Rededication of General Ebenezer Learned’s Grave on November 12, 2016

The General Ebenezer Learned Chapter NSDAR honored their chapter patriot with a Veterans Day graveside rededication on Saturday, November 12, 2016, at the South Cemetery in Oxford, Massachusetts. The DAR chapter was joined by the Captain Job Knapp Chapter NSDAR of Douglas, Oxford High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Color Guard, and the Colonel Henry Knox Regimental Color Guard in celebrating the accomplishments of General Ebenezer Learned. Others in the audience included: members of the Oxford Historical Commission and the Huguenot Memorial Society as well as neighborhood residents.

A wreath was placed by the regent, Helen Poirier at the Learned family grave. Biographical readings about General Learned were done by: vice regent, Cathleen Nikosey, recording secretary Beverley Beaudette; our newest chapter member, Susan Dineen; and Adeline Healy, of the Captain Job Knapp Chapter NSDAR as acting chaplain for the day. After the ceremony, refreshments were served in the community room located at the Oxford Police Station.

Henry Knox Regimental Color Guard                                                                     
Oxford High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Color Guard and the Colonel Henry Knox Regimental Color Guard
This page was last updated: August 3, 2019
A Brief Biography of General Ebenezer Learned NSDAR Chapter Patriot

Ebenezer Learned was born in April 18,1728, to Colonel Ebenezer Learned and Deborah Hayes in Oxford Massachusetts. He married Jerusha Baker in 1749. They had three children. Ebenezer served in the French and Indian War. In the summer of 1756, he led his company to Fort Edward at Lake George. There is little record of his service, except that he served sporadically from then until 1763. He also served Oxford after the war as selectman, town moderator, assessor and justice of the peace. 

The winter of 1774-1775 Ebenezer collected stores of ammunition in anticipation of the upcoming conflict. Two days after the Battle of Lexington and Concord he was leading a regiment from Oxford and surrounding towns as an acting colonel. He received his commission as Colonel during the siege of Boston. By the end of the Siege of Boston, General Washington had given Learned command of the important Dorchester Heights position. When the British evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776, Colonel Learned was the first to enter the city. He led a battalion of 500 specially selected men, to clean out the traps, abates, caltrops, and garbage left by the British. In April 1777, Colonel Learned was commissioned brigadier general and was sent to Fort Ticonderoga to get the arms and ammunition; he also fought in the battle of Saratoga, the turning point of the war. General Learned retired in 1778 due to the injury from the Boston siege.

Ebenezer Learned returned home to Oxford, and represented the town at the Massachusetts Convention of 1779 that adopted a new constitution for the state. He served as a Judge of Common Pleas for Worcester County, Massachusetts. In 1783 he was elected to the Massachusetts General Court (the state's House of Representatives). Ebenezer died in 1801.

HOME
The content contained herein does not necessarily represent the position of the NSDAR. Hyperlinks to other sites are not the responsibility of the NSDAR, the state organization, or individual DAR chapters.
Photographs courtesy of General Ebenezer Learned Chapter Regent Helen Poirier.
To learn more about membership click here..