Family Background:
William was the grandson of the original settler who had
come from Scotland in 1651, and settled in a part of Cambridge Farms
(the orignal name for Lexington) called "Scotland".
Willian's father built the Tavern in 1695, but it was sold.
He purchased it back again in 1770 and it was this time the "e" was added
to the Munroe name.
Home:
The Munroe Tavern is located on Massachusetts Avenue.
It is laid out in a typical way with a tap room, large kitchen, rooms upstairs
for guests and family, stables which could hold 100 horses.
The ell to the northwest was added in 1770 and was used for dancing and parties.
The fireplaces were small because peat was burned instead of wood.
William Munroe's Interests and Activities
During The Revolution:
On the night of 18 April 1775 William was a sergeant guarding
the patriots Hancock and Adams at the Jonas Carke House.
He also fought with Captain Parker on the Green when the
British arrived.
Town Selectman:
For nine years he was a selectman. A selectman was voted in at Town Meeting and was to
supervise all matters that were not a law.
Representative to the General Court:
For two years he went to Boston to represent the town of Lexington.
Proprietor of the Munroe Tavern:
From 1770 until his death, William ran the tavern, a place where travellers could
find food and beds and where men gathered in the evening to find out the latest news.
1776:
On the night of 18 April, at age 54, he heard that the British were coming
so he left his wife and three children at the Tavern,
gathered a guard of eight men and went to the Jonas Clarke House where
John Hancock and Samuel Adams were staying.
He helped the two men escape to another section of Lexington and then
returned to stand with Captin Parker on the Green when the British arrived.
Later In Life:
His father, also named William, died when he was only 25 years old.
He married three times.
He was a town selectman for 9 years and a representative in Boston for 2 years.
He was the propietor of the Munroe Tavern and entertained George Washington
in 1789 when he visited Lexington.
He died in Lexington in either October or May of 1827 at 85 years of age.
His son Jonas had by then taken over the running of the Tavern.