By Christine St. George
Introduction
Raby, New Hampshire was a small town, incorporated in 1769, located on the Massachusetts border just west of a larger town called Holles. Depending on the source, it recorded a population between 130 and 200 inhabitants, with about 45 of those listed as voters. The people who lived there kept mostly to themselves. Most of the dwellings were log cabins filled with farmers and their families, working to clear the rocky soil, cut trees for fuel and building, and grow crops. There were no public buildings, no churches, no stores.
Six years later, in 1775, when the call came out for a change in government, the townspeople of Raby were united. The Town Fathers signed the Association Test, putting their lives at risk of being prosecuted for treason to the British government. The Committee of Safety was formed, and the townspeople would meet and vote on resolutions to pay for materials needed for the war. Men signed up to fight for this idea of a new country.
Fifty-five men who lived in Raby served in the American Revolution. Some lived their whole lives in the town, while others, only a few years. They were fathers, sons, brothers. Some fought alongside family. Regardless, they all united to fight for a change — from being ruled by a king to becoming an independent nation.
New Hampshire soldiers didn’t fight in their own colony — the skirmishes that were in New Hampshire were settled before the battles in Boston and the Declaration of Independence were even written. New Hampshire soldiers walked to all their battles. They walked to Boston, Bennington, Ticonderoga, and all points south. They were the largest group of soldiers, per capita, in the war.
After the war, life moved on. Raby was renamed Brookline in 1798. The town population continued to grow over the years, schools and public buildings were built, and businesses flourished. The graves of our Revolutionary War veterans lie quietly in town cemeteries, receiving a new American flag each year in honor of their service to our country. The names of many who served are etched onto a monument in front of Daniel’s Academy, the current Brookline Town Hall.
Who were they? What were they like? This series of articles will attempt to answer these questions by highlighting a Revolutionary soldier each week.
All sources and additional information are available at the Brookline, NH Historical Society. It is open on Wednesday mornings from 9am to noon. BHS meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month at 7pm. All are welcome.
Hollis Brookline News
By Christine St. George
August 22, 2025
https://hollisbrooklinenews.org/the-revolutionaries-of-raby-nh-introduction-p10771-297.htm