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King

Memoir of Joseph Green

by Patrick

   
  The man I was just talking to was spewing blood from his neck the blood sprayed on to my face.  I ran back to my shop as fast as I could.  When I got there I wiped my face off and sat in my shop for a while thinking about the British solders who just killed those people, and why the solders had killed them.

Click play to hear my story
March 5, 1770
     My name is Joseph Green and I am 21 years of age.  I have a beautiful wife and two children.  I am a gunsmith, and lately I have no orders coming in, so I decided to take a walk. While I was out walking, I noticed a big crowd  throwing rocks and ice at the British solders. I ran over to see what all the commotion was about.  I asked the man next to me what was going on.  Just as I asked him the Red Coats fired into the crowd.  The man I was just talking to was spewing blood from his neck the blood sprayed on to my face.  I ran back to my shop as fast as I could.  When I got there I wiped my face off and sat in my shop for a while thinking about the British solders who just killed those people, and why the solders had killed them.

    Suddenly I heard my door open.  A man looking to be about 35 years old came into shop.  I asked the fellow what his name was.  “Thomas Kuchens,” he said blankly. He told me that his son came running home and told him what had happened on King Street in front of the Customs House.  He was afraid and he wanted a musket in case anything like that ever happened again.  “I want it as soon as possible Mr.Green.” he told me .  I replied that it would probably be done in three weeks,”   he told me that he would be back in three weeks he gave me the money and left. 

    The next day I woke up and went to work I stopped on the way and bought a boson Times newspaper and looked at the headline.  I was amazed at what I saw what was in the paper a picture of  British solders lined up shooting into a crowd of people and killing four men in the paper it said that the British solders killed four men and wounded seven, but it did not tell that the crowd was throwing rocks and ice and swearing at the red coats.  When I got to my shop I put the paper down and got to work on mr.Hutches.  Musket I shaped the stock which took about two weeks on its own.  A planer is a metal tool that shaves big or small pieces from a piece of wood.  You can set it to shave small or big pieces. than I got to work the barrel I started with shaping a hollow pipe. It had to be perfectly straight or else it would not be accurate.  No body wants an inaccurate musket I finished that in about two days  than I finished it up with the  handle the trigger and the hammer and the flint.  I had finished the musket and about two days after that Mr..Kuchens came in for his musket thanked me and left.  I felt bad for the widows and father less children of the 4 men that were murdered.  I was enraged at the red coats and wondered how the could just murder 4 men like that.  I wonldered who wrote the headline about the Boston massacre that's what the headline said and that's what people were calling it.  Right now what aim really thinking about is how the british are going to handle this.  I also  didn't d’t know how the people of Boston would handle these murders if they would riot or be afraid of what the British might do.  I just hope nothing like this happens again.  If it does I will stand and fight.  Until than I’m just a gun smith.

           Joseph Green later went on to fight the red coats. After what he saw in the war he went home and killed his family. Later the was hung in front of his house. All his belongings went his apprentice.

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