ROYALSTON – To celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, the public is invited to an event honoring Royalston residents who took part in the America Revolution.
The event, which gets underway at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 28, at the Historical Society Museum, is sponsored by the Village Improvement and Historical Society of Royalston.
According to historical society secretary Beth Gospodarek, the first half-hour will feature a profile of Royalston residents who fought on both sides of the American Revolution. At 2:30 p.m., participants will travel to the head of a trail that leads to the memorial marker of Nahum Greene.
“Nahum Greene is an interesting guy to me because he went to the 1775 Provincial Congress in Boston, which was well before George Washington or the Declaration of Independence,” said Gospodarek. “It was a few months before the Battle of Bunker Hill. They took tax money that was supposed to go to the British and funneled it to Minutemen. So, the Battle of Lexington and Concord never would have happened without this conference.
“We can only imagine, but why would a guy who had spent 10 years at his homestead up on Gale Hill in Royalston feel so aggrieved or feel the need for us to become an independent country or to go fight in the Revolution?” she added. “Did he feel the same way we feel now; that western Mass wasn’t getting anything?”
Gospodarek said the records are contradictory regarding Greene’s participation in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
“It’s written in several places in the local records that he participated in the battle,” she said, “but he’s not in the official records of the battle, and the records are very careful.”
Gospodarek said the hike of just over a half-mile is a bit uneven and ascends a moderate hill. She recommends that participants wear sensible shoes and bring bug protection.
“For a gentler hike, it is possible to enjoy a simultaneous self-guided nature walk from our trailhead on Stockwell Road where there are sometimes bald eagles and lady slippers,” she said.
Gospodarek said the memorial to Nahum Greene which currently stands on Gale Hill was established in the mid-1800s.
“He’s the only one up there, but they do hike up there every Memorial Day to put up a flag on his grave; he has a veteran’s marker,” she said. “The Memorial Day Committee put a fresh flag on his grave every year.”