An American Story, “Wetherbee”

By Charles Wetherbee, violin 1

** Warning - Spoilers **

Thanks so much for your interest in an American Story. Here are the facts, as best I know them, about the American Story that involves my ancestry, the Wetherbees. I will try to stick only to verified facts, though sometimes one has to use the imagination slightly when information is lacking.

** Warning - Spoilers **

John Wetherbee was born in the town of Wetherby, England in 1742. The family were mainly famers and herders, and possibly horse breeders - the Wetherbee coat of arms, below, is decorated prominently with three rams. The Wetherbee name has undergone many variants of spelling, and one encounters Weatherby, Weatherbee, Witherby and Wetherby, and others. First mention of the Wetherbee’s may originate in West Yorkshire in 1214 (Werreby) and in 1302 Wetherby. I don’t know the details of when John Wetherbee came to the colonies, but there is a record of his marriage to Mary Howe in Marlboro MA, August 1672.

The family eventually settled in Menotomy, MA and Josiah Wetherbee built the The Black Horse Tavern, where the events of the story come to a head.

The Black Horse Tavern was located on the road between Cambridge and Lexington. It became a meeting place for the Committee for Safety. The Committee of Safety was part of a network of groups authorized (eventually) by the Continental Congress, established in late 1774, and early 1775, to enforce the Continental Association ban on trade with Britain. In different cities and towns, patriots formed up these committees and became, in effect, a shadow government trying to organize the revolution and eventually to wrest control of the colonies from the British.

Ethan Wetherbee inherited the Black Horse Tavern and allowed the Committee for Safety to meet there. On April 18th the Committee was meeting at the Tavern. During the night, British troops arrived, looking to find and arrest committee members Charles Lee, Azor Orne, and Elbridge Gerry. Ethan Wetherbee helped the men to hide behind the building in a corn field, and the British soldiers never found them.

Benjamin Wetherbee was a cousin, not Ethan’s brother, but history does indicate he was a royalist (and a traitor), so for the story’s sake I have made him a brother, injecting a little Cain and Abel vibe perhaps. There are multiple letters to and from George Washington that refer to Benjamin Wetherbee and his sedition. Benjamin was sent to prison for his crime, although I could not find his date of death but multiple sources do seem to indicate he died in prison.