Lieutenant John Bacon and Family

Lieutenant John Bacon (1721 - 1775) of English heritage, was among the fifty Americans killed or mortally wounded on April 19, 1775, during the British retreat from Concord. At 54 years old, he was the first Natick resident to give his life for the cause of independence. The house in which he was born, the Stephen Bacon House, 105 North Main Street, still stands in Natick. It is shown as part of the Needham Leg on the 1750 Livermore Map. This section of Natick, referred to as the Needham Leg, was part of Needham during the war.

Lt. Bacon and his wife, Abigail Sawin (1724-1810) had 12 children. Despite the loss of their father, five of Bacon’s seven sons served in the militia or Continental Army. Moses and Timothy joined their father in answering the alarm of April 19, 1775. John Jr. enlisted on April 24, just 5 days after his father’s death and was commissioned a lieutenant in May 1775. Joseph served at Bunker Hill.  Jonathan answered the alarm at Rhode Island in 1780.

Five years after Bacon died, his widow married Captain Timothy Smith (1725 - 1803) who had answered the call of 19 April 1775 and fought at Bunker Hill.  Captain Smith is buried in the South Natick Burial Ground, shown on the 1750 Livermore Map. Vital records do not indicate where she is buried.

Lt. John Bacon is one of the twelve Minute Men, killed during the retreat, named on a memorial obelisk in Arlington, Massachusetts’ Old Burying Ground. He is also honored on Needham’s Fallen Brave monument.