The local unit of Minutemen gathered at the corner of Main and Washington Streets to begin their march to Arlington and Lexington to meet the Redcoats. And as noted on the Lexington Monument, a number of these men died in their fight for freedom. General Gideon Foster was the leader of these local hero's.

Gideon Foster was born on February 24, 1749, in a house that stood on what is now the corner of Foster and Lowell Streets in Peabody Square.

Gideon, on June 18, 1771, shortly before his father's death, had married Marcia Jacobs, who was to become the mother of his four children.

Through his inheritance upon his father's death, he became a prominent merchant-manufacturer, managing a business which at that particular time was probably enjoying an unprecedented prosperity due to the prohibitions that had been placed on tea.

The French and Indian War had necessitated a general strengthening of the colonial militia, which was maintained in many areas up to the Revolution. By February of 1775, Gideon Foster, who had been serving in Captain Epes' 2nd Company of the Essex Regiment of militia, had attained the rank of 2nd. Lieutenant.

Foster's first call to arms was February 26, 1775, when Col. Alexander Leslie was ordered to seize cannons and ammunition in Salem. On his arrival in Salem he was confronted by Captain Epes and Lt. Foster's militia. The British did not try to advance, thus avoiding bloodshed on that occasion.

Foster's second call to arms was not destined to end as peaceably.

On April 19th, 1775, now Captain Foster and his militia were called to Concord. The march to Concord was in an unseasonably hot early afternoon and they arrived in Menotomy, now Arlington, at 2 o'clock, having covered the 16 mile distance in slightly less than four hours. The pace to reach Menotomy had been, literally, a killing one; Ames Putnam of Danvers, collapsed and died en route.

As the enemy was engaged while returning from Concord, fighting began to grow in intensity, several Danvers and South Danvers men were killed. Several others were wounded in what was to become the bloodiest action of the entire battle.

Foster, in his speech at the laying of the cornerstone of the monument to the battle several years later, recalled having fired his musket eleven times but he did not know the effect of his fire.

Two months later, at the Battle of Bunker Hill, he was assigned the task of transporting ammunition to the besieged colonial forces on the hill. This he and his men accomplished under enemy fire.

His duties from that point on are not recorded. More than likely he was employed in some administrative capacity for which his early training as a surveyor and experience as a merchant would have suited him.

He served four years as town clerk from 1791 to 1794, and was elected to represent the town of Danvers at the General Court in 1796 and consecutively from 1799 to 1806.

In 1801, when tensions again developed between the United States and France due to the transfer of the Louisiana Territory to France by Spain, Foster was promoted to the rank of major general by a vote of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Senate. Peaceful relations resumed after the purchase of the Louisiana Territory.

Foster continued to operate his mills until 1824, when the second of two disastrous fires destroyed them. Unwilling to start over again at the age of 75, he sold the Foster Street Property to Zachariah King "and others".

He remained an active public figure throughout the years that followed. His chief pride was in his voting record, having voted in every election since the founding of the nation.

He died on November 1, 1845, the cause of death being referred to by Dr. Andrew as "Bastard Penpneumony" probably congestive heart failure.

His funeral was held in the Unitarian Church on November 3, 1845 where he was eulogized by Congressman Daniel P. King, who described him as being a man of "impressive and commanding bearing" and "a sincere Christian and devoted patriot".