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Mayor Gary Christenson has invited residents to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the Malden Instructions and Malden’s support for American Independence in 1776. The annual reading of the Instructions will take place at Bell Rock Memorial Park (Main & Wigglesworth Streets) on Wednesday, May 27, at 5:30 p.m. A group of young musicians from the William Diamond Junior Fife & Drum Corps will kick off the event by playing several period-specific songs. Local historian and period actor Tom Coots will then perform the annual reading of the town “Instructions.”
An exciting addition to the event will be the unveiling of a “new” 100-year-old memorial bell — once again returning a bell to Bell Rock Park. For over a century, a bell was suspended from scaffolding on its rocky outcrop. It summoned townspeople to religious services, mourned their funerals and opened town meetings and market days. The town bell called Malden’s minutemen to turn out to join the battles for independence in the spring of 1776.
On May 27, 1776, a document titled “Instructions of the Inhabitants of Malden, Massachusetts to their Representatives in Congress” was unanimously voted on by the townspeople of Malden to be delivered to the Second Continental Congress via their representative, Ezra Sargeant. In the 1776 communication, the voting citizens of Malden renounce the Colony’s ties to the Kingdom of Great Britain and set forth their wish to become an independent “American” republic. The document is credited as a precursor to the Declaration of Independence, which was written in July 1776 when the Continental Congress formally declared their independence from England.
The event is sponsored by the Adelaide Breed Bayrd Foundation. Special thanks to the City of Malden DPW, Cemetery Department, the Malden Historical Society and the Malden Public Library for their assistance with the event.
