In the lead up to the American Revolutionary War Pigeon was elected to head a committee of correspondence and to serve on the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.
[8] By the late 1760s, it appears Pigeon was ready to retire to the country life, as his advertisements reported he was rarely in Boston and he eventually bought houses and land in Newton, Massachusetts.
[5][9] On January 6, 1774, less than one month after the Boston Tea Party, the Newton freeholders appointed John Pigeon to head a committee of correspondence.
[10][12] These guns, kept in Newton Centre, would fire on April 19 as a signal to the local minute-men, warning of the advance of British troops on Lexington and Concord.
[15] Though out of the role as commissary general, the detailed records he left in his ledger are credited by researchers for helping document new information on the Siege of Boston.
On March 4, 1776, he was asked to serve on a committee to promote and expand the manufacture of saltpetre to ensure ample supply of gunpowder.