constitution. Excellent presentation of a little known historical site and event. Thanks Katie.

I've lived in Arlington for 24 years now and thanks to your video I now know what's up with that house I've passed by thousands of times by now. Your presentations are great, I get a lot from them.

So impressed with your knowledge and passion, Katie. Too bad you couldn't show the inside of the house, especially the cellar.

I think it is so important that you are doing these videos on the Revolution! The history of our country is so valuable for us to understand and consider!

What a grisly scene. My blood always runs cold, regardless of the conflict, when I hear the term “house to house fighting.”

Thank you. This was a very informative piece on a little known event. The British flanking troops did indeed inflicted a lot of casualties on the Patriots, but it didn't stop the carnage the Patriots did to the retreating British. That Gauntlet of Death spooked the British into never leaving Boston on foot en masse again if I'm not mistaken. Strategically, April 19, 1775 was an overwhelming victory for the Americans.

I am SO THRILLED to have discovered your EXCELLENT channel! The Revolutionary War Era (and prior to) is the period of my most deep interest. I stumbled upon your channel and couldn’t believe my luck! I am a 72 year old grandmother (Memere) with a novice’s interest in history. If I’d had the opportunity to travel or take classes about this period I would have done so with gleeful zeal. My life did not follow that path. YOU have filled a tremendous void for me with your heartfelt narration of events and locations, I simply can’t thank you enough😊. I do live in New England in a town I am hoping will awaken to preserving MORE of its architectural history rather than ‘refreshing’ the environs with totally inappropriate modern structures. Each and EVERY historical building is precious. Thank You again, you have a new/old super fan. Your efforts should inspire others 😊😊!

Thank you, Katie Turner Getty for giving such an informed and entertaining video on this subject. You really should reach out to PBS and show them what you have to offer. The gift of your accent makes watching what would otherwise be educational, but not much more, something that stands out and brings us closer to connecting a modern Boston with 1775. If I were producing, I would be very interested in your talent.

I'm born & raised in deepest Boston, and have since made my life a hundred miles to the west along the Connecticut River. Katie Getty has given me the gift of hearing the familiar Boston accent that resonates in me. Thank you ;)

Outstanding account. You brought those Patriots who died for our country to life. I could see those brave men struggling for their lives in and around that house. Thank you

Thank you Katie. I had missed this part of the story of the beginning of the war that changed the world. I’m a proud Vietnam vet. Wonderful and true history of the first patriots. Will be back to learn more!!!

Wish our youth today knew more about our history. I have met some that did not know we won WWII. Sad.

Thanks for the outstanding history that you are teaching me. I live and breathe the history of our revolution. I am 71 years old and carried my heritage with me to Vietnam via my love of country and duty. You bring our history to life for me!

Excellent and informative presentation of this gruesome history. As a native of Massachusetts, it is always good to know our history and remember where we come from and how we got here. And I love hearing our accent in full display. Never change.

It is a pleasure a beautiful young historian with the real Boston accent! 😀

This channel was a diamond in the rough. I grew up in New England and have had a lifelong passion for the revolution. I own about 100 books on the subject last I counted. Keep up the great content.

Well done. I used to teach U.S. history at an adult education program nearby and would have wished to play this video for my class.

As a member of the Danvers Alarm List Company I am most pleased with the work you have done on Jason Russell's house in Monotomy and the graves of the Danvers men. We perform memorial ceremonies, in Colonial kit, every Patriot's Day. Please join us.

I stumbled on your channel thru one of my kids, I heard that New England/Mass. accent coming from my kids room and they said 'Dad! Hey this lady sounds like you! Im originally from Maine/New Hampshire but now living in the Philippines,And it is not a common accent to hear 'Ovah Heaah' the kids giggle and mimiced your voice At any rate ive read alot about the Revolution since i was a kid and theres not many channels on youtube about it,Its nice when theres a presentation about it and even bettah when its done with the New England and on site..new subscription

I have just recently discovered your RU-vid site. As an 18th century history buff I enjoy your insightful and informative videos. The history of our nation has always excited me and knowing that my ancestors ( Scott's, Irish and British ) helped build this nation and fought for it in the southern campaign from 96 , kings mountain,cowpens , Guilford courthouse all the way back to Yorktown instills pride. They fought and died to give us a constitutional Republic.....if we can keep it. Looking forward to more of your videos, thank you.

Menotomy Battle Reenactment is scheduled for the afternoon of April 14, 2024. The day before will be the reenactments at Battle Road in the Minuteman National Historic Park and at Tower Park in Lexington. Hope you can make it.

