Plato Lambert

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriot of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Framingham, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

December 1, 1737

Place of Death:

Natick, Massachusetts(?)

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

 

Plato Lambert was born in Framingham, Massachusetts on 1 December 1737.^I He ‘was taken when an infant by Mrs. Martha Nichols of [Framingham].’^II He later became ‘the slave of Joseph and Hannah Taylor, who lived on the farm now occupied by Mr. Fairchild, on Pond street [and] was given his freedom by those people … [he] was a man of gigantic stature.’^III

He joined the eight month’s service on 1 May 1775 in the company of Capt. James Mellen, in Col. Jonathan Ward’s regiment.^IV On 23 May 1775, he was chosen to serve on picket guard under Major [Loammi] Baldwin and Captain Reuben Dickinson.^V On 18 June 1775, one day after the Battle of Bunker Hill, he was listed on an order ‘for cartridge boxes to be delivered said Lomboard and others belonging to Capt. James Mellen’s co.’^VI This is a strong indication of participation in the Battle. On 26 December 1775, he listed in an ‘order for bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated Dorchester.’^VII

‘After the Revolution, he used to roam around the country, accompanied by a large dog. Very soon they disappeared. In 1810, while constructing a road near Lake Cochituate, the workmen found the skeleton of a large man, and near by, the remains of a dog. From the double teeth, and the size of the frame, it was supposed to belong to Plato Lambert, who was probably murdered and buried there.’^VIII

Footnotes:

1. Temple, J. H. History of Framingham, Massachusetts … (1887), 235, listed under ‘Slaves and Colored Inhabitants.’
2. Vital Records to 1850. Births, Marriages and Deaths. Vols for most Massachusetts towns. Framingham, Births, 129.
3. Natick Bulletin. “Local Centennial Events,” 18 June 1875, page 1. See ‘People File’ at Natick (MA) Historical Society, South Natick, MA.
4. Secretary of Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908), 9:445, listed as ‘Lambord.’ Also 2-CD Family Tree Maker^TM set “Military Records: Revolutionary War.”
5. Ibid 9:914, listed as ‘Lombert.’
6. Ibid, listed as ‘Lomboard.’
7. Ibid 9:445.
8. Natick Bulletin. “Local Centennial Events,” 18 June 1875, page 1. See ‘People File’ at NAHS.

Learn more about Quintal's study.