John Burns led a challenging life, sailing to Boston from Londonderry, Ireland, in about 1740 and soon settling in the wilderness that would become Bedford. He married two women named Ann, fathered 10 children and lived to see at least 21 of his 65 grandchildren.

Burns was no stranger to conflict. He was too young to have witnessed the British siege of Londonderry, but he came to America seeking freedom and opportunity. He found both, but they were not free. By choosing Bedford, he encountered immediate risks from the French and Abenakis, and later from his old nemeses, the British.

With other inhabitants of the large area, then called Souhegan-East, John Burns voted in 1744 to send Mr. John Chamberlin to Portsmouth to tell the governor and general assembly that the settlement was in imminent danger from French and Indian enemies. Local settlers got little attention until someone died.

John Burns went with James McQuaid on a trip to Penacook, now Concord, to acquire corn for their families. The “History of Bedford” tells us that on the return trip, they were fired upon, “McQuaid was shot dead, but Burns made his escape by running in a zigzag direction, which baffled the fire of the pursuers, and he arrived in safety to his family.” Burns was not wounded, but “his shirt with seven bullet holes testified to his danger.”

This evidence did not convince a neighbor, one Caldwell, who impugned his courage and suggested that he had imagined being chased and shot at. After putting up with this for some time, Burns stalked Caldwell through the woods one night, chasing him to Moor’s house, where Caldwell, in terror, pleaded for a gun. Moor calmly told him that it was not a thousand pursuing Indians but rather just “Burns, who is making a fool of you.” Three adult men with the name of Moor were living in Bedford at the time. The history refers to a man named Moor, but doesn’t specify which Moor was involved.

John was literate, worked hard as a yeoman and built a large home. He frequently hosted the town meeting in his great room. He raised a stock of cattle, sheep and horses, and owned land in Bedford and Merrimack. His household likely produced fabric on their linen wheel and keel. He sported a silk handkerchief and a valuable silver watch on special occasions. His wife served meals on pewter plates and rode their old mare sidesaddle.

In 1776, with his two adult sons, Robert and William, John Burns signed the Bedford declaration supporting the Continental Congress and swore to risk his life and fortune and with arms oppose the British. Robert served as a sergeant at the Battle of Bennington. William, a corporal, returned home with wounds.

John lived to see a successful end to the American Revolution. He provided well for his six daughters and left the bulk of his estate to his youngest son, John. Although his first wife, Ann, died in 1745, no tombstone graced her burial place until after John’s 1788 death. He requested that his executors provide “a decent pair of gravestones.” They did better than that, commissioning a three-panel slate masterpiece that honored both wives and John. Several lines of verse, three angels of death and two birds are beautifully placed. Curiously, no date of death is given for second wife Ann (McQueston) Burns, who is said to have died soon after her husband.