Reuben Law (1751-1840)
Reuben Law, reputed to be the first settler in Sharon, came to town in 1777. Prior to his arrival, he had enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He fought at the North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts where, in 1775, the “shot heard round the world was fired” upon British soldiers. His queue (braid of hair) was shot off at Bunker Hill during the Siege of Boston. He was one of 38 soldiers in the company of Captain Isaac Davis, the first commissioned officer and the first U.S. casualty in the War. Law purportedly earned the rank of Lieutenant.
Law came to the wilderness of Sharon on foot and wearing snowshoes from Acton, Massachusetts dragging his possessions and supplies on a hand-sled. As the story goes, he made camp on the first night, high on a rock, and burned a fire to keep the wolves at bay. He purchased two hundred acres of land in Sharon’s fifth range which is in the vicinity of what is now Mountain Road. Law built a cabin there, fenced the property with stone walls, and eventually built a house.
On January 13, 1778, Reuben Law was married in Acton, Massachusetts by Reverend Moses Adams to Alice (also spelled Allis) Piper. Alice eventually had thirteen children.
Reuben Law and his first wife Alice are both buried in the Jarmany Hill Road Cemetery.