Biography
Cato Tufts of Medford is one of the men of color who served in the first years of the war. He was in Capt. Ephraim Corey’s company, Col. William Prescott’s regiment, in the camp at Cambridge in October 1775. In 1776 he was a matross in Col. Thomas Crafts’s artillery regiment at Boston. The record ends with the note that he was “drummed out” between August and November 1776.
Service Record
Town: Medford · Dates: [dates not confirmed]
“Tufts, Cato, Medford. Capt. Ephraim Corey's co., Col. William Prescott's regt.; order for bounty coat dated Camp at Cambridge, Oct. 31, 1775; also, Matross, Capt. James Swan's (1st) co., Col. Thomas Crafts's (Artillery) regt.”
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, vol. XVI (1907), p. 132
Family Connection
Family placement not yet established from a cited source.
Spouse(s)
Not found in the sources checked (Brooks 1855 Register of Families; Wild; Find a Grave data on file; Tufts Kinsmen Vol. I extract).
Authoritative IDs / Index Numbers
| Source | ID / status |
|---|---|
| Perseus person index (auth=) | Checked, not found (no auth=tufts,… key for this name in Brooks, the Medford Historical Register or Historic Leaves). |
| Find a Grave memorial | Note: Pending further work. |
| Brooks, History of Medford (1855) register no. | Checked, no entry confidently matched |
| Mass. Soldiers and Sailors | vol. XVI, p. 132 |
| DAR ancestor no. | Note: Pending further work. |
| FamilySearch ID | Note: Pending further work. |
| Geni profile | Note: Pending further work. |
| WikiTree ID | Note: Pending further work. |
| Town / vital records | Medford VRs not yet checked by volume and page |
Only IDs confirmed against dates and family are given as matches. “Not yet checked” means the source has not been searched; “Checked, not found” means it was searched without a match.
⚑ Unverified
Whether he fought at Bunker Hill. Prescott’s regiment fought there, and bounty coats went to men in service in 1775, but the record does not place him at the battle. His status (free or enslaved), his dates, and the household whose name he bore are not established.
Links and Resources
Every source, record, map, survey, marker and artifact tied to this person, gathered in one place. Page numbers are given where a book is cited.