Research for next book offers surprise connection to American Revolution

I'm working on my next novel of historical fiction, also for teens of all ages. This one will take us back to the Battle of Lexington & Concord. A while back, I came to the conclusion that I needed a well. I could have fabricated a well from my imagination. But, as with my last novel, The Burning Sea of Iron Bottom Bay, I wanted to remain as historically accurate as possible. I determined to at least try to find the location of an actual well along the route of the Redcoat's retreat in 1775. A daunting task but what the heck?

Several weeks into the research, having called numerous agencies in the area of the battle, I was speaking with a lady from the National Park Service. When I asked her about a well, she said there might be one by Fiske Hill, which is just West of Lexington.

Sure enough, there was a well there and it was of enough significance that, though it is nothing more than a pile of rocks today, it has a historical marker.

It turned out that the well was just out front of the Ebenezer Fiske home. Rebekah Fiske heard the battle coming her way and loaded her ailing father into an ox cart and they ran to get away before the battle was upon them. They didn't get far and hid in a cellar of someone else's house.

When they got back to their house, they found the fence knocked down, the garden trampled, and a dead redcoat lying in the doorway with some of their stuff spilled on the ground around him. Inside, they found two more redcoats and a Colonial seriously wounded. The Colonial, who would later die, told the story of how he was getting a drink from the well when the redcoat came out of the house. The redcoat dropped what he was carrying and pulled his musket from behind him and leveled it at the Colonial saying, "You're a dead man." The Colonial told him, "So are you." They both fired and, in the end, they both died. The Colonial was a man named James Hayward.

I had determined that the fictional character in my book would be from Acton. The Acton Minutemen were among those who returned fire and truly started the American Revolution at the Old North Bridge in Concord. But now I felt I needed to put my fictional character at the well on Fiske Hill and sought to determine if the Action men were there.

I contacted several groups in Action including the Acton Minutemen Association and the Acton Historical Society. But, on Sunday, on my own, I discovered that Hayward was actually from Acton. He wasn't in the Minuteman and didn't have to fight because of a prior accident with an axe chopping wood. But he decided to fight anyhow. So now, I knew the Acton men were at Fiske Hill. All the pieces seemed to have come together.

This morning, however, I received a call from Bill Klauer, the President of the Action Historical Society. A very nice man, we had a pleasant talk and he was very, very helpful in other ways. However, when I mentioned James Hayward, I was in for a surprise. His wife's maiden name is Hayward and she is a descendent of the Haywards of Acton, including James Hayward. What are the odds?

I hope to finish this novel this year. In the meantime, if you're interested in my prior novel, you can order a copy by Clicking Here.

#historicalfiction #WWII #USNavy