"One if by land, two if by sea" minimizes the import of the Old North Church lanterns. The true meaning of the lights was 'One if Framingham, two if Concord. General Gage received reports from his spies that Natick and Framingham were fully mobilized and the road too perilous. So even though there was a larger store of powder and arms in Framingham, Gage decided to raid the "easier" target in Concord.

Well Done. Love the discription of the fight. As a New England boy I drive by Lexington and Concord every day on my way to work in Chestnut Hill. Thank You for your time and effort in doing the research and now these videos. :)

Such great details that are often glossed over when the opening battles of the Revolution are discussed. I appreciate your deep dive into local history that is so important to remember.

Thank you Katie. John C. Miller’s books are exceptionally well researched, especially when considering he did all of his work mid-20th century. You have probably already discovered him, but I’m hoping others reading my comment will look for him.

So much of the history reminds me of my youth, growing up outside Boston. You accent triggers soooo many memories and is far more typical of a Boston accent than anything actors think is how we sound. :o)

Thank you Katie for this very well done piece. Many years before this historic house was acquired and turned into a museum my Grandparents lived there during the WWI time period. One of my aunts and one of my uncles were born in that house before 1920 when my Mother was born in Detroit. My Grandfather always told us grandkids that the house haunted. I even have some envelopes addreseto my Grandmother at that address that she gave me in the 1950's when i was building a stamp collection. I will be donating those to that house. There is a smsll monument back up Mass Ave just South of the Heights markling the fight at the "Foot of The Rocks". I walked by that monument many times on my way to Jr High and have wondered what that was about. Do you know? Thank you once again.

I am so glad I stumbled upon your excellent site! Thank you!

I've know this story,and others about this fateful day. The Fourth Of July truly is not this country birthday. It's birthday is April 19 1775. And it was a very bloody birthday. One day in 1968 I had to make a big decision to enlist or not. My mother settled the issue when she said " Freedom isn't cheap. It cost blood. If you want your freedom, you must pick up your musket and join the other men at the bridge". I enlisted in the USAF. I fought for my freedom, and I honored all who served before me.

Thank you, this was a great video and I had not heard this story before. I am very interested in colonial America especially the Revolution and I look forward to watching more of your videos!

Katie, What a site! I have spent my life telling stories of April 19th as 41 0f my ancestors were involved in that day including 9 Harrington's on the Battle green and two buried on the green.

Thank you. Excellent; very important to say names of the men & women who made that personal decision that day. The odds against these patriots succeed ing that day must’ve seemed overwhelming. To stand up to the ‘authority’ with no guarantee of widespread support by your countrymen, takes tremendous faith in yourself and the few comrades around you. Thank you for explaining the various groups, the decisions each made and consequences of those decisions. None of their decisions were ‘wrong’ on that day. Bless all those men, women and children, for they inspired a national.

Thank you.

Katie, I just discovered your channel. I love 18th century history and the conflict that occurred April 19, 1775, on Mass ave. I grew up on the Concord line in Bedford and use to ride my bike as a kid to the North Bridge, Paul Revere capture site and other sites. Great job I will e watching your show! Well researched and very interesting! Thanks!

Having been born and reared in Arlington, MA (Formally named Menotomy and West Cambridge) I am glad you went to modern day Arlington, where Jason Russell and other patriots fought against the British forces on that historic day. Samuel Whittemore's story that very day is a remarkable one when you consider the injuries he sustained at that skirmish while being 80 yrs old at the time. He recovered from his numerous severe injuries and lived to the ripe old age of 98. Katie, I haven't lived in Arlington since the late 1970's and heard you say the age of Samuel Whittemore was 2 yrs younger on your video on him,which I viewed immediately after this one. What dates I remember were on his Freedom's Way National Heritage Area memorial gravestone. Was I misinformed of the dates of his birth and death ?

I live on the Medford/Arlington line and am so lucky to have all this history all around me.

Good.job katie.haven't seen.this information since 50years ago.school days

There's nothing like being right on the spot where something like this is known to have happened. I remember standing in the chapel at the Alamo and hearing Susanna Dickinson's account of that very floor being slippery with blood. I'd love to make it to Lexington and Concord someday. Thank you for these videos!

After watching this video I am going to the Jason Russel house! So interesting. Great Job!

Great job, I really enjoyed your presentations on the events of April 19, 1775. For me, it’s even more poignant and heartbreaking that the struggle that began that day for our nation’s ultimate independence from an all powerful and unaccountable monarchy appears to have been for nothing. 248 years later and we appear to be returning to being ruled by an all powerful and unaccountable monarch.

