Thomas Nixon Jr. (1762-1842) was thirteen years old when he accompanied his father to the fighting at Concord and Lexington. He served as fifer in his uncle's brigade during battles in and around New York and left the army in 1780, returning to Framingham where he built a house that still stands on Edmands Road. At some point during his military career, probably in 1778, he acquired a tune book that had been compiled by a fellow fifer, Joseph Long. Sixty-two pages of tunes and a musical tutor made up the book when it came into Nixon's hands; he added another 42 pages of music. Fife and drum music was used to communicate commands to soldiers through "duty calls" like regular and quick marches, reveille, and retreat. The book also contains funeral music, dance music, and a "Rogues march" used to make fun of cowards and other undesirables. This is one of about twelve known tune books from the Revolutionary War. It contains melodies familiar in other sources as well as many unique songs.

Anne Livermore Rookey studied the tune book thoroughly for her Masters thesis at Brandeis University in 1997. She also photographed each page, and Aldo Abreu later scanned the pages to edit and create the images used here.