CAPT Samuel Flint (1733-1777)

Near the rocky coast of Wales, stand the ruins of the ancient and historic castle of Flint, the first in a series of castles built during King Edward I's campaign to further the conquest of Wales.  Descendants from this area included Thomas Flint who emigrated to Salem around 1640. He was among the first settlers in Salem Village, now being South Danvers.  The original homestead sat on 150 acres close to the Salem and North Reading Road. In 1662 he purchased another fifty acres in that part of Danvers now known as West Peabody. The old farm stayed in the possession of his descendants for more than 200 years.  Thomas Flint’s first son was Thomas, a farmer and carpenter, but like many was called to arms.  He was in King Phillip's War, and was wounded in the expedition against the Narragansetts in 1675. Throughout the rest of his life he was reportedly much engaged in public service and was an active promoter in establishing the church at Salem. He eventually accumulated some 900 acres which he gifted to his sons. Due to his excellent reputation he was selected to build the first meetinghouse in Salem. His son Samuel was born in 1683 and inherited his father's estate. Samuel, the second son of Samuel, was born April 9th, 1733 and died a hero at the Battle of Stillwater.

In 1775, tensions between Massachusetts Patriots and the British reached the point that trained militias were preparing for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from England to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against the Patriot arsenal at Concord and capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock.  

CAPT Samuel Flint was in command of one of the seven companies from Danvers which answered a call to arms on, April 19, 1775 in response to the British plan. When the British troops reached Concord at about 7 a.m., they found themselves encircled by hundreds of armed Patriots. Lieutenant Colonel Frances Smith, the overall commander of the British force, ordered his men to return to Boston and as the British retraced their 16-mile journey, their lines were constantly beset by Patriot marksmen firing at them Indian-style from behind trees, rocks, and stone walls. By the time the British finally reached the safety of Boston, nearly 300 British soldiers had been killed, wounded, or were missing in action. The Patriots suffered fewer than 100 casualties. After the action conflicting casualty reports added to the anxiety of the colonists. Rumored to have been slain, it was a joyful surprise when CAPT Flint returned to his family and friends.  Unfortunately it was not a false rumor that he was slain leading his company on October 7, 1777 at the Battle of Stillwater, which is recognized as one of the severest actions of the war and the last of the series which resulted in the capture of Burgoyne's army, generally regarded as a turning point in the Revolutionary war. An officer once asked CAPT Flint where he could find him to which he replied stoically "Where the enemy is there you will find me."

Major Elijah Flint was the second son of Capt. Samuel Flint, and inherited the homestead. The third son, Capt. Hezekiah Flint, became a mariner, making many voyages as Master to Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and the West Indies. While commanding the schooner "Scynthia" in 1794, he was captured on a voyage from the Windward Islands by a Bermudian Privateer who put on board eight men removing the mate and three seamen belonging to the schooner, leaving of the original crew, only Capt. Flint and his carpenter. They succeeded, when the Privateers were below deck, in nailing down the hatchways, thus confining the prize master and his men in the cabin. After a 14 day passage, Hezekiah brought the schooner to Martha's Vineyard, thus  exemplifying the resolve of his father and my 5th great grandfather.