Archaeology Team Brings 586 Charlestown Fire Claims Back to Life

After nearly two years of dedicated work, the City of Boston Archaeology Program, together with an incredible team of volunteers, has fully transcribed all 586 handwritten fire claims submitted by Charlestown residents in the aftermath of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

In 1776, more than 450 families filed claims totaling £117,882 for homes, land, and possessions destroyed when British troops set fire to the town.

A handwritten 18th-century document titled “Account of Loss Sustained by David Newell by the Troops of George the Tyrant of Britain Burning and Destroying the Town of Charlestown on the 17 of June 1775.” The page lists items destroyed in the fire, including a dwelling house, a barn and outhouse, chairs, kettles, a loom, weaving wheel, gauging instruments, casks, fruit trees, fencing, and tables, with values in pounds, shillings, and pence. The total loss is calculated at £264-14-0. At the bottom, it is signed “David Newell.”

These claims also include some rather creative commentary about the British troops, expressions of exhaustion, and insights into the personalities and educational levels of the submitters, whose claims range from short dejected slips of paper to carefully drawn tablature and minutiae of personal items.

The project began in November 2023, when the team set out to identify who was living in Charlestown at the time of the battle. A reference in a Charlestown Cultural Resource Management (CRM) report led staff to the Boston Public Library’s Special Collections, where they photographed hundreds of fragile handwritten claims documenting the aftermath of the fire.

Screenshot of the typed 18th Century Claim titled “Account of the loss Sustain’d by David Newell by the Troops of George the Tyrant of Britain Burning and Destroying the Town of Charlestown on the 17 of June 1775.” The font used for the transcribed text is black on a white background.

Among the most significant discoveries are the claims submitted by two free people of color, who were part of the 39 known people of color in Charlestown in 1775 (most of whom were enslaved). One was Margaret Thomas, who we believe, was living in Charlestown during the battle. Margaret Thomas, a free Black woman in Charlestown, purchased a small house in 1773, only to lose it two years later in the burning of the town during the Battle of Bunker Hill. She filed a fire claim for £68, and records suggest she may have once been enslaved. By 1776 she was working as a laundress for General George Washington’s household during the siege of Boston, later continuing with his staff at Valley Forge, where she met and married William Lee, Washington’s enslaved valet. After the war, Margaret lived in Philadelphia. Her fate after 1784 remains unknown.

Documentation for people of color is often limited, especially for those who rented rather than owned property. Margaret’s claim is a rare and valuable record of the personal belongings she was forced to leave behind when Charlestown burned.

Other notable Charlestown residents whose claims have been digitized include John Larkin Sr., whose horse is said to have been loaned to Paul Revere for the Midnight Ride; Elizabeth Moore, who was renting a room at the Three Cranes Tavern on the day of the battle; John Codman Jr., whose father was killed by his enslaved people, led to one man, Mark, being hanged at Charlestown Neck becoming the landmark “Mark in chains”; Cato Hanker who was a shoemaker that rented a home and shop in town, and the Lamson family who were some of the most important gravestone carvers of their day.

Despite resubmitting these claims for over 50 years, Charlestown’s residents were never compensated for their losses.

Explore the claims and our full research.

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