Front Door to Revolution in the Lymes?

Farmstead Depicted in Ken Burns’ American Revolution Documentary

The recent Ken Burns documentary film on the American Revolution, which aired on PBS, featured interior shots of the John Johnson house. Originally, the film crew was interested in the image of the front door and spent considerable time staging shots of the door. When they were wrapping up the photo shoot, the Board President, Betsey Goetsch, invited them into the house and they started shooting interior shots. One of these interior photos ended up in an episode of the documentary first aired in November 2025. Visitors to the Farmstead can imagine the lives of a father and son who served in the war in the local Militia and Coastal guard.

Neighboring New London was an epicenter of Revolutionary War privateering. Niantic Bay, to the west of New London, offered a way for British loyalists to silently row whaleboats from British-occupied Long Island to the Connecticut shore to secure needed provisions.

John and Reynolds Johnson, who lived in the Samuel Smith Farmstead in East Lyme, enlisted in a militia unit known as the “coastal guard.” In this role they patrolled the shores of Niantic Bay and intercepted and arrested loyalists.

John Johnson Jr., the father, had been among the second generation of settlers who cleared swamps and forests to create farms, orchards and fields to support his family. Johnson answered the alarm at Lexington and helped build Fort Trumbull in New London. John ended his military career closer to home as an officer of the “coastal guard”. John’s son, Reynolds, joined the guard, under the command of his father, when he was just a teenager.

About Samuel Smith Farmstead

The Samuel Smith Farmstead includes the historic John Johnson house built in the mid-18th century and preserved in near original condition. The house demonstrates how everyday people lived when Connecticut was first settled by Europeans. Open Sundays from 1 to 3 PM from Memorial Day to Labor Day or by appointment.

Media Contact: Betsey Goetsch
samuelsmithct@gmail.com