Caesar Wetherbee

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriot of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Stow, Massachusetts(?)

Date of Birth:

Circa 1735

Place of Death:

Boxborough, Massachusetts

Date of Death:

February 19, 1808

The following is from the 2004 National Park Service study Patriots of Color researched and prepared by George Quintal:

Caesar Wetherbee was born circa 1735.^I

He enlisted from Stow, Massachusetts on 15 May 1775 into the company commanded by Capt. Oliver Parker, in Col. William Prescott’s regiment. He had 78 days continuous service to 1 August 1775 when a new toll was taken.^II During the summer, his captain died and Lt. Nathaniel Sartell took command. In an order for a bounty coat dated ‘Camp at Cambridge’ on 31 October 1775, he was enrolled in Capt. Ephraim Corey’s company, Col. Prescott’s regiment.^III

Caesar died at Boxborough, Massachusetts on 19 February 1808, at the approximate age of 73. The church record of his death lists him as ‘Black.’^IV

Footnotes:

1. Birth date backwardly-computed, based on age at time of death.
2. Secretary of Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908), 16:926; listed under ‘Wetherbee.’ Also 2-CD Family Tree Maker^TM set “Military Records: Revolutionary War.”
3. Secretary of Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908), 6:734; listed under ‘Weatherbee.’ Also 2-CD Family Tree Maker^TM set “Military Records: Revolutionary War.”
4. Vital Records to 1850. Births, Marriages and Deaths. Vols for most Massachusetts towns, Boxborough, Deaths, referencing the records of the Congregational Church. NOTE: There was a Caesar Augustus Wetherbee who died at the age of 126 in Boxborough in September 1808 (Columbian Centinal, Obituaries, 1 October 1808). There is a chance that this was Caesar’s father.

Learn more about Quintal's study.