More information can be found in the Prudence Wright tab below.
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Prudence Wright Chapter, NSDARPEPPERELL, MASSACHUSETTS
Welcome! Our chapter was organized on October 19, 1898. The members of the Prudence Wright Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR or DAR) are women ranging in age from eighteen to ninety-plus.
We welcome new members! Contact our chapter regent or our chapter registrar to learn more about our chapter and how to become a member. Questions about the chapter's site? Email the webmaster. |
Our Members
Prudence Wright Chapter, NSDAR Chapter House
Pepperell Covered Bridge
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Prudence Wright Scenic Overlook located on Groton Street, Pepperell, Massachusetts
Prudence Wright's tin lantern used April 1775
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Prudence Wright's GravestoneThe Prudence Wright gravestone is located in the Walton Cemetery, 5 Park Street, Pepperell, Massachusetts.
In Memory of The captain of the Bridge Guard April 1775 PRUDENCE CUMINGS Wife of David Wright, Born November 26, 1740, Died December 2, 1823, Erected by Prudence Wright Chapter D.A.R. 1908 View Prudence Wright’s memorial page on Find A Grave. |
Prudence Wright's Bridge Guard with the captured Tory spy.
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Prudence Wright and the Bridge GuardExcerpt from The Story of Jewett's Bridge by Mary Lucinda Parker Shattuck
"In the conflicting rumors in April 1775, the people of the town were expecting a company of men to pass through it to join the enemy, or possibly some messengers with dispatches. It was a time of uncertainty and confusion. It was this uncertainty that led the women of the Bridge Guard to disguise themselves as men and under the cover of darkness surprise an unexpected militia in order to capture dispatches of the enemy. The report on the battle of Lexington Green and Concord came to town. The women knew that their men had helped chase the British and were engaged with other minutemen near Boston. Spies were reported as passing between the British in Canada and Boston. One direct route ran through Pepperell (at the time called Groton West Parish). A few days after April 1775, word was sent from house to house in Pepperell for the women to assemble. They determined that no foe to the cause should pass through town, if they could prevent it. The assembly numbered between thirty and forty women. (Unfortunately, the muster roll of the Guard was not preserved.) The Guard elected Prudence Wright as commander of their company. Their rendezvous was Jewett's Bridge over the Nashua River, the place where a person coming from the north would be obliged to cross. Soon after nightfall, horses were heard approaching, but instead of the force of British expected, only two horsemen approached, Leonard Whiting and Samuel Cumings. The men were seized and searched, and dispatches from the British were found. The prisoners were taken to Groton to the Committee of Safety. After delivering their prisoners into custody, the Guard disbanded. The Guard was paid seven pounds, seventeen shillings and six pence by the town for their actions." Source: Shattuck, Mary Lucinda Parker. 1912. The Story of Jewett's Bridge. 3rd Printing: April 19, 1964, entitled Prudence Wright and the Women Who Guarded the Bridge. |
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Prudence Wright's Testimony to the Church, November 4, 1770Wright wrote this testimony at age 29 to be accepted into membership and the baptism of five children.
The original document is in the possession of the Prudence Wright Chapter, NSDAR. A transcript of the document is shown below. 
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Our Patriots
Each member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution traces lineal descent from a Patriot who served the American Revolutionary War. These Patriots may have served as soldiers or may have rendered civil or patriotic service to the cause of American independence.
Prudence Wright Chapter, NSDAR, members are descended from the following Patriots:
Prudence Wright Chapter, NSDAR, members are descended from the following Patriots:
MASSACHUSETTS
Joseph Legere Thomas Merrill Parker Cole John Adams Ezekiel Blake Winthrop Dodge Simon Newcomb David Durrell Edmund Parker, Sr Oliver Hartwell, Jr Job Shattuck Sarah Hartwell Shattuck Francis Jones Jethro Randall Elijah Ames Joseph Franks David Goodwin Oliver Noyes Moses Hallock Prudence Wright Gershom Cutter David Durrell 
SOUTH CAROLINA
Greenberry Capps John Murphy Joseph Warnock |
CONNECTICUT
James Fenn Phineas Sheldon, Sr Samuel Adams Jeremiah Rogers Nathaniel Northrop 
VERMONT
James Wilcox 
NORTH CAROLINA
John Middlebrook, Sr Charles Moore 
PENNSYLVANIA
William Mcguffey Michael Kintzer William Garvin |
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Robert Wilson William Miles Reuben Whitcomb Samuel Richards 
NEW JERSEY
Cornelius Pease 
VIRGINIA
William Bilbro William Hopkins Samuel Coleman Morris 
NEW YORK
Thuenis Cooper |
Our Activities
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Prudence Wright Chapter, NSDAR, dedicated this marker on July 26, 1926, on a half-acre piece of land called "Minuteman Park" at 132 Townsend St., (Rt. 113) Pepperell, Massachusetts.
The transcription of the plaque on the boulder reads: "From this boulder the Minute Men of Pepperell were called to join Col. Prescott at Groton on April 19, 1775 by Captain Edmund Bancroft and son Luther. Placed by Grace Greenhalgh in memory of her mother Lucy Bancroft Page" This site is located on the NSDAR Historic Sites and Properties list. Minute Man Park | Daughters of the American Revolution |
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The Prudence Wright Chapter, NSDAR, is a proud member of the Vietnam War Commemoration. We honor local Vietnam veterans every March 29; National Vietnam War Veterans Day. We fly the commemorative flag in Pepperell at that time.
Learn more about the Commemoration |
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Chapter site last updated November 2, 2025.
Questions about the chapter's site? Email the webmaster. |
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