Great Job Katie! I am fascinated with the History of our country and especially the Revolution. Interesting note that brings it so close is my genealogical research that put John Adams as a 3rd cousin 6 times removed. In the scheme of things, we are really not that far out from these events. I am reminded, in this day and age of the hopefully not prophetic words of Ben Franklin, as the story goes…he was asked on Sept. 17, 1787 by a women as he exited the last day of the convention “…so what have you given us a Republic or a Monarchy”He replied “ A Republic Ma’dam, if you can keep it…” keep up the good work!

Very informative and much needed ‘on the scene’ reporting in these times where some seek to retell or ignore the sacrifices made by these patriots. I’ve read about the actions on April 19, but the details in this segment really hit home. Hope to visit the area someday and walk where they stood. Thank you.

I learn something new from each one of your videos. Great information…

Very well done! Thank you for your research and presentation.

Thank you!

Dear lord, it’s the historian of my dreams, 😂. Great content, keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing your channel grow

Omg the accent is fantastic. Love the video. Love the content.

I just discovered your channel! Thank you Katie for all the work you do. You can see your passion in your videos. I learned a lot from your history lesson. I can’t wait to watch the rest of your videos. I own a farm in South Carolina where there was a French & Indian war fort. There was a Revolutionary war battle fought on our property July 15 1776. So the American Revolution period is my favorite period in American History. Hearing you knowledge is so refreshing in these days where we don’t teach our nation’s history any more. So I thank you for doing all the work you do for your videos. I love your channel!

Thank you, Katie. ...I'm glad that I just stumbled across your videos. I didn't know the full story about that house on April 19th. ... I share your passion about our history from 1775-1783.

Very well done!!!

I love learning about our history, especially the Revolution.

New subscriber. I was in Lexington and Concord September 2022. I wish out of known about this place. Thank you for the history lesson.

Keep up the good work! You are very thorough in your research and passionate about your subject.

love your content and my gosh your voice/accent should be preserved as part of New England history too. It is amazing.

Thank you so much for this excellent video! I've long been fascinated with Revolutionary War history. Since moving to Vermont, I've been immersing myself even more in New England history in general, but especially in Vermont and the Revolutionary War. I've begun to visit the Lexington-Concord area and look forward to exploring more all around there. As an aside, last year I joined the Crown Point Road Association here in VT, which explores (through documents, photos, field trips, monument dedications, etc.) the history and modern landscape of the old Crown Point Road, which was built on an old Indian Road, primarily to connect Fort No. 4 in Charlestown NH, on the banks of the Connecticut River, to Fort Ticonderoga, near Crown Point NY. It's been utterly fascinating, and I love that the Revolution serves as the common thread for so many of these stories. I'm so glad I stumbled upon your channel, and I look forward to watching all your videos. You're doing marvellous work, cheers!

Thank you for preparing that, I learned a lot.

I’m so happy I found your channel. I am a fellow NESL graduate and your content is fantastic. Last year I picked up a first edition of Hiller Zobel’s definitive book on the Boston massacre. I remember appearing before him in the 90s in Middlesex Superior Court many times. I tracked him down and he graciously signed it for me. History nerds rock

My 4th video , one after another. What a blessing you are and this old 71 year old woman feels like i am in school learning what i never learned as a child in school.❤😊

love the info of the little but important things of our founding. Schools are not doing a good job. Its hard to find places like this giving details and fleshing out the story on the ground!! Thanks

Katie, this was an excellent video. Thank you so much! I thought I knew most of the story of April 19th, '75 but you have filled in many of the details I didn't know or remember. Looking forward to seeing more from your website! Have you ever done any videos on JohnGlover from Marblehead? Best,

OMG Katie, with that thick Massachusetts accent it’s like talking to my wife (former Lowell girl) lol love your channel, keep it up!

I really enjoyed this video!! Well done!!

Thank you Katie for such an excellent program !

Are you a professor, Katie? You have excellent narrating skills, and I majored in history. I've subscribed to your channel and appreciate you keeping up the good job and sharing the upload.

Katie, Katie the supa smot n supa hot Rev War Lady. Seriously though. Exceptional job. Thank you.

OMG Katie I love your channel. I have always wanted to go to Lexington and Concord. My nephew doesn't live far from that area.

April 19 is an infamous and notable day every year. April 19, 1993 was the final day of the Branch Davidian Siege/Massacre/disaster with 76 fatalities, men, women, and children. April 19, 1995 the Murrah Federal office building in Oklahoma City was bombed with 168/169 fatalities from age 3 months to 73 years. April 19, 1980 my wife and I were married, producing 4 offspring and 8 grandchildren, until her death in 2017. That date holds bittersweet reflections to me.

