Revolutionary Notes - John Bolton

One of 10 children and the youngest son of Colrain’s first doctor, Dr. Hugh Bolton, John Bolton was a Revolutionary War hero.

At 19 he fought with Rogers’ Rangers at the Battle of Quebec during the French and Indian War. In 1777, he led a company of “artificers” fortifying West Point, where they laid a heavy chain across the Hudson River to prevent British vessels from running upriver. By 1779, his troops were ill-fed, poorly clothed and had not been paid. They were approaching a state of mutiny. On furlough, Bolton returned to Colrain, where he had valuable property, which he mortgaged, and raised what other funds he could. He and the company remained at West Point until the end of the war.

A few years later Bolton moved to Warren, N.Y., where he lived with a daughter (perhaps Martha Elizabeth Bolton Patterson) until he died, penniless, in 1807, at the age of 67.

[Written by Belden Merims for the Colrain Clarion.]

Colrain Flower Garden Tour and Plant Sale

Saturday and Sunday, July 11 and 12 

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Rain or shine 

All tickets are $20 and available now at Pine Hill Orchards Tour the eight gardens with your self-guiding map. Gardens may be visited in any order, and your ticket is good for both days. Please, no smoking, no pets. 

Plants are for sale at the Wheeler home and at Checkerspot Farm. 

There are two talks to be presented both days, one at 11 a.m. at the Olson home on the "Greenhouse Challenge", and the second at 2 p.m. at Keldaby Farm on "Introduction to a Pollinator's Garden.” 

The eight gardens: 

 Deborah and Guy Wheeler 

 Foundry Brook Gardens, Eileen Sauvageau 

 Keldaby Farm, Cynthia Herbert

 Helen and Bob Olson 

 Hui and Doug Spink 

 Peaceable Hill Farm, Kendra and Allan Daniels

 Checkerspot Farm, Jocelyn Demuth 

 Sarah Hollister 

This fundraiser is sponsored by the Colrain Historical Society for its ongoing work at the museum.

Kendra and Allan Daniel, Peaceable Hill Farm