Katie, so well done, and your production values are really shining through, camera movement, edits, it's all super pro and way to go figuring all that out in such a short time, love following you, keep them coming!

Yet another place our Minuteman ( Simeon Tyler) who built our house was... He was in the Methuen Regiment, who arrived late in the day on April 19th... ( it's a long walk from Methuen) They were part of the group who pursued the British back to Boston... I actually worked for a time doing period home restoration in Lexington and Concord... As well as in Salem, where I lived until I was about 40...

another fantastic informative video, thank you again

... excellent effort, thank you!

What a great video, so glad I found this channel! You really bring the events to life with your descriptions, thanks so much for posting!

These stories are so powerful

Great history.

I love this place. I lived in Arlington as a child and remember the reenactments there on Patriots Day. As a side note , a childhood caretaker of mine claims to have been born in the house,, this would have been between 1903-1906. I wonder if you know when the house ceased to be used as a residence? David

Yes! I am really excited every time you post a new video

I like your report on what happened in Massachusetts On April 19, 1775. I am farther south from you so your New England accent is pleasurable to listen to. You are also a beautiful lady. I will keep watching your videos. I just found your channel this week. My parents took me to Boston in the mid 1960s. We went to Bunker Hill nut can't remember much about it. We went on the USS Boston. Saw some other things. I will explore your channel more. I guess I will find out if you go to Valley Forge, Morristown, New Jersey. Yorktown etc? My ancestors were engaged at Yorktown. One was continental line. He went in at the end of Valley Forge. He came from Virginia. He was also at Yorktown. He managed to live through a good part of the war. If he didn't I would not be here. The other was Virginia Militia and sent to Yorktown and other engagements. The other was the Judge and Sherriff in Shenandoah County Virginia before and after the Revolutionary War. He was a patriot and I have not had time to go to the library to read what he did to the British but he had a habit of screwing with them. All I read was Evans Jones of Revolutionary war fame(whatever that means). He was sick and sent someone to sign constitutional documents for him and so forth. Like I said need to get time one day to copy the pages from the history books at the library. Can't trace my family to another part because the line is broken. That is the Smith Family of Virginia that were George Washington's staff officers and such. Anyway I like history, like your accent, and like how you look. I will be watching your videos they are very interesting and entertaining.

Awesome hidstory.

The boot scrape on the steps of the Russel house, I wonder if it is original. The musket balls shot into the stairs, what a thing to see and touch, you are incredible thank you for this! In a short time, all of these places that I consider sacred will be gone, lost to politically motivated vandalism and the destruction that comes with conquest, my prayer is that the ideas and wishes of a better world, a new world live, we will lose places and artifacts but what they convey must never be lost.

Excellent! Keep it going!

Excellent video!

another great video thank you!

So interesting. And so well done!

Hi - really well done video. I've been meaning to get up to see Battle Road for years now. I live a couple of miles from the Brandywine battlefield and have been all over that extended site. I look forward to more of your videos. Thank you!

Yay!!! I used to live off Jason St and caught the bus (Mass Ave) one block from here. University days, 55 years ago. Glad to see it has not changed. And the mention of Danvers. This was a part of old Salem, and the location where the witch trials happened

Hello, thank you for sharing your video with us, it is very interesting and well-presented. Sending hugs from New Zealand 💕 ^^

This is a powerful video and confirmation of the value of your medium. Many times there and well read on the location but quite a affect as presented, thanks

Good video. I always like to look at both sides of any story, thus, I wonder why the British troops didn't fire the house to kill those in the cellar? Were they pressed for time or needed elsewhere?

Very much enjoy your channel. Just one thing though. In 1775 there wasnt any Americans in the house, lawn etc. They were British subjects in 1775. They didnt become Americans until Sept. 9th 1776.

Hayden park? Plymouth County militia commander Colonel Josiah Willard Hayden 1735 1818. Edson's showed up en mass April 19,1775.

Nicely presented

Wow! Outstanding commentary! I’ll be binging your videos but for the moment…it’s time to sleep. I’ve been to Lexington and concord but clearly, I have much more to see and learn. A return trip is in order!!! Thank you! Do you know if the front entry is an addition to the home? Thanks again…

Thank you for adding “color” to facts. Hubby and I have nearly 2 dozen patriots. Have verified 8 of them with DAR.

On the 18th of April in 75 Hardley a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year And the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Did I get that right?

I live your lessons!

So good 👍🏼

Gotta love these reminders of 🇺🇲 birth. The bravery these folks demonstrated against all odds is truly inspirational. 👍🏻💯🇺🇲

You are awesome. Love the accent.

great video....when was the marker